Great news from Poland: Tomasz Flakowski, who attended the 4th edition of the FIFA/CIES Programme in Sports Management organised by Kozminski University (KU) in Warsaw, has just been appointed as manager of the Olimpia Elblag Football Club. The club, located in the northern part of Poland, was founded in 1945. They are currently playing in the second division of the Polish league.

Tomasz Flakowski is delighted with his appointment, which represents an important step in his career, as well as the opportunity to work "for a club, football and society". Here he answers a few questions about his new role and shared his impressions of the KU/FIFA/CIES Programme.

What are your current responsibilities within the club?

As a manager, my job involves taking care of all the organisational aspects related to the smooth functioning of the club. Working at Olimpia Elblag means carrying out various projects such as developing new partnerships, negotiating and implementing new contracts related to sponsorship or commercial rights, redefining club structures or putting the best trends and processes in sports business into practice. My duties also include raising awareness of the club's brand at the local and global level by promoting corporate social responsibility projects. This is very important to us.

What aspects of the KU/FIFA/CIES Programme have been most useful to you in your professional activities so far?

I am a lawyer by training. When I started the Programme, I was working for various companies in Poland and abroad, including the largest private company in my country. Then I had the opportunity to work with a few Polish football clubs as a consultant or a member of their executive committee. So clearly, the law module was one of the strengths of the Programme for me. However, this module alone would not have allowed me to take on the important responsibilities I have today. The other parts of the Programme, which explore theoretical and practical aspects of the sports industry in greater depth, are essential in the training of any sports manager.

In addition, the information I was given during the course helped me to create my own company, Futceo. We are active in consultancy related to sports management. Our approach focuses on practical cases to train football club managers. Our goal is to help them discover the potential of their club and take it to the next level. We therefore work on case studies and firmly believe in exchanges of views between CEOs and managers on the essential themes of contemporary football. That is what they need to change and shape the industry of their sport.

What advice would you give students attending future editions of the KU/FIFA/CIES Executive Programme?

The best advice I can give them is to stay open-minded and not to consider any given module or part of the Programme as superfluous. In addition, they should really make the most of networking opportunities, which are extremely beneficial. Future students must be convinced that the Programme can make a substantial contribution to their careers. They should learn everything they can from the classes taught by experts and lecturers, who are all highly qualified. The specific information they will have access to is an undeniable advantage of the course. It will later lead them to success in sports management.

We send our congratulations to Tomasz who will undoubtedly make excellent use of his new knowledge and experience to ensure the future success of Polish football.