Testimony on hugely successful conference held by Dr Raffaele Poli, the founder of the CIES Football Observatory

To kick off a series of conferences at the University of Neuchâtel, Dr Raffaele Poli, Head of CIES Football Observatory, held a hugely successful interactive presentation entitled “The transfer market and fair pricing of footballers” on 19 September 2018. After a brief talk on the history, mission and strategy of the CIES Football Observatory, Dr Poli presented the approach that its team has conceived and that is now so highly regarded in the world of football all around the globe. He then illustrated with a large number of examples the development of the transfer market, which led to a dynamic open discussion with the public.

Dr Poli made a special emphasis on the economic expansion of the five major European championships who invest increasing sums in transfer fees and salaries to attract and keep the top talent worldwide. Established for thirty years, in his opinion, this process has led to a high concentration of talent at the richest clubs and which supports the assembly of top performing teams. At the same time, market concentration reinforces the imbalance of competitions, as explained by Dr Poli while illustrating the phenomena with several examples. To close the event, the participants had the opportunity to ask further questions, and which continued with an aperitif in the building of the University of Neuchâtel.

The CIES extends its sincere thanks to the event organisers - the University of Neuchâtel, the Association of Students in Economics (SECOMANIA) and the Neuchâtel Society of Economics (SNSE), all of whom made it possible for Dr Poli to hold the conference on “The transfer market and fair pricing of footballers”. 

The CIES Observatory is a research group within the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES). The research team gathers experts specialised in the statistical analysis of sport. Since its creation in 2005, the CIES Football Observatory has become a reference point in the demographic analysis of the football players’ labour market, the technical analysis of player performance and the scientific estimation of transfer values. For more information, please visit: http://www.football-observatory.com/.