Welcome to the FIFA Master 22nd Edition

On Monday 20^th of September, the students of the 22^nd edition of the FIFA Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport were welcomed to the start of a new academic year by the President of the CIES Foundation Council, Pierre Cornu, CIES Director Prof. Denis Oswald, De Montfort University Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Katie Normington and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities, Simon Bradbury during a special opening ceremony held on the De Montfort University campus in Leicester.

Despite the continuing challenges presented by the global COVID pandemic, the students in the new class represent North and South America, Europe, Australasia, Africa and Asia. We are also delighted to welcome students from Georgia, Grenada and Uzbekistan for the very first time.

The new 2021-22 class will be based in the UK for lectures at De Montfort University’s renowned International Centre for Sports History and Culture as they begin the first Humanities of Sport module of the course. Following completion of this first stage of studies, the class will then move to Italy in January where they will begin their second module concerning studies in Sports Management at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan. The class will then later move to Switzerland for the final Sports Law module at the University of Neuchâtel Law Faculty. Overall co-ordination is provided by the Centre International d’Etude du Sport (CIES) and the course is endorsed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA),

Earlier in the month of September the FIFA Master had celebrated its 20^th anniversary during a two-day “Sport and Future” conference and alumni gathering at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich. The occasion also marked 25 years of the CIES and was an opportunity to celebrate the news that the course had again been named the No.1 postgraduate sports management course in Europe for 2021 and for a record ninth time. This latest accolade follows previous No.1 rankings in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 by the global SportsBusiness International course rankings.

With over 90% of course graduates now working in sport and for organisations that include the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Confedération Africaine du Football (CAF), the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI),  Asian Football Confederation (AFC), USA Soccer, the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC), FC Barcelona Foundation and The Laureus World Sports Awards to name just a few, the impact of the FIFA Master reaches across all continents and all sports.

The CIES, De Montfort University, SDA Bocconi School of Management and the University of Neuchâtel congratulate all 32 members of the new 22^nd edition class on gaining a place on the programme and wish them every success on the course this year.

Welcome to our new students:

Levan Kalandadze, Yann Calder, Aaryaman Banerji, Adil Abrahim, Bolor Bayarsaikhan, Debola Adebanjo, María Belen Bueno Trujillo, Stephanie Bermeo Villegas, Rong Chen, Verdiana Ciccone, Guadalupe Maria Diaz, Geneviève Favre-Savoie, Nabor García, Yasmine Helmy, Adél Köves, Carl Lee, Harley Mitaros, Abdelrahman Nady, Aisha Nazia, Nasir Mayin, Chang Oh, Khushal Palicha, Romaney Pinnock, Andrea Renee Pizzati Andrade, Nada Sakr, Jeremy Salley, Akhmed Tillaev, Rodrigo Tittoto Acra, Melvin Touti Balyl Mendy, Alberto Dimitri Trovamala, Diane Tumutoneshe, Jaejoon Yu and Emmi Zoccolan!

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 and 2021 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).