Category Archives: News

MESGO Alumni gets together in Bucharest in the context of the UEFA Academy Summit

MESGO Alumni, News

The MESGO Alumni Association got together in Bucharest on 22 September 2023, for their Annual General Assembly meeting.

A crucial part of the General Assembly is the committee election of board members, and the MESGO team is pleased to congratulate Kevin Ashby (MESGO IV graduate) on his re-election as President of the Alumni Association.

Kevin Ashby, President of the MESGO Alumni Association

The board is made up of the following members (from left to right):

  • Heidi Beha, Team Lead Development Programmes Europe, FIFA – MESGO IV
  • Kevin Ashby (President), Senior Digital Content Manager, UEFA – MESGO IV
  • Elisa Turrioni (Treasurer), Administrative and Organisational Manager, Bonzini – MESGO IV 
  • Robert Pongracz, Senior Director, Global account management, Football Events, IMG – MESGO II
  • Alex Gerontikos, VP Sales Europe, Sportradar – MESGO IV
  • Ciska du Plessis-Austin, Strategic Advisor and Acting VP Finances, Cycling South Africa – MESGO V (not in photo)

After the election of the committee board members, the objectives of the association were discussed. The key-note speaker, Răzvan Burleanu, President of the Romanian Football Federation and a MESGO IV graduate, then presented the plans of the Romanian Football Federation and spoke about the progress and the transformational path that has been taken to achieve success.

Răzvan Burleanu, President of the Romanian Football Federation

The Alumni association was created in 2015 to produce a formal network of top professionals in sports governance and ensure that knowledge sharing will continue between former MESGO participants.

A huge thank you to all the MESGO alumni who attended the meeting and looking forward to meeting you all again soon.

Congratulations Robert!

MESGO VII, News

Robert Caldwell, a participant from the MESGO current edition, has started a new position as VP of Legal & General Counsel of Real Salt Lake (Major League Soccer) and Utah Royals FC (National Women’s Soccer League).

After law school, Robert worked for a private law firm in Las Vegas, where his practice focused on sports law, international law, and business transactions and litigation. He represented athletes and teams across multiple sports, including assisting ownership groups in purchasing existing teams or starting expansion franchises.

In 2020, he moved to Miami to help Khabib Nurmagomedov found Eagle FC, a start-up mixed martial arts (MMA) league. Their successful first event drew 500,000 viewers from more than 180 countries around the world.

Following this, he has decided to follow his heart back to football and is now the VP of Legal & General Counsel for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the expansion Utah Royals FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

On behalf of all the MESGO community we would like to wish him the best of success in his new role!

The MESGO team in Barcelona for session 5

MESGO VII, News

From Monday 26 to Friday 30 June 2023, the MESGO VII participants were in Barcelona for the fifth session of the programme, which was dedicated to sports events and participation.

Organised by Francesc Solanellas, professor in sports management at Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya (National Physical Education Institute of Catalonia), this session was aimed at examining how sports events are organised by taking a look at the various stakeholders, stages and procedures involved in different sports and events of varying scales. The topic of participation was also tackled, given the impact that events have on sports and the common strategic objective of national and international federations to promote their respective sports.

Francesc Solanellas, session director and professor of sport management at INEFC.

During this week, the MESGO participants were warmly welcomed by the Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya (INEFC); the RCD Espanyol Stadium, the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit and Barcelona World Race.

The MESGO group at RCD Espanyol Stadium.

The MESGO group at the circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

We would like to sincerely thank all the speakers who contributed to this session including key representatives of MESGO sports partners (FIBA, IIHF and UEFA) who did us the honour of attending the seminar. A special thanks goes to Robert Rieblinger, 3X3 Development Manager (FIBA) and Florian Pasquet, National Federations and Sport Senior Manager (FIBA) for their contribution to the case study on the future development of 3×3 Basketball, which was debated by the participants.

