Hyderabad, 17th September 2025: Sreenidi Deccan FC (SDFC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for Spine and Sports Health (CSSH), establishing CSSH as the club’s official Sports Science Partner. The event was held at the CSSH premises and was attended by Co-Founder and Chief Mentor of CSSH, Dronacharya Awardee, Padma Bhushan Pullela Gopichand, Chief Football Officer of SDFC, Mr. Fabio Ferreira, and Co-Founder and CEO of CSSH, Mr. Naresh Kumar Pagidimarry. This partnership marks a significant step forward for SDFC’s commitment to player welfare and performance optimisation.
Under this partnership, SDFC players will gain access to CSSH’s state-of-the-art facilities and expertise. The collaboration will concentrate on employing advanced sports science methodologies to enhance player performance, prevent injuries, and ensure comprehensive rehabilitation.
The partnership will empower SDFC to implement evidence-based strategies for:
- Identifying pre-existing medical issues
- Detecting nutritional deficiencies or health concerns
- Monitoring body composition changes and optimising body weight performance
- Identifying muscular imbalances and guiding strength programming
- Recognising poor movement patterns that could lead to injuries
- Tracking cardiovascular endurance and recovery capacity, and so on.
“We are delighted to partner with the Centre for Spine and Sports Health,” stated Mr. Fabio Ferreira, Chief Football Officer, Sreenidi Deccan FC. “This collaboration reflects our commitment to player welfare and performance. In professional football, ensuring players recover quickly and return to the pitch safely is critical, both at the academy and first-team level. By leveraging CSSH’s advanced sports science technology and medical expertise, we aim to reduce recovery times, minimize injury risks, and strengthen our efforts in injury prevention. Keeping our players healthy and available on the field is fundamental to sustaining development and achieving success, and this partnership is an important step towards that goal.”
Co-Founder and Chief Mentor of Center for Spine and Sports Health, Padma Bhushan Pullela Gopichand spoke about CSSH and its role in improving the sports ecosystem, saying, “The Centre for Spine & Sports Health is a unique place which has Biomechanically Optimized Strength assessment and training devices that enables the Sport Medicine team to take an integrated preventive health approach for every individual. These devices enable assessment of Joint range of motion and also help them understand strength deficits and imbalances that could lead to injury. It takes away the role of guess work and it brings us to reality, because what can be measured can be improved. With that as a basic principle we can bridge the gap between theory and practical knowledge which is what we are trying to do here. I am very happy with the fact that the center is able to integrate the use of Sport technology via the entire Sport Science and Physio team, thus enhancing the sports ecosystem and performance of the athlete as well as the general population.”
Mr. Naresh Kumar Pagidimarry, Co-Founder and CEO of the Centre for Spine and Sports Health, addressed the collaboration and remarked, “.”We are excited to collaborate with Sreenidi Deccan Football Club. This partnership is not just about athlete care and performance—it is also a valuable learning experience for both teams. By combining our expertise in sports health with the club’s commitment to player development, we aim to set new standards in athlete well-being and growth.”
Both SDFC and CSSH are resolute in cultivating a culture of excellence and innovation within the sports domain. This partnership is poised to establish a new benchmark for the integration of sports science in Indian Football.