FIFA MASTER ALUMNI - WHERE ARE THEY NOW? - BIPLAV GAUTAM

Biplav Gautam

Current Position: Head of Sports Partnerships, APAC at Sportradar

Year of graduation: 2007 (7th edition)

Nationality: American and Nepali

 

What does your current role involve?

For the past 5 years I have been leading the business development of Sportradar’s Integrity Services in Asia out of our Singapore office. Sportradar is a leading sports data and media provider headquartered in St. Gallen, Switzerland, with 30 offices across 25 countries and with 2,500+ full-time employees.

My main responsibility is to forge integrity partnerships with Asian sports federations and other relevant stakeholders. The position has allowed me to work with nearly 20+ sports entities across Asia and probably required me to visit a similar amount of countries in the continent.  Furthermore, the integrity space (e.g. anti-match-fixing, anti-doping, compliance) is a fascinating field to work in. I am privileged to have a great group of colleagues working with me and I have been given a lot of autonomy to develop and implement our Asia strategy. For all these reasons, I have thoroughly enjoyed my career so far at Sportradar.

I am currently transitioning into a position in our Sports Partnerships division. The role will be quite similar to my previous one, the main difference being that I will be responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders across several of our business units beyond just Integrity Services.

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

For me, the alumni network has by far been the greatest asset of the FIFA Master programme. I am absolutely amazed at the number of course alumni I cross paths with by way of my work and during my travels. Here in Asia almost every sports entity I work with and country I visit has one or several alumni.

The FIFA Master alumni network has been incredibly valuable to me and for my work. Our alumni are well embedded in Asian sports and many currently hold influential roles and are in a position to provide substantive support. Thankfully we have a very friendly and helpful alumni network that are usually very supportive of one another.  I can categorically say that close to 60 percent of the successes I’ve had in my role have been directly or indirectly a result of a link or assistance received from someone in the FIFA Master alumni network.

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

I would encourage students to fully enjoy the amazing experiences that come with living in three countries across Europe and having classmates from all corners of the globe. Furthermore, they should really try to absorb as much of the class material as they can, as they will not have the time to take in such content once they are fully engrossed in the professional world. Also, for those who do not know a second language – which is quite a valuable skill in the sports job market, the FIFA Master provides a good opportunity to start learning Italian or French.

FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, ranked No.1 Course in Europe 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 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). 

Discover more examples of inspiring FIFA Master alumni career paths by clicking here.