A one-week online session dedicated to the legal framework in sport

The third session of the sixth edition of the MESGO, initially scheduled in Brussels, took place online from 3rd to 7th May 2021.

The session was co-directed by Nathalie Alaphilippe and Jean-Christophe Breillat, both lawyers at CDES. During this week, dedicated to the “legal framework in sport”, the debates focused, among others, on the disciplinary procedures, EU law, advocacy and lobbying.

We would like to thank all the speakers that contribute to this session: Richard Harry, Chief Executive, Sport Resolutions; Efraim Barak, Founder of Efraim Barak, Sport Law and Consultancy; Loïc Alves, Legal Counsel FIFPRO (and MESGO IV graduate); Richard McLaren, Law Professor, Western University, CAS Arbitrator and Independent Investigator; Stanislas Frossard, Executive Secretary, EPAS – Council of Europe; Florencia Van Houdt, Head of the Sports Unit, European Commission; Michele Colucci, Member of the legal sector, European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO); Julien Zylberstein, Chief of Governance and Stakeholder Affairs, UEFA; Lukasz Bochenek, Managing Director of International Strategy, Leidar – Advocacy Lab, to name only a few.

Round-table discussion about Arbitration in Sport: pros and cons. Is CAS the only remedy?, Richard Harry, Chief Executive, Sport Resolutions

Expert during the role-playing exercise about “EU law and its application to sport’’, Benoît Keane, Keane Legal, Brussels

Round-table discussion about “Inter-institutional cooperation in the field of sport at EU level”, Katarzyna Biniaszczyk, Coordinator of the Sports Group, European Parliament (and MESGO V graduate)

Presentation about “Sport and European social dialogue’’, Paulina Tomczyk, General Secretary, EU Athletes body

Speaker during the round-table discussion about “EU advocacy and sport”, James Ogilvie, EU and Governmental Affairs Manager, UEFA

The next MESGO session will take place in Mainz (Germany) from 27 September to 1 October 2021 and will be dedicated to Ethics and Integrity.

A two-day online session dedicated to Competition Design and Financial Sustainability

On 8 and 9 March 2021, the first part of the 2nd session of the sixth edition of the MESGO, initially scheduled in Paris, took place online.

Directed by Sean Hamil, director at Birkbeck Sport Business Centre (University of London), the objective of this session was to give participants a general framework for competition design and financial sustainability by presenting, among other topics, the existing regulatory systems. In addition, during this two-day session, some time was also set aside for thesis methodology and exchanges with MESGO mentors.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the speakers that contributed to this ‘compact version of the online session’:

Tim Pawlowski (full professor of sport economics, University of Tübingen); Konstantin Grigorishin (founder and president, International Swimming Club Energy Standard and head of advisory board and financier, International Swimming League); Ales Zavrl (head of club licensing, UEFA); Philippe Rasmussen (head of financial fair play, UEFA); Didier Primault (general director, CDES); Raffaele Poli (head of CIES Football Observatory).

Presentation about the ‘Many ways to organise a competition’ by Tim Pawlowski, full professor of sport economics (University of Tübingen).

Group exercise on club licensing and financial fair play with the participation of Ales Zavrl, head of Club Licensing (UEFA) and MESGO V participant.

Presentation about the general principles informing sport labour markets’ design and operation by Didier Primault, general director, CDES.

Presentation of an overview of the operation of the international football labour market, and implementation by FIFA of reforms of the regulation of the international player transfer market by Raffaele Poli, Head of CIES Football Observatory.

The second part of this session will be held in Paris this November.

Great start for the 6th MESGO edition

The first session of the sixth edition of the MESGO, initially scheduled in Switzerland, took place online from 18th to 22nd January 2021.

The session was co-directed by Jean-Jacques Gouguet, professor at the University of Limoges and Jean-Philippe Bonardi, dean at HEC Lausanne. During this week, dedicated to the “introduction to global sport governance”, the debates focused, among others, on the governance of national and international sports, on corporate governance issues, innovation in the context of sport and the decision-making processes.