Andreas Schär, Managing Director, Euro 2024

Barbara Storaci, Senior Project Manager, Football Planning & Services, UEFA

Leslie Ryan, Event Director, America’s Cup

Manel Arroyo, Strategic Advisor, DORNA

Gorka Llort, Director of Digital Business, MotoGP

Jeremy Cottino, Membership Project Leader, European Club Association

Neil Beecroft, Chief Disruption Officer, The Shift Agency

Layne Vandenberg, Executive Office Project Manager, UEFA

Miguel Crespo, Head Participation and Education, International Tennis Federation
Rachel Pavlou, Women’s Development Manager – Diversity & Inclusion, The English FA
Kalle Valiäho, Development Director, International Ice Hockey Federation

André Fläckel, Head of Gaming and Esports, Infront Sports
Gustavo Arellano, Head of Commercial Development, FIBA

As usual, team-building events were organised during the week, in this case, participants competed against each other in a kart racing competition and experienced the Barcelona skyline in a unique way cruising aboard a catamaran.

The next MESGO session, which will focus on strategic marketing and communication, will take place in London (UK) from 30 October to 3 November 2023.

MESGO mourns the passing of Gurvan KERVADEC, Director General of the French Volleyball League.

MESGO Alumni, MESGO V, News

It was with great sadness and emotion that we learned of the tragic death of Gurvan, MESGO V participant, at the age of 51.

His passion and dedication to sport in general, and basketball in particular, was reflected in his commitment both on and off the court.

A basketball player since the age of 9, Gurvan was also a youth basketball referee and U15 team coach for many years.

Off the court, he put his experience in sports management at the service of leading sports organisations.

He worked for the French Rugby Federation for 13 years, where his multiple, diverse skills (finance, human resources, management) enabled him to reach executive level as head of the sports department. Always ready for new challenges, he then took up the position of Administrative and Financial Director at Stade Français Paris, one of the major rugby clubs in the Top 14.

His desire to learn and share his knowledge and experience with others naturally led him to apply to MESGO, which he joined in September 2018, where, among his many contributions, he wrote a thesis on the social impact of sport, with a particular focus on the inclusion of people with physical disabilities.

After MESGO, Gurvan joined the French Volleyball League, where he held the position of General Manager since June 2020.

For the MESGO family, Gurvan will be remembered as a caring and passionate person with a strong sense of ethics.

The entire MESGO team extends its sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.  Our thoughts are with them at this very difficult time.

MESGO congratulates Stefan Gunnarsson

MESGO VII, News

A participant from the current MESGO edition has been appointed to a new executive position.

Since January, Stefan Gunnarsson has stepped into the role of Club Licensing and Development Director at the United Arab Emirates Pro League. Stefan was previously Head of Marketing and Commercial at the Icelandic Football Association (KSI), and has over 20 years’ of marketing experience. He joined the Icelandic Football Association in 2018 after ten years as the head of VERT Marketing Agency, marketing consulting company that he co-founded in 2009.

We would like to wish him the best of success in his new role at the Pro League, where Stefan will work to enhance the work of the Pro League clubs on various issues.

A MESGO week dedicated to Ethics and Integrity

MESGO VII, News, Non classé

From 6 to 10 March 2023, the MESGO VII participants were in Germany (Mainz and Frankfurt) for Session 4 of the programme. Directed by both Mathias Schubert and Volker Bernardi, senior researcher and sports law lecturer, respectively, at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

Mathias Schubert, Senior Researcher, JGU Mainz

Volker Bernardi, Sports Law Lecturer, JGU Mainz

The session covered several topics related to ethics and integrity in sport, such as; safeguarding and abuse, ethical responsibility of leaders, sports and human rights, freedom of speech and athlete activism, diversity and discrimination including the governance of World Para Sports.

Participants had the opportunity to reflect collectively in some depth on the different topics through work exercises but also by interacting with a large panel of experts in their field. A warm thank you to all the speakers for their high-level contributions to the session!

