India: Graduation ceremony at Pillai University
Pillai University, an academic partner of CIES since 2019, recently awarded degrees to students from the 7th cohort of the FIFA/CIES International Programme in Sports Management in Navi Mumbai.
The students received their diplomas in the presence of Franav Pillai, Director of the FIFA/CIES International Programme in India; Celina Joy, Academic Coordinator; Shaji Prabhakaran, CIES Local Coordinator; and Vincent Monnier, CIES representative.
Several graduates highlighted the importance of this course not only for their professional careers in sport, but also for their personal enrichment and development. They appreciated the balance between theoretical lessons and practical examples provided by numerous national and international experts from the industry. For some of them, the final group project enabled them to apply the knowledge they had acquired to a concrete project relevant to the Indian sporting sector.
The students also appreciated the field visits, which enabled them to meet people in their everyday environment and discuss practical aspects of sports management.
In this regard, we would like to thank Pillai University and its team for the excellent work they are doing to continuously improve the FIFA/CIES International University Network Programme in the country and to offer students a course which continues to meet their expectations.
Another encouraging development that testifies to the calibre of the students on the Programme in India, as well as the quality of teaching at Pillai University, is that two alumni from the Class of 2025 have been selected to take part in the current edition of the FIFA Master. It is worth noting that the FIFA Master has maintained its position as the leading postgraduate sport management course in Europe with a record-breaking 14th No.1 award in the new 2026 SportBusiness rankings. In addition, the FIFA Master has been named as No.2 in the world.
We wish Jeeth Devaiah, Aditya Pal, Naveen Krishna P, Abhinav Mishra, Vijay Fedricks, Sarfaraz Hussain, Rushil Jayant, Viraj Kadam, Ajil Reji Sam, Komala Pd, Netravati Naduvinmani, Supriya Kuvlekar, Nihal Gupta and Amritpal Singh Pannu every success as they build their careers in sport.
