International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sports Director announced as Patron of the FIFA Master 26th Edition Class
The CIES, partner universities and FIFA Master Scientific Committee were delighted to announce Mr Pierre Ducrey as the FIFA Master 26th edition class Patron during the degree awarding ceremony held in the historic surroundings of the Château de Neuchâtel on Friday 24th July 2026.
We are particularly proud that Pierre accepted this role as he is himself a graduate from the 3rd edition of the FIFA Master. He becomes only the second ever course graduate to return as a class Patron, following Tokyo Olympic Games Gold Medal rower, Emma Twigg (15th edition), who returned as Patron in 2022.
After graduating from the FIFA Master, Pierre joined the IOC in December 2003 having previously worked at the United Nations. He quickly established himself as an outstanding games administrator, holding various positions within the Sports Department, ranging from Project Manager, Operations Manager and Head of Sports Operations and IF Relations. In 2010 he became Head of Olympic Games Coordination and in 2014 Olympic Games Associate Director. His expertise and outstanding leadership qualities were recognised again when in 2020 he was promoted to Games Operations Director. A further promotion soon followed in July 2025 when he was named IOC Sports Director – one of the most senior positions within the Olympic Movement. His distinguished twenty-year career at the IOC has seen him work at the very top level of Olympic Games delivery, including six Summer Games (Athens, Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Paris) and Six Winter Games (Turin, Vancouver, Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing and Milano-Cortina).
Speaking about his time on the course, Pierre said, “Completing the FIFA Master proved to be a key step in my career. It allowed me to meet fantastic individuals who became close friends, meet with key people in the industry and confirmed that this was the career I wanted to pursue. It also allowed me to access internship opportunities which gave me a first chance to acquire the experience which is so often needed to get started in the sports industry”.
Recently ranked the No.1 Postgraduate Sports Management course in Europe for the thirteenth time by the influential SportBusiness rankings, the FIFA Master is delivered in partnership by the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University in the United Kingdom, the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Italy and the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. Overall coordinator is provided by the CIES.
FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, ranked Europe's No.1 course a record 13 times by SportBusiness.
Organised by CIES in cooperation with De Montfort University (UK), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy) and the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland).
"CIES, 30+ years of impacting how sport is managed worldwide" & "FIFA Master, 25+ years of Excellence in Sport Business Education"
