Delegates gather in Glasgow for the Knowledge Olympics
Among the topics for discussion at the second International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport (ICSEMIS) – which started yesterday at the SECC – is sudden death on the football pitch.
Representatives from countries including Afghanistan, Brazil, Hungary and Nepal will discuss papers such as Athletes' Hearts and Sudden Death in Sport, and From the Playground to the Podium: The Fitness and Health of Children Through Sport.
Football has lost several top players after they suffered cardiac arrests on the pitch, most recently Italian Piermario Morosini, 25, who collapsed while playing for Livorno in April.
Closer to home, Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell died, aged 35, after a heart attack on the Fir Park pitch in December 2007.
Bolton star Fabrice Muamba is still recovering after his heart stopped for more than one hour during a match in March.
Also up for discussion at the conference is the abuse of referees.
Previously known as the Pre-Olympic Congress, the ICSEMIS sees scientists, academics and sportspeople come together in the run-up to the summer Olympics to discuss major issues in sport.
With the London 2012 Games just days away, Glasgow's hosting of the event is estimated to be worth £5million to the city.
Professor Celia Brackenridge, of Brunel University, London, is head of the local organising committee.
She is thrilled Glasgow is staging the event, which ends on Tuesday.
She said: "ICSEMIS is never held in the same city as the Olympics, as there just wouldn't be the capacity. When London won the right to hold the 2012 Games, I was living in Edinburgh and I was hearing people on TV saying how there was nothing in it for Scotland.
"I suggested we bring the ICSEMIS to Glasgow as it has one of the best conferencing venues around in the SECC. The support we've had from the city has been phenomenal."