Two days at the heart of world football: FIFA Master 23rd edition class visit the FIFA headquarters and FIFA Museum in Zurich

Each year, the FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport class has the opportunity to visit the Home of FIFA and the FIFA Museum in Zurich for what is one of the most important field visits of the academic year. This is a key moment in the life of each edition, as it allows students to listen to talks from senior FIFA Managers and also alumni of the FIFA Master who are now working at one of the most important international sporting federations in the world.

Indeed, currently, 60 course graduates from the total of our 600+ alumni are now working at the organisation in various roles.

For the current 23rd edition FIFA Master class, Thursday 27 April 2023 will be a day they will never forget as they had the pleasure and honour to listen to an inspirational speech from Chief Women's Football Officer, Sarai Bareman, and to meet with Chief of Global Football Development, Arsène Wenger, as part of their field visit schedule.

The class also enjoyed presentations on FIFA's work from staff representing Corporate Communications, Member Associations, Brand and Creative Services, Women’s Football and Development, Football Technology and Innovation, Technical Development and Human Resources.

The following day was also busy for the students as they had the opportunity to visit the FIFA Museum. Here, the class had the chance to learn more about their important work during a series of talks by museum representatives, tour the vast collection of football artefacts and attend an impressive presentation on the FIFA Foundation, by Mariana Banús, Head of FIFA Foundation Administration. Finally, the class visited the comprehensive Documentation Centre which will be an important resource as the students continue to work on their Final Project research.

The two-day visit had one final treat for the FIFA Master 23rd edition class with the opportunity to play a mixed football match on one of the pitches at FIFA House.  The game eventually finished with the current class as the winners.

This memorable 48 hours then concluded with a joint evening dinner between FIFA staff and alumni of the Master.

The International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES) and the course partner universities would like to warmly thank FIFA, and especially Honey Thaljieh, FIFA Communications Special Projects Manager and 12th edition FIFA Master graduate, for hosting the 23rd edition class in such a welcoming way and for making the visit so special for our students.

FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, ranked No.1 Course in Europe 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 by the SportBusiness International global rankings.

Organised by CIES in partnership with De Montfort University (United Kingdom), SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy) and the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland).