CONCACAF, CIES sign cooperation agreement

MIAMI -- CONCACAF and the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) signed a wide-ranging cooperation agreement for mutual support in the areas of research and education.

“This collaboration offers an outstanding opportunity for CONCACAF to access top level expertise and best practices in key areas for our organization's development,” said CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb. “It also provides CIES with valuable input from the CONCACAF region and we are convinced that such a two-way collaboration can only benefit both organizations and football in our region and globally.”

Among the many benefits, the cooperation arrangement will allow CIES to provide CONCACAF with academic resources and knowledge, research facilities and workshops and seminars in the fields of management, marketing and law.

In return, CONCACAF will provide opportunities for postgraduate students of the FIFA Master (International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport), FIFA Master Alumni and FIFA/CIES International University Network students and alumni to work at CONCACAF or its member associations and will collaborate in CIES Sports Management Courses by providing its expertise.

“Since the launch of the FIFA Master in 2000, we have always tried to strengthen the links with the sports industry,” said Vincent Schatzmann, CIES General Secretary. “This agreement represents a further step in this direction giving the opportunity to some of our postgraduate students to work, directly after graduation, in the heart of the football world at CONCACAF.”

Indeed, CIES has during more than a decade, acquired a great experience in delivering high quality international sport management education programmes with the aim of overcoming the complexities of sport in today's society and improving how it is governed and managed.

The CIES is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel.

In particular, CIES manages the FIFA Master program through three prestigious universities: De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom ; SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy; and the University of Neuchâtel, Neuchatel, Switzerland; as well as the FIFA/CIES International University Network, a network of universities that delivers sport management programs in some key countries around the world.