Wimbledon welcomes 20th edition FIFA Master class for the opening field visit of the new academic year

The 20th anniversary edition of the FIFA Master - International MA in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport got off to a memorable start with a first field visit of the new academic year to the world-famous venue for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London.

In late summer sunshine the class had the opportunity to visit the iconic All England Club Centre Court where earlier in the summer Novak Djokovic had won his fifth Wimbledon title and Romania’s Simona Halep had beaten seven-time champion Serena Williams to win her first Wimbledon title.

A busy visit schedule then allowed the class to see first-hand the significant building improvements the club continues to make each year to the historic site of the Championships, including the installation of a new retractable roof on No.1 court for 2019 and the state-of-the-art television studios used by host broadcasters.

Later the class were able to learn about the unique business and marketing strategies used during the tournament in a series of presentations by the All England Club and also on the wider sporting and cultural influence of former stars of the Championships such as Suzanne Lenglen who dominated women’s tennis between 1914 and 1926, and pioneering former Champion, Althea Gibson, who won the Ladies’ Singles title in 1957 and 1958.

The afternoon then concluded with the chance to tour the collection of exhibits held in the state-of-the-art Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. Here, the 20th edition students, who have now started their studies for the opening Humanities of Sport module at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University, began to research the significant historical and cultural heritage of the Championships in preparation for their first course assessment in a few days time.

James Panter, who is the FIFA Master Humanities of Sport Module Co-ordinator and who organised the field visit said, “Our day at Wimbledon was the perfect way to start the 20th anniversary edition of the course and we are extremely grateful to everybody at the All England Club for making us so welcome and for spending so much time with our students during the day”.

 

FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, ranked No.1 Course in Europe 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 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).