Each session over the five days was hosted by a different academic or sporting institution: Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz (MESGO partner); German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB); German Football Association (DFB); Mewa Arena (Mainz 05 Stadium); Euro 2024 Headquarters.

At the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz: Presentation about “Ethics and Integrity in Sport: Introduction & Workshop” by Mike Mcnamee, Professor, KU Leuven & Swansea University

At the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz: Presentation about “Monitoring Good Governance and Ethical Principles in Practice: The Example of the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation (GEF)” by Alexander McLin, Director, Gymnastics Ethics Foundation

At the German Olympic Sports Confederation: Presentation about “The Sports Good Governance Game – Inspire Sport Managers to Become Ethical Leaders” by Abigail Levrau, Professor, Executive Committee Member of GUBERNA & Mathieu Marlier, Professor, Lunex University, Luxemburg

The MESGO group at the German Olympic Sports Confederation

At the German Football Association: Presentation about “Sports and Human Rights” by David Grevemberg, Chief Innovation and Partnerships Officer, The Centre for Sport and Human Rights

The MESGO group at the German Football Association

At the MEWA Arena (MAINZ 05 STADIUM): Presentation about “Diversity in Sports: A Sport Governing Body Perspective” by Ivo Ferriani, IOC member; Member of IOC Gender Equality Diversity and Inclusion Commission; President, International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation

The MESGO group at the MEWA Arena

At the EURO 2024 Headquarters: Welcome speech by Markus Stenger, Managing Director, Euro 2024 GmbH & Mex Schär, Managing Director, Euro 2024 GmbH

At the EURO 2024 Headquarters: Open Debate about “the Athlete as Gladiator in Modern Sport: Towards Occupationalisation?” with Matthias Hofbauer, Former Professional Floorball Player, Member of the International World Games Association (IWGA) athletes’ commission; Dr Jürgen Mittag, Professor, German Sport University, Cologne & Rachel Smith, OLY, Athlete Service Manager of Team GB, British Olympic Association (BOA)

In terms of entertainment, the participants had the opportunity to play football at the new DFB-Campus and indoor climbing as well as enjoying excellent traditional German cuisine.

The next MESGO session will take place in Barcelona (Spain) from 26 to 30 June 2023 and will be dedicated to Events and Participation.

MESGO VI participants graduated in Paris!

MESGO VI, News

Over two days, on 13 and 14 October 2022, 17 participants of the sixth edition of the Executive Master in Global Sport Governance (MESGO) defended their theses and received their certificates at the graduation ceremony in Paris.

The graduation ceremony was chaired by Sean Hamil, Director of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre at the University of London. Also speaking at the ceremony were Nathalie Alaphilippe, lawyer at CDES and MESGO Programme Director, Jean-Jacques Gouguet, professor at the University of Limoges and Scientific Director of the MESGO programme, and Thomas Junod, Head of UEFA Academy. They wished to thank, amongst others, all partners for their contribution to the MESGO programme and congratulate the participants for having successfully completed the 20-month course.

Keynote speaker at the ceremony was the Executive Secretary of the Council for the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), Sophie Kwasny. Sophie gave a speech to the graduates, highlighting in particular the values of solidarity and humanism which, today, more than ever, must be put forward and defended by the sports community.

Congratulations to the new graduates of MESGO VI: Runar Pahr Andresen, Angelo Chetcuti, Joanna Deagle, Sabina Fasciolo, Kim Hallberg, Boineelo Hardy, Lars Helmersson, Peter Jehle, Oleksandr Kucheriavyi, Jorge Mowinckel, Kobe Schepers, Jernej Smisl, Sarah Solémalé, Karim Souchu, Boris Stankov, Emma Sykes and Radu Visan.

Second MESGO session took place in Paris

MESGO VII, News

From 10 to 14 October 2022, the MESGO VII participants were in Paris for the second session of the programme, which was dedicated to the design and regulation of competitions.

Organised by Sean Hamil, director of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre, this second session was aimed at examining the external regulatory functions of sports governing bodies, particularly how they apply to the design and regulation of competitions.

