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The Serbian FA have decided to join in the growing furore over the unlicensed “miracle cure” practised by Marijana Kovacevic on footballers from around the world, despite numerous claims that it has been proven to be successful.

The “placenta treatment” has been used by numerous Liverpool players, Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie and Chelsea’s Frank Lampard, amongst others, and a respected agent, Zoran Stojadinovic, said that Albert Riera has benefited from the treatment.

He said: “Last week I got a call from Liverpool’s Albert Riera, who had come to Belgrade on recommendation of Manchester City’s Belgian international Vincent Kompany. He spent two days in therapy, went back to Liverpool last Thursday and underwent MRI scans with the club’s medical staff. The 2-centimetre muscle tear had fully healed and Riera returned to training two days later.”

But Miljko Ristic, the president of the Serbian FA’s Health Commission, says that, until the treatment is properly tested and approved by the relevant authorities, it is considered to be “quackery” and the clinic should be closed until it has been properly licensed.

“It’s high time the Ministry of Health formed a commission to either approve or ban the use of Marijana Kovacevic’s remedy, whose reported miraculous healing properties in treatment of football players have been widely discussed. Until that moment the procedure should be put out of use,” Ristic maintained in the Serbian newspaper Blic.

“The healer who has helped foreign players does possess some kind of medical licence, but the procedure has not yet been approved, and its application would effectively be illegal. I agree anything that helps players should not be discarded that easily, but I say again – only once it has been scrutinised by experts.”

“I assume the healer hasn’t registered the remedy she uses, just like numerous other healers and quacks when they use their creams, herbs and teas. Until it’s officially registered and approved it should be considered quackery. The Ministry of Health first sets up a commission to obtain an attestation from the Medical School and only then is a drug launched. I’ve been a member of such commissions before, and I remember Bayer’s Aspirin could not be used here until the local commission approved its use and distribution.”

“It may not be until the fiftieth patient the treatment proves to be harmful or that improvements are short-lived. These players are young and strong and take little time to recover and it’s possible that they will experience side effects later on. As I can see, the placenta treatment speeds up the healing process, but other properties should also be taken into account. If it is proven as safe and useful, then any football player should use it, Serbia players, too,” concludes Ristic.

So the controversy continues. But the facts seem to show it has been successful in most cases. Does anyone think that the clinic should be closed down until Marijana gets a license?

This article was first printed in Just Website Reviews