Catapult signs performance partnership with Romanian Football Federation

Catapult has signed a performance partnership with the Romanian Football Federation (FRF), providing the FIFA top-25 senior men’s and U21 national team with wearable technology services to manage athlete performance.

Utilising Catapult’s field-based OptimEye S5 and G5 technologies for outfield players and goalkeepers respectively, the FRF will implement an innovative new approach to performance management for the senior and U21 teams.

Taking an innovative, federation-wide approach to improving performance infrastructure and the use of technology, Romania’s head coach, Cosmin Contra, is leading the charge.

“Catapult technology helps us measure physical parameters both in training and in matches and this is happening in real time,” Contra said. “Using Catapult we can greatly increase our quality and prevent injuries. Today, from my point of view, GPS monitoring is very important within a national or club team. We live in a time of data and we, the ones who work in the field, must use every advantage to increase the performance of the players and to protect them.”

Romania U21 head coach, Mirel Rădoi, is looking forward to implementing Catapult’s technology to better understand the physiological loads placed on his athletes.

“I am very happy to use it,” Rădoi said. “It’s the best you can find on the market. It is used by more than 2,000 national teams and professional clubs in various sports. It helps us a lot in training. There are studies that show that football is growing in intensity year on year and it is important to keep up with technology, to benefit from the latest and most advanced training systems.”

Catapult is excited by the opportunity to build on the relationship with a major football power and support the FRF as it develops as a federation, primarily through the hosting of regional workshops to advance the education of their performance staff.

The deal commences in time for the release of Catapult’s newest wearable technology solution, Catapult Vector, which will be deployed within the federation following its mid-2019 launch. Vector delivers a new level of accuracy, usability, and efficiency to empower critical decisions about performance, risk, and return to play.

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