FIFA MASTER ALUMNI - WHERE ARE THEY NOW? - BUGRA CEM IMAMOGULLARI

Bugra Cem Imamogullari

Current Position: Head of International Relations and Events at the Turkish Football Federation (TFF)

Year of graduation: 2016 (16th Edition)

Nationality: Turkish

What does your current role involve?

Working for Turkish Football is very exciting. Turkey loves football and our nation lives and breathes the game every single day. This is what makes this job so dynamic and motivating.

Regarding my role, I am leading the department which has two main functions: International Relations and International Events.

On the International Relations side, we are the primary contact for all international stakeholders, such as FIFA, UEFA and other national football associations as well as other international non-governmental organisations. We share and distribute the latest developments in the international football world with the relevant departments in the TFF organisation, as well as reaching to the international stakeholders related to any requests or need from the TFF.

In addition to that, we also supervise the coordination of funding and capacity building programmes which are run by international governing bodies like FIFA, UEFA, on behalf of TFF.

The International Events side is more focused on the operational side of the workload as we are onsite and running the events. Primarily, the organisation of all international games which Turkish national team is involved in is under the responsibility of my department. We are also in charge of the international Events hosted by International Football Organisations. The 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup, 2009 UEFA Cup, 2012 UEFA Congress and 2019 UEFA Super Cup are some of the main events that I have worked in the past.

Currently, we are working on the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final, which was initially planned for Spring 2020 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now postponed to 29 May 2021.

Work is challenging most of the time, hence I am lucky enough to work with a good management above me and an experienced team works with me.

Which aspects of the FIFA Master course have helped you most in your career?

The FIFA Master has been extremely important in my career, first because it has a great reputation in the industry. However, its importance is not limited to that, the knowledge that I have gained during the course also continues to support me throughout my career.

When I applied for the FIFA Master, I had two main goals. One was to build friendships within the industry which would later become collaborations and partnerships. And secondly, to have a visible role in the international sports landscape with the help of the program. Both these expectations were fulfilled so far.

What advice would you give to future students on the course?

What I would advise to current students is to learn as much as they can and establish strong friendships during their FIFA Master adventure. 

 

FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, ranked No.1 Course in Europe 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 by the SportBusiness International global rankings.

Organised by CIES in partnership with De Montfort University (United Kingdom), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy) and the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland).

 

As of 1st October 2020 the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) has officially opened the application process for the 22nd edition (2021-2022) of the FIFA Master.

Please note that the deadline for applying is midday (12pm) Central European Time on Friday 8th of January 2021. Only complete applications received by this date will be considered by the Scientific Committee. 

Please click on this link to access the online application form