The Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital (Aspetar) has been engaged in providing rehabilitation treatment to Saudi Arabia international footballer Abdu Ateef, following an anterior cruciate ligament injury he sustained in February this year, an official said. Ateef, who plays for Al Shabab in the Saudi League, underwent surgery for the injury, and then chose Aspetar as the place to begin his rehabilitation programme, the official said. “I did not realise, beforehand, that Aspetar is such a well-equipped sports medicine hospital,” said Ateef. “I have been impressed by the quality of service, the professionalism of the sports medicine physicians working here, and amazed to learn of the top sports stars who seek treatment here.”Under the guidance of Aspetar’s Surgery head, Dr Philippe Landreau, the medical team devised a specially-tailored rehabilitation programme for Abdu Ateef to give the footballer every chance of returning to action as soon as possible.Ateef said: “Dr Hakim Chalabi supervises my treatment. He has reassured me that, once I have completed this rehabilitation programme, I can return to competitive action gradually.“I will miss this season but I am confident that, at the end of my time at Aspetar, I will be fully recovered, and ready for a strong season next year.”Dr Landreau said: “We are happy that Abdu chose Aspetar for his rehabilitation. We did not operate on him here but we will do our best to assist him to recover fully.”“At Aspetar, we provide all sports medicine services, not just surgery, but also rehabilitation, sports science, physiology, psychology, nutrition, etc. We are not assisting our in-patient athletes only; we are also designing personalised rehabilitation programmes for any athlete in need of medical assistance,” he added.