Thank you to the Stade Français, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), Roland Garros and FIFA’s Paris branch for their warm welcome.

We would like also to thank all the speakers that came to Paris. Having representatives from FIFA, UEFA, ASOIF, FIA, LNR, French Tennis Federation, clubs (Lokomotiva Zagreb, KNVB, PSG) as well as Qanalytics, KPMG and Stats Perform was a key component of the week and allowed a powerful interaction with the MESGO participants.

During the week, participants had the opportunity to attend the UCI Track Cycling World Championships and to have an introduction to 5-a-side rugby.

The third MESGO session will be held in Brussels from 16 to 20 January 2023 and will be dedicated to the legal frameworks governing European sport.

Ninth and last MESGO IV session in Tokyo

MESGO IV, News,

The final session of the fourth edition of MESGO dedicated to the future of sport took place from 5 to 9 March 2018 in Tokyo.

This session was directed by Holger Preuss and Jean-Jacques Gouguet, respectively professor of sport economics at Johannes Gutenberg University and professor in economics at the University of Limoges.

The Tokyo session was an ideal opportunity for MESGO participants to look at the future challenges they might face as sports industry leaders in the coming period and to analyse their specific organisations in the light of another culture.

The week was rather special, with a conference organised and coordinated by the Tsukuba International Academy for Sport (TIAS), the MESGO local academic partner. The discussion focused on the future of sport governance and challenges faced by sports organisations.

The TIAS conference concluded with joint presentations by TIAS students and MESGO participants, who reflected on the future of sports organisations, the future of competition design/regulation, the future of sports marketing, the future of sports events and future ethical challenges faced by sport.

Earlier, participants were given an outsider’s and insider’s view of Japanese culture and sport, in particular through the presentation of sumo, iconic Japanese sport, by Takanobu Nakajima, the former deputy chairman of the Independent Commission of Governance Overhaul at the Japan Sumo Association.

During the week, the issue of legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games was the hot topic presented by Haruyo Fukuda, director of action and legacy for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

At the Tokyo 2020 venue: Round-table discussion about “Tokyo 2020 and Agenda 2020 – The future of host cities” with Holger Preuss, professor, Johannes Gutenberg University; Haruyo Fukuda, director of action and legacy for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo and Hiromi Kawamura, PR secretary and senior project director for executive office, Tokyo 2020.

Finally, we talked about the future of football in Asia. Our day at the Japan Football Association started with a presentation of the history of Japanese football by Kohzo Tashima, president of the Japan Football Association and ended with a discussion about “markets for sport in Asia” included speakers such as Tom Byer, former AFC technical consultant; Kunihito Morimura, president and CEO at Dentsu Sports Asia and Alex Phillips, head of governance and compliance at UEFA.

At the Japan Football Association: Presentation by Kohzo Tashima, president of the Japan Football Association about football in Japan.

The MESGO participants will meet again at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon on 5 and 6 April as part of the viva voce exam session, during which they will each defend their professional thesis. The graduation ceremony on Friday 6 April will conclude the fourth edition of the programme.

The application process for the next MESGO edition is open until 12:00 CET on Saturday 31 March.

Welcome to our new partner: the Council of Europe

News,

We are very proud to announce that the Council of Europe is joining MESGO as partner as of MESGO fifth edition. It will give government authority sports officials the chance to enhance their professional skills alongside representatives of sports bodies.

MESGO is expanding its reach to public authorities active in the field of sport through a cooperation agreement with the Council of Europe.

The agreement, under the auspices of the Council of Europe’s Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), breaks new ground for the MESGO programme, which has provided a vital source of learning, training and personal development, as well as contributing to the further development of sports bodies across this continent and beyond.

MESGO aims to attract participants from diverse countries and backgrounds. The objective of developing a partnership through this agreement is for participants from public authorities in charge of sport in a variety of countries to fine-tune their skills, knowledge and expertise.

For more details