The FIFA/CIES University Network Prize 2023 goes to...

During a meeting held on 3rd March 2023 at the CIES headquarters in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, an international jury awarded the FIFA/CIES International University Network Prize 2023 to four students from Universidad Santo Tomás in Santiago, Chile.

After evaluating the fifteen competing projects, the jury underlined that the general level of the projects improves year after year, especially in the use of sources and content which reflects the six modules taught on the FIFA/CIES International Programme in Sport Management, as well as in the originality and adaptation to local needs and realities. The projects all showed that the students were able to make good use of modern management tools.

Five works in particular caught the attention of the jury. These were presented by:

• Universidad Católica Argentina (Argentina): "Desarrollo de un plan integral de innovación hacia la accesibilidad universal e inclusión para CONMEBOL"

• Cairo University (Egypt): “FAME Female Athlete Management & Event”

• Cairo University (Egypt): “L’Académie de l’Espoir”

• Universidad Santo Tomás (Chile): “Fundación 'Juega reciclando’”

• Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil): “What to do in order to increase consumption of sports broadcasts among the Z generation”

After a lengthy discussion, the members of the jury decided to award the FIFA/CIES International University Network Prize 2023 to the project submitted by the four students from Universidad Santo Tomás in Chile, namely Gastón Ibáñez Rojas, Joaquín Cárdenas Kaechele, Gissele Toro Santibáñez and Sebastián Alvear Alfaro.

This project aims to create a foundation which recycles surgical masks, as used during the COVID crisis, to produce sports surfaces and other floors. Combining technological innovation, local adaptation, financial planning and market research, this work was fully in line with the winning project criteria. The members of the jury hope that this kind of recycling research, which is beneficial to sports infrastructures, can also be implemented in other regions.

Prof. Pierre Lanfranchi, Scientific Coordinator of the FIFA/CIES International University Network, said, "This Prize offers healthy competition between the different partner universities. This year we have been able to appreciate the quality of the projects aimed at promoting integration through sport. Indeed, whether in Egypt with orphans, in CONMEBOL stadiums, improving the representation of women or the next generation, we can only be delighted with the success of this competition”.

The members of the jury would like to thank all of the universities and students of the FIFA/CIES International University Network for their excellent work.

Congratulations to the winning students who will soon have the opportunity to visit the FIFA headquarters and CIES in Switzerland.