City Football Group Explored by FIFA Master Class in Manchester

The current FIFA Master class had the chance to undertake a truly memorable visit to Manchester City FC this month. The specially arranged visit allowed the 19th edition Postgraduates to learn more about the impressive City Football Group (CFG) network, which now consists of Manchester City FC, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos, Girona FC as well as Club Atlético Torque.

The state of the art City Football Academy (CFA) was the first destination for the FIFA Master class. On arrival, they were warmly welcomed by Manchester City Football Club Chief Operating Officer, Omar Berrada, who provided a detailed overview of the CFG group structure and answered questions from the class in a later Q and A session.

During a comprehensive day of presentations by senior club representatives, the class were later able to learn more about various aspects of Manchester City FC, including partnership operations, fan engagement activities, financial analysis, and the growth strategy for the highly successful Manchester City Women’s Team. The class also had the opportunity to spend time with FIFA Master 13th edition graduate, Alexander Staehelin, who is now Strategy & Development Manager in CFG’s global Operations Development Team.

Following a tour of the Academy and First Team facilities, the class transferred to the Etihad Stadium for the chance to visit the home dressing room where world-class players such as Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, and Raheem Steerling prepare for matches each week.

The FIFA Master academic team would like to extend their sincere thanks to everybody at Manchester City FC for making the 19th edition class so welcome and for such an important contribution to the course. We are proud of the strong relationship between the club and the FIFA Master, with several course graduates now working for CFG in various positions around the world.

FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, ranked No.1 Course in Europe 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018 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).