CIES Observatory

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. Its aim is to provide top level services for sports governing bodies in the areas of questionnaire surveys, databases, data mining, business intelligence, and reporting.

The CIES Observatory has notably undertaken research activities and developed joint projects with a wide array of stakeholders in the sports industry, which include but are not limited to, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Opta, RunningBall and France Football.

In 2012, the CIES Observatory has teamed up with the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) to elaborate the first ever International Basketball Migration Report (IBMR). On the basis of certified data on international transfers gathered throughout the previous calendar year by FIBA, the CIES Observatory’s research team has produced a 64-page highly illustrated report.

This report is a perfect example of the increased valuation of underexploited data available at sports federations. The analysis undertaken allows for unveiling market trends and highlighting new challenges from a business intelligence perspective. Beyond the theme of athlete migration, the CIES Observatory would be happy to apply its proven methodological and conceptual know-how by dealing with other relevant areas from a sports governance and regulation perspective.

Since 2005, the CIES has also endorsed the Professional Football Players Observatory (PFPO) which was set up by the current CIES Observatory head Dr Raffaele Poli and senior researcher Dr Loïc Ravenel. In 2011, it was renamed CIES Football Observatory within the context of the broader CIES Observatory project.

Find the CIES Football Observatory's reports and news on its dedicated website.

CIES Football Observatory’s annual publications are on sale on the CIES online shop.