The 3rd AFC Medical Awards took place on Sunday 5 March during the 7th AFC Medical Conference 2023 in Doha, Qatar, where five doctors from Japan received the following awards.

The 3rd AFC Medical Awards

AFC Young Medical Officer Award
Dr. NAGAO Masashi (Juntendo University)

AFC Distinguished Service Award (Gold)
Dr. SEKI Jun (Former member of JFA Medical Committee, Former Japan National Team Doctor)
Dr. TANAKA Juichi (Former member of JFA Medical Committee, Former Japan National Team Doctor)
Dr. FUKUOKA Shigeo (Former member of JFA Medical Committee)

AFC Distinguished Service Award (Bronze)
Dr. TANI Satoshi (Former member of JFA Medical Committee)

The AFC Medical Awards are given to doctors who have made a significant contribution to the development of football in Asia, and there are three types of awards; the AFC Football Medicine Merit Award, the AFC Young Medical Officer Award, and the AFC Distinguished Service Awards (Gold: for service dedicated for 25 years, Silver: 20 years, Bronze: 15 years).

Past recipients

The 1st AFC Medical Awards (2015): New Delhi, India
AFC Young Medical Officer Award
Dr. SAITA Yoshitomo (Juntendo University)
AFC Distinguished Service Award (Gold)
Dr. AOKI Haruhito (Former Director of JFA Medical Committee, Former member of FIFA/AFC Medical Committee)
AFC Distinguished Service Award (Bronze)
Dr. DOHI Michiko (JFA Medical Committee)

The 2nd AFC Medical Awards (2019): Chengdu, China PR
AFC Football Medicine Merit Award
Dr. AOKI Haruhito (Former Director of JFA Medical Committee, Former member of FIFA/AFC Medical Committee)
AFC Distinguished Service Award (Gold)
Dr. FUKUBAYASHI Toru (Former Director of JFA Medical Committee)
Dr. MIYAKAWA Shumpei (JFA Medical Committee)
Dr. MORIKAWA Tsuguo (JFA Medical Committee)
*The recipients are listed in alphabetical order.

Recipients' Comments

Dr. NAGAO Masashi (Juntendo University)
I have been awarded the AFC Young Medical Officer Award. I am very honoured and would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Japan Football Association, fellow football doctors, my colleagues and mentors, and everyone involved for all their support. In 2006, I began working as a football doctor for a university football team. Since then, I have worked as the team doctor for both male and female youth teams, the Japan National Team, the Japan Universiade National Team, J. League clubs, and I currently work as the team doctor for the Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team). I am also a member of the JFA Medical Committee Surveillance Panel, which conducts research activities in football medicine. The presence of Japanese football is increasing not only in Asia but also across the globe. I would like to continue doing what I can to contribute to football, dreaming of the day when Japan can lead the world in the fields of “protecting the health” and “improving the performance” of the players.

Dr. FUKUOKA Shigeo (Former member of JFA Medical Committee)
It is a great honour for me to be nominated for the AFC Distinguished Service Award (Gold). During my time as a student, I spent most of my time competing in sailing competitions at the sea and had no connections to football. In 1982, I attended the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where I worked in the ER and as a general orthopaedic surgeon for one and a half years. That was when I realised how differently athletes were treated there compared to Japan. After completing my studies in Australia, I began working at Yaizu City Hospital, which is where I first came into contact with football. I was initially in charge of performing operations on the players of YAMAHA football club (now Jubilo Iwata) during the Japan Soccer League (JSL) era. When the J. League kicked-off with 10 clubs in 1993, I was offered to serve as the team doctor for Shimizu S-Pulse, and after signing an exclusive contract with the club in 1995, which was the first case in Japan, I made the decision to leave the field of general medicine. Although there were challenging times, I had a lot of fun working together with the coach, staff, and players for the team's victory. After Dr. FUKUBAYASHI Toru became Director of the JFA Medical Committee, the need for communication between the JFA Medical Committee and the doctors of the J. League clubs was pointed out, which led to my appointment to the JFA Medical Committee in 2009 as a representative of the J. League (Director of the J. League Team Doctor Panel). The number of participating teams increased dramatically after that, and although it was not easy to manage, I was able to fulfil my duties with the cooperation of various doctors and the support of the JFA, and in 2015, I handed over my duties to Dr. OTSUKA Kazuhiro of FC Tokyo. I hope to continue to contribute to the development of football in some way in the future.