Created: 2026.01.05. 14:25
The Medical Committee of the Hungarian Football Federation, in cooperation with Széchenyi István University, will organize the conference entitled “SPEED 2026 – Sport with a Health-Conscious and Digital Approach” on January 23–24 in Győr. The prestigious medical science event will focus primarily on rehabilitation after cardiological and neurological diseases, returning to sport, and the smart devices and artificial intelligence–based measurement solutions that support these processes. Speakers will include leading opinion-makers in their respective fields, such as the Chief Scientific Advisor of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the Chair of the Sports Cardiology Section of the European Society of Cardiology. The organizers welcome physicians, healthcare and sports professionals, as well as interested participants affected by the topic.
Dr Zsolt Szelid, Head of the Department of Sports Medicine and Digital Health Sciences at the Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences of Széchenyi István University and President of the Medical Committee of the Hungarian Football Federation, has long been dealing with health issues related to sport. As a cardiologist and specialist in sports medicine, many people turn to him for advice on what types of physical activity to choose when living with heart or neurological diseases, or how to return safely to sport. The topic affects not only elite athletes, but also a large number of amateur athletes who wish to remain physically active in a health-conscious and safe manner while coping with various challenges—children, adults and older people alike.
With this in mind, the Medical Committee of the Hungarian Football Federation launched the “SPEED 2026 – Sport with a Health-Conscious and Digital Approach” conference. In partnership with Széchenyi István University, the organization will host the international medical forum in Győr, at the ETO Park Hotel, on 23–24 January. “We all know that after an injury, a person cannot engage in sport and needs rehabilitation because something hurts. But what happens when someone has a condition that does not cause immediate pain? For example, high blood pressure, a heart attack or stroke in their medical history, or diabetes. How can they return to sport, and what factors need to be taken into account? These are the questions we will address during the programme with the help of international and Hungarian experts, who will present methods, measurement techniques, and unique research results learned from elite sport,” outlined chief organizer Dr Zsolt Szelid. He emphasized that the programme section focusing on sports participation for children with diabetes or heart disease (“Sports for young patients – what is allowed, what should we monitor and how?”) will also be streamed online, so that as many affected parents as possible can join and learn from the presentations.
Dr Zsolt Szelid also revealed that the conference will mark the launch of UEFA’s “Get Trained, Save Lives” campaign in Hungary. The aim of the initiative is to ensure that, if necessary, club and association staff, support teams, and even players themselves are prepared to initiate successful resuscitation. “We are familiar with the serious case in 2021 when Danish player Christian Eriksen collapsed during a match and was clinically dead, but was successfully resuscitated by UEFA’s standby team and has since continued a successful sporting career. In addition to effective prevention, safe sport also places great responsibility on those in the athlete’s immediate environment. By launching this campaign in Hungary, we want to provide this level of safety for athletes,” he stated.
The conference will focus on two main areas: cardiological diseases and neurological diseases, primarily among amateur athletes. Alongside its strong medical emphasis, technology will also play a major role. Participants will be able to learn about the latest developments, from reliable personal devices to artificial intelligence–based IT solutions that help refine diagnoses. Széchenyi István University’s health science developments and research will also be presented, including a telerehabilitation platform developed with the involvement of the University’s Digital Development Centre, a digital monitoring system jointly developed with the University and used by the ETO FC Győr football team for talent selection, as well as the research of Dr Erzsébet Stephens-Sarlós on primitive reflexes and movement.
Renowned figures from the international medical community will give presentations at the event, including Dr Nicole Avena, professor at Princeton University, USA, who will address the topic of sports nutrition, and Dr Evert Verhagen, UEFA’s Chief Scientific Advisor, who will speak about monitoring return to sport after illness, with a focus on football.
In the English-language plenary sessions, participants will explore sports cardiology and technology-driven health support, while the thematic sections will provide in-depth insights into topics such as heart diseases, individual characteristics (including diabetes, body composition, and female-specific aspects), neurological diseases, and methods of digital prevention. The diversity of the two-day forum is reflected in the fact that, alongside plenary lectures by leading experts from Hungarian higher education institutions and hospitals, doctoral students will also have the opportunity to present their scientific results.
“In sports governance, we consider events that enable knowledge sharing to be particularly important, as they allow us to learn from best practices even at an international level. That is why I am very pleased that this conference is being realized through the cooperation of Széchenyi István University and the Hungarian Football Federation. The contribution of sport to a healthy lifestyle is well known, and through our Athlete Nation Programme and other initiatives we strive to ensure that regular physical activity becomes part of the lives of as many of our fellow citizens as possible, allowing us to live in a healthier society. At the same time, sports medicine has now become a key field not only in community sport but also in competitive sport, where acquiring the latest knowledge is essential to remain successful in the future. This is why it also plays a prominent role in our LA10 Programme. I trust that the presentations at the SPEED 2026 conference will be useful for all members of the sports community,” said Dr Ádám Schmidt, State Secretary for Sport.
The conference is primarily aimed at physicians, healthcare professionals, medical researchers, and sports professionals, but it is also open to interested members of the public, including affected parents, those working in supporting roles in sport, and amateur athletes. SPEED 2026 is an accredited postgraduate medical training event registered in the OFTEX system, with participation worth 32 points; therefore, for specialist physicians, the event will conclude with a test. More detailed information about the event, including registration details, is available on the conference website.
