“FIFA Master” 17th Edition Completion of SDA Bocconi Module Report

When we spoke with alumni about the semester in Milan, they told us to enjoy it because it would go really fast. They were right! It was fast, like Usain Bolt level fast! As the semester came to an end, we were fortunate to enjoy great weather, great speakers and great events as we closed out Milan.

Speaking of close outs, our “FIFA Master” Women’s Football Team finished it’s second semester of wins and remains undefeated, a result we hope to continue in Switzerland. Beyond our women’s team, our class had the amazing experience of playing with two of football’s elite: “FIFA Master”’s own classmate, and Manchester United player, Park Ji-Sung vs. renowned Inter player, Javier Zanetti, and friends from Inter Campus at the Suning Development Centre.

Not only did we have the chance to play on the same pitch, but we also experienced the charity work Inter Campus does with children from the Pediatric Oncology-Hematology Department in Monza, Italy. There, they work with children in remission through football and social development skills. For us it was a chance to see another side of sports, as Milan’s primary focus was Sports Business Management.

The Milan module did well to expand our horizons on up and coming topics in sport specifically broadcast and technology. We spent a day at SKY Sports, which opened our eyes to the important world of broadcast rights and revenue streams. From there we also enjoyed a special presentation from Italian announcer Fabio Caressa who became famous during the 2006 World Cup. We truly enjoyed his background and presentation in which he demonstrated the various types of speech used in other countries commentaries.

Post visit to SKY Sports we discussed innovation and technology as they related to sports events. Giuseppe Rizzello from AEG Worldwide spoke to us about the challenges in event management at the stadium level – from a microphone failing when the President of Colombia planned to give an inaugural speech to other particularities required by teams, we understood stadium life can be tough in the moment.

After learning how stadiums operate, we also met with the people who hire the people to run events with guest speakers from Chelsea Football Club and FC Internazionale for a special presentation: The Future of HRM in Football. This event was coordinated in partnership with the “FIFA Master”, SDA Bocconi’s Executive MBA programme, and Bocconi’s undergraduate Sport Management programme, This provided an opportunity to meet with other Bocconi students who are studying in the same field as us.

To update, la dolce vita e’ finita. We spent the last weeks relocating to Neuchâtel, Switzerland, where we begin the final Sports Law module. After 11 weeks in the hype of a big city, we are excited to enjoy lake life and to be able to focus on our final projects.

 

The International MA in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport - the “FIFA Master” is organized by the CIES in partnership with De Montfort University (Leicester, UK), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Milan, Italy) and the University of Neuchâtel.