2012 FIFA/CIES network prize and special prize awarded to students from Spain and Palestine

During a meeting held at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich on 13 January 2012, an international jury consisting of 6 members - Christoph Schmidt (FIFA), Harold Mayne-Nicholls (Chile), Jinxian Dong (China), Dino Ruta (Italia), Pierre Lanfranchi (CIES) and Vincent Schatzmann (CIES) – met to review all of the projects submitted for the 2012 FIFA/CIES International University Network Prize.

After careful consideration, the jury members crowned the project presented by Sonia Calvo Herrero and Isabel García Blanco (University King Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain) on the subject of enumerating and developing tools to reinforce the links between Spanish professional football clubs and their supporters (“Cómo potenciar la relación entre el club de fútbol profesional y su afición?”) as the winning project. The jury was particularly impressed with the overall academic quality of the work.

In addition, the jury decided to give a Special Prize to the work of Ayat Saafin, Yousef Pedersawi, Nael Deguera et Hussein Al-Sheikh (Birzeit University, Ramallah, Palestine) for their project “Recycling of used tyres to create basic materials for the construction of sports facilities” (“Recycling for Sports”) in recognition of its innovative spirit and its feasibility.

The jury noted the high standard of all projects received this year and congratulated all of the groups who participated in the competition.

The International University Network Prize was created to acknowledge the best group project developed within the FIFA/CIES Programme in sport management. The prize-winners will now have the opportunity to travel to Switzerland and visit FIFA’s “House of Football”, the CIES headquarters in Neuchâtel and to present their work to the FIFA Master students.

FIFA and the CIES wish to congratulate Sonia, Isabel, Ayat, Yousef, Nael and Hussein for their outstanding work. We look forward to welcoming you all to Switzerland soon!