“FIFA Master” Alumni – Where are they now? – Shin Achiwa

Shin Achiwa

Current Position: Senior Manager at the Asian Department, Sports Division, Dentsu Inc.

Year of graduation: 2011 (11th Edition)

Nationality: Japanese

What does your current role involve?

I joined the Sports Division at Dentsu Inc., immediately after graduating from the “FIFA Master” in 2011. Dentsu, which is based in Tokyo, is the largest single-brand advertising agency in the world and our specialist Sports Division has more than 300 dedicated staff working in the area of sports marketing. Since I joined the company, Tokyo has been awarded the 2020 Summer Olympic Games and Dentsu was selected by the LOC to be its exclusive marketing agent. Not surprisingly, I am really enjoying my work during the busiest and most challenging period for the company!  

At Dentsu, I am mainly responsible for sponsorship sales on behalf of major football organizations across Asia, such as the Asian Football Confederation, East Asian Football Federation, ASEAN Football Federation, South Asian Football Federation, and also some of the National Football Associations. I am also in charge of event management, sports personality endorsements, rights delivery as well as managing and fulfilling all client expectations. In addition, over the past few years I have also been heavily involved with the organizing of sports management conferences across Asia in partnership with CIES. This series of joint CIES events has already attracted more than 3,000 attendees so far. Indeed, the events have always packed out the conference room as representatives from organizations such as the Football Associations, Leagues, football clubs, sport marketing agencies, sponsors, media, universities and individuals with a strong interest in sport business have all flocked to attend.

Over the past 5 years, I have been fortunate to visit nearly 30 different countries as part of my business role. As part of these trips I always try to contact with “FIFA Master” alumni whenever I have a chance to visit new area. Not surprisingly, each country has its own customs and in order to ensure the smooth operation of our events, we have to “respect each other”. I strongly believe this is one of the most important things which I learnt from the diversity of my “FIFA Master” class with 25 different nationalities in it!

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

The highly experienced and renowned lecturers of the ”FIFA Master” are very accessible. Also, the course alumni are always willing to help, which opens a lot of opportunities. For example, during my law module in Switzerland, I had the chance to meet with executive management at FIFA through the kind introduction of a “FIFA Master” alumni. His strong support and recommendation helped me with the opportunity I have here at Dentsu.

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

The “FIFA Master” did not only change the way I now see the global sports industry, but it also shifted my entire life through the opportunities and the “FMA alumni association family” has given me. Whether a candidate is willing to work overseas or return to his/her home country after the graduation from the Master, they do it from a much higher standing, both with the new knowledge acquired from lectures and classmates, but also the diversity of networking. For me, the programme certainly gave me great contacts in the world of sport business and those connections are truly helpful in my current business role. I would recommend future students to be actively involved with the programme. Form strong relationships with your professors, and take advantage of all the opportunities presented throughout the year of meeting dynamic guest speakers and alumni.

 

The “FIFA Master" - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport 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. In 2017 the “FIFA Master” was ranked as the No.1 course in Europe for the fifth time by the SportBusiness International global rankings.

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