Ex-sprinter leads race to be Arsenal’s new head doctor
The former Olympic sprinter Arnaldo Abrantes is the favourite to become Arsenal’s new first-team doctor after the surprise sacking of Zafar Iqbal.
Abrantes is understood to have left his most recent posting as the head of medical services at Aston Villa at the end of the season – his second such role in the Premier League after Nottingham Forest.
Abrantes, 39, was a national Portuguese champion in the 100 metres and 200m and ran for his country in the 200m heats of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and then again at London in 2012.
He served as Villa’s head of medical for the last two seasons and before that worked for three seasons as the head of medical and performance at Forest. During the 2000s, he combined medical studies in Lisbon with his athletics career.
The question of who will be in charge of the Arsenal medical department in the wake of Iqbal’s departure is not clear and the club declined to comment. Telegraph Sport revealed yesterday that Iqbal, an experienced sport medicine practitioner with a long history in the Premier League, had been abruptly sacked last Monday just days after the Champions League final defeat.
The decision caused surprise among staff at the London Colney training ground where Iqbal was head of sports medicine and performance. He was pictured with Mikel Arteta after the Premier League trophy presentation at Selhurst Park. He was also on the bus with the players for the parade in Islington, the day after the defeat against Paris St-germain in Budapest.
Previously, Arsenal commissioned Spanish physiotherapist Joaquin Acedo, a friend of Arteta, to undertake a review into the club’s recent injury problems. Acedo had become a regular at London Colney and at the Emirates Stadium.