The day after a weekend of victory in Rodez, DFCO doctor Jacky Maillot was the guest of 100% DFCO, Monday January 17, 2021. At the club since the summer of 2021, the Franc-Comtois, former doctor of the Groupama-FDJ cycling training, returned to the protocol put in place in Dijon with the Covid -19. While the DFCO has recorded six cases in its workforce over the past two weeks, Jacky Maillot also spoke live with the captain of the “Reds” Daniel Congré, special guest for episode 4 of “Allô Daniel”, around lifestyle and nutrition:If we only had players like Daniel (Congré) it would be a treat for me, he understood right away”.
What precautions are taken at DFCO when taking over a player affected by Covid-19?
“It all depends on the symptoms. At DFCO, all our players were vaccinated, so that ensures a precaution. When they are in contact with the virus, they have much less marked symptoms, which was the case for Daniel (Congré). This said, it does not prevent you from having fatigue, muscle pain or headaches”.
“We have very precise regulations in terms of prevention. Once the player has recovered well, it is recommended to do examinations but it is not at all mandatory. We already do a clinical examination, to find out if everything is back in order. Afterwards, we may have to take blood tests. We had a case at the club, in June, of a complication of covid in the form of myocarditis (Bersant Celina, loaned in England since, Editor’s note). And there, the player was forced to stop for three months. It’s exceptional, we had only one case in the Professional Football League and it was in Dijon. Complications are very rare, due to the protection provided by vaccination coverage.”
In terms of vaccination, was there any reluctance?
“It was not easy, yes there was reluctance, some founded and others unfounded. The regulations are changing, we are at the 6th release of the regulations of the LFP. And she helped us because without the vaccine it was very complicated to play all the matches and to have the whole squad, to travel professionally or privately. The regulations have helped us to convince the last reluctant”.
The regulations have helped us to convince the last reluctant
What is the relationship between the club doctor and the players? You are a bit like the “guardian angel” of the players, whose body is the working tool…
“Yes, it’s their work tool. We know that workloads have beneficial but also sometimes harmful effects on the player’s health, so we have to take care of it. We, with our two physiotherapists, are especially in preventive work. Injury prevention is a bit of our leitmotif, it goes with nutritional prevention. When we play sports, we create a lot of waste. To eliminate it, we have antioxidants drawn of our plate, so nutrition has a very important virtue”.
“Then, it’s the adaptation according to the form of the players. The adaptation of the training, often we do tailor-made. This afternoon I saw the players, some are not going to do the training the next day as a whole to avoid injuries. It’s a relationship of trust, that’s for sure”.
What’s the difference between looking after cyclists like you did before… and footballers?
“The cyclist has understood for a very long time that his nutrition is a very, very important element of his performance. This is less true in football. If we only had players like Daniel (Congré) it would be a treat for me, he has understood immediately. Moreover, his career proves it: he is still very competitive at 36. Really, if everyone could do like him, it would be a treat for us”.
“The cyclist knows immediately that if he does not pay attention to his nutrition, he is not performing, because he has hypoglycemia, he cannot assimilate all his workloads, he gets injured. The technical aspect of football compensates a bit, but it’s true that if you want to have fewer injuries, you have to pay attention to your nutrition, that’s obvious”.
Do you use the services of a dietitian at DFCO?
“I established the main lines. Afterwards, for certain players who have completely unsuitable nutrition, yes, we call on a nutritionist from time to time”.