The Egyptian Football Association has announced a partnership with the British genetics company DNAFit to incorporate DNA testing into players’ fitness regimes.
Initially it will be used by Egypt’s national soccer team, and the partnership also follows on from Egyptian champions Al Ahly agreeing in July of last year to adopt DNAFit’s testing to improve performance on a selected number of players. The Egyptian Football Association hopes to eventually roll out genetic testing to all of its teams and encourage Egyptian football clubs to follow suit.
DNAFit works by analyzing DNA profiles which are obtained by a mouth swab. The test, according to the company, is able to highlight a range of genes which affect a player’s speed, endurance genes and nutritional needs.
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
A study published in peer reviewed Biology of Sport found that matching a person’s DNA with appropriate and specific training leads to more effective resistance training, and the company has cited it as evidence of the effectiveness of DNAFit. The study involved analyzing 39 football players over eight weeks, and it concluded that DNA-matched training improved a person’s performance by almost three times more than those not on such a program.
The Egyptian Football Association would be the latest in the sport to test DNAFit. It was also reported that two English Premier League clubs signed a partnership with DNAFit to provide profiles for both senior and academy players. To date, a variety of sports stars including British long jump Olympic champion Greg Rutherford and rugby star Bryan Habana have used DNAFit’s genetic testing.
Speaking about the deal, DNAFit’s founder and Chief Executive Avi Lasarow said, “The decision to use this approach does not only lead the way for Egypt, but it also showcases Egypt to the world and pioneers the way for football globally.”
“It’s only because of the low cost of genotyping that more science around genetics is emerging that clearly shows the correlation between training outcomes, injury prevention and a genetically matched nutritional diet as the right way to understand and potentially improve each player,” he continued.
Aboul Ela, a team doctor with the Egyptian national soccer team, outlined that DNAFit will have a positive effect on players’ physical and also mental performance.