Debrecen4U
October 29, 2026
University of Debrecen’s Sports Diagnostics Centre Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Established 2016 at the Great Forest Stadium with the aim of making modern sports medicine services accessible to everyone, SET Centre is home to the Department of Sports Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine, as well as the Clinical Centre’s Sports Health Clinicm while working closely with the University of Debrecen’s Sports Science Coordination Centre.
Speaking at the anniversary event on Tuesday, Rector Zoltán Bács looked back on the centre’s beginnings, recalling that many people initially questioned whether such a facility was really necessary. “The fact that the infrastructure was built here is one thing. As the saying goes, the walls of an opera house cannot sing, just as the seats in a stadium cannot play the game. Everything depends on the people. Over the years, I have received a great deal of feedback, including from DVSC players, both Hungarian and foreign, saying that this service within the stadium, along with the infrastructure and expertise available here, is extremely rare in Europe and can only be found at the biggest clubs. This development has also proven worthwhile as it serves a real purpose and has a clear path for further growth,” Zoltán Bács emphasised.
The Rector expressed his pride that SET Centre stands out not only in Hungary but potentially across Europe. With the involvement of various university departments and service providers, it supports education and research while also serving athletes, sports clubs and members of the public.
Over the past ten years, Professor Sándor Szántó and his colleagues have built the institution from the ground up. In his welcome address, the SET’s Medical Director and Head of the University of Debrecen’s Department of Sports Medicine stressed that ten years was not a long time in the life of an institution, but everyone could be proud of how far they had come since the beginning. “University leadership recognised that supporting university sports cannot be limited to analysing league tables and striving for good results. The health of athletes, injury prevention, the proper diagnosis and rehabilitation of injuries, and the encouragement of university students to lead active lifestyles are all equally important. SET is a facility that combines outstanding infrastructure with a high level of professional expertise. Every moment, we work to help those who turn to us, as part of a team that is both family-like and professional. From the outset, we have aimed to create an environment in which people feel confident coming to us, and we have been able to build on that trust. It gives us extra motivation when we see an athlete competing successfully on the field again after we have helped them through rehabilitation following a serious injury. I hope that SET has not only a proud past but an equally successful future. Our most important goal, and the reason we work so hard, is to make more people aware of our services, both in Hungary and beyond its borders,” Sándor Szántó concluded.
Balázs Makray, Managing Director of DVSC, presented SET with a DVSC shirt bearing the team’s signatures. The centre’s managers, doctors, physiotherapists and other specialists then celebrated together with their partners, DEAC representatives, and sports and university officials.
Opened in 2016, the Sports Diagnostics, Lifestyle and Therapy Centre offers modern physiotherapy equipment and a range of facilities, including ultrasound and X-ray equipment, a cryosauna and physiotherapy rooms. These support health assessments, performance diagnostics and post-injury rehabilitation for athletes and the general public. The centre also offers numerous specialist outpatient services, including cardiology, dermatology and rheumatology. Visitors can undergo body composition measurements and receive related dietary advice. Other services include gait analysis, exercise ECG testing and anthropometric measurements.
The centre offers the full range of athlete assessments in a way that is unique in Hungary, and numerous professional sports teams have used its services in recent years. DEAC’s top-flight teams, as well as DVSC’s football and handball teams, regularly begin their seasons at SET and teams from Kisvárda and Mezőkövesd have also visited in the past. The centre welcomes professional and amateur athletes alike, as well as members of the public seeking to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
Over the past decade, SET specialists have also helped provide medical support at several major international sporting events hosted in Hungary. One of the most significant was the 2023 World Athletics Championships, where Medical Director Sándor Szántó and his team were responsible for the professional management of the physiotherapy unit.
The centre also has a particularly strong strategic partnership with BMW as the German automotive giant carries out employee health screenings at SET’s state-of-the-art medical complex. In addition, SET specialists support employee rehabilitation at the physiotherapy and rehabilitation complex established within BMW Group Plant Debrecen’s health centre.
Source: dehir.hu | Photo credit: Debrecen városa (Facebook)
