Huge success for the first edition of the CONMEBOL/FIFA/CIES Programa Ejecutivo de Fútbol

CIES is delighted for its cooperation with FIFA and CONMEBOL for having successfully concluded the Programa Ejecutivo de Fútbol for FIFA’ South American member associations last Saturday at the CONMEBOL headquarters in Asunción, Paraguay. The programme ended with the 7th and last module addressing both the management aspects of a national football team and for a football event. Then, the programme conclusion was celebrated with a graduation ceremony where all the participants who successfully completed the course received their diplomas.  

The principal objective of the programme was to provide, harmonise and broaden football knowledge with the aim of offering enhanced, multi-disciplinary and comprehensive training to General Secretaries and key administrative staff working for member associations in South America.

It was in line with this objective that the President of CONMEBOL, Alejandro Dominguez, closed the first edition of the programme by emphasizing that, “capacity-building is fundamental to transforming South American football”. Furthermore, Gonzalo Belloso, CONMEBOL Development Director and Project Leader also expressed his satisfaction and pride in seeing progress and development in South America through educated leaders committed to football.

Finally, Matteo Tassi, Education Manager at CIES and in charge of the programme thanked the commitment of all participants highlighting “passion and a willingness to share from the participants as key reasons for the success of the programme”.

Indeed, more than 250 participants took part in at least one of the seven modules of the programme and 11 fully completed the course. Enhorabuena to all participants representing the 10 member associations of CONMEBOL for their proactive contributions and for their accomplishment!

The CIES is very optimistic about the freshly completed Football Executive Programme and believes that as a result, this will not only professionalize the ten FIFA member associations represented in South America, but will also contribute to the strengthening and establishment of various collaborations between worldwide football-institutions.

Since its foundation in 1995, the role of CIES has been to spread education and knowledge in the world of sports and with the Football Executive Programme it has the opportunity to focus on the development of administrators and managers of football with the long-term vision of transforming operations more efficiently.

The new programme lasted one year and was delivered by more than forty internationally renowned professionals. It consisted of seven modules and focused on various aspects of football management, including strategy, governance, law, communication, marketing, audio-visual rights and development.