The participants had the opportunity to interact with senior leaders of the MESGO sporting and institutional partners:

  • Michael Wiederer, president, EHF
  • Andreas Zagklis, secretary general, FIBA
  • Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director, UEFA
  • Stanislas Frossard, executive secretary EPAS, Council of Europe

Presentation about FIBA governance and strategy: past, present and future by Andreas Zagklis, secretary general, FIBA.

Moreover, they were able to listen, discuss and share their views with a large panel of experts in their field, such as:

  • Sean Hamil, director, Birkbeck Sport Business Center, University of London
  • Jean-Loup Chappelet, professor, Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration
  • Alex Phillips, independent advisor
  • Christophe Dubi, Olympic Games executive director, IOC
  • Patrick Comninos, CEO, Basketball Champions League
  • Michael Mrkonjic, head of division, Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen
  • Miles Templeman, independent non-executive director, Rugby Football Union
  • Yann Le Moenner, CEO, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO)
  • Mogens Kirkeby, president, International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA)
  • Xavier Timbeau, head of forecast and analysis department, Sciences Po, Paris
  • Guido Palazzo, professor of Business Ethics, HEC Lausanne

The new MESGO cohort.

Presentation of the IOC strategy by Christophe Dubi, Olympic Games executive director, IOC.

Analysis of the FIBA/EuroLeague situation by Patrick Comninos, CEO, Basketball Champions League.

Indicator for good governance: a status report and critical approach to practice by Jean-Loup Chappelet, professor at Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration and Michael Mrkonjic, head of division, Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen.

Round-table discussion: opportunities for event owners with Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director at UEFA and Yann Le Moenner, CEO at Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO).

Sports activities took place during the week to help participants explore their daily mobility habits with some useful methods to help them express their body movements.

See you in Brussels for the next session!

A two-day online session dedicated to Chinese Sport

On 28 and 29 September 2020, the first part of the 9th (and final) session of the fifth edition of the MESGO, initially scheduled in Beijing, took place online. Our sincerest appreciation goes to Beijing Sport University: MESGO partner for the Chinese online sessions.

Co-directed by Holger Preuss, professor at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and Jean-Jacques Gouguet, professor at the University of Limoges, the objective of this session was to introduce participants to the Chinese sport system.

During those two days, the participants had the opportunity to interact with a large panel of experts in their field, such as:

  • Jeanne Gloanec, journalist, Le vent de la Chine
  • Shengxin Li, Vice-Dean, Management School, Beijing Sport University
  • Xiaoqian Hu, professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing
  • Wu Dong, professor, Beijing Sport University
  • Pierre Justo, director, Asia TNS Sofres
  • Louis Liu, general secretary, Chinese Football Association
  • Andrew Mercer, acting general counsel and legal director, Asian Football Confederation
  • Romuald Nguyen, director, French Football Office, China
  • Wolfgang Maennig, professor, department of Economics, Hamburg University
  • Mengmeng Zhang, chief representative China, OL Groupe
  • Larry Zheng, vice president, Shankaï Sports
  • David Dongwei Yang, chief executive officer, HS Sports & Media / Operation partner of CITIC Capital

Round-table live discussion about CFA, the future of football in China and Asia – strategy and challenges: Louis Liu, general secretary, Chinese Football Association

Discussion about Chinese global strategy “belt and road project” and sport with Wolfgang Maennig, professor at Hamburg University

Round-table live discussion about Chinese investment in sport industry: Larry Zheng, vice president at Shankaï Sports.

A warm thank you to all the speakers for their high-level contributions to the session!

Participants also got the chance to take part in some virtual, fun and interactive social events, such as a live Qi Gong lesson and an initiation to traditional Chinese calligraphy.

The second part of this final MESGO V session will be conducted during a face-to-face seminar next March in Paris. The fundamental question of the future of sport will be addressed, notably through the consequences related to the COVID-19 crisis, the new sustainability model and what the repercussions are for sport and its governance.

Congratulations Gurvan!

Gurvan Kervadec, MESGO V graduate, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the French Volleyball League.

He worked for thirteen years at the French Rugby Union, whilst occupied in various senior positions such as Management Control Officer, Head of Human Resources and Head of Sports Projects Management, amongst others. The last position he held was that of Chief Financial Officer at Stade Français, Paris.

His expertise, combined with his wealth of experience gained from working with various actors of the sports industry will be invaluable to the French Volleyball League.

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

MESGO congratulates Robert Barczi

A newly graduated participant of the MESGO V edition have been appointed new senior position.

We are delighted to report that Robert Barczi has stepped into the role of Sports Director at the Hungarian Football Federation, after previously serving at the organisation as competition director.

He has been working as a sports manager for more than 10 years, honing his skills occupying such positions as managing director of Nyíregyháza Spartacus, as well as director and secretary-general of the regional football league of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg.

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

Congratulations Andrew!

The Asian Football Confederation has appointed Andrew Mercer – MESGO IV graduate, as Acting General Counsel and Legal Director.

Andrew Mercer - UEFA

Andrew began his career at the AFC as Deputy Legal Director almost 3 years ago, after spending many years at UEFA. He has an exceptional knowledge of sport law and significant professional experience within the football sector.

A great promotion for Andrew, who will continue to apply his outstanding legal skills to the development of Asian football.

All the MESGO community wishes him the best of success in his new position.

MESGO V participants defended their thesis online

Over two days, on 16 and 17 April 2020, 21 participants of the fifth edition of the Executive Master in Global Sport Governance (MESGO) defended their thesis online.

This year, the MESGO Viva Voce was organised under the most challenging circumstances due to the current health situation. Therefore, we would like to say a big thanks to all our partners for their contributions to the MESGO programme and also to congratulate the participants for having successfully completed the 18-month course and especially for their hard work and commitment shown through these difficult times.

Congratulations to the new graduates of MESGO V: Didier Andrist, Irena Bakrevska Miloshevska, Robert Barczi, Yashwanth Biyyala, Katarzyna Biniaszczyk, Michal Buchel, Dimitrios Davakis, Ciska Du Plessis-Austin, Nerijus Dunauskas, Stuart Dykes, Alvaro Garcia Alaman De La Calle, Gurvan Kervadec, Giel Kirkels, Pierre Locht, Anton Maliutin, Jonathan Martinez, Nuno Moura, Joanna Poulton, Jovan Šurbatović, Lisa Wiederer and Ales Zavrl.

The two days’ viva voce was completed with an online celebration!

In anticipation of the time when we can all meet to celebrate in person.

MESGO congratulates Ciska Du Plessis-Austin recently appointed as President of the Cycling South Africa

Ciska Du Plessis-Austin becomes the first female President of the Federation.

Ciska presented her proposed strategy for the next four years, which will focus on seven key business and development units.
The proposed strategy includes a focus on a clearer talent development pathway within a stronger-positioned sporting structure.
The vision of the Cycling South Africa new president is to better align all the parties involved in the sport and create a united front.

The MESGO Team wishes Ciska every success in her new position!

Session 8 in New York – North American model of sport

After seven sessions in Europe, the MESGO team was in New York from 2 to 6 December 2019 to learn more about the North American model of sport.

Organised by Francesc Solanellas, professor in sports management at the National Institute of Physical Education (INEFC) and Didier Primault, general manager at the Center for Law and Economics of Sport (CDES), this eighth session was aimed at presenting the organisation of sport in North America from a legal, economic, sociologic and media perspective.

Over the five-day session, the MESGO group was hosted at key locations such as the Major League Soccer (MLS), St John’s University, the National Football League (NFL), the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and R/GA (International innovation consultancy).

The MESGO team at the MLS
The MESGO group at St John’s University
The MESGO team at the NFL Headquarters
The MESGO team at the NBA
The MESGO participants enjoyed a dinner cruise around Manhattan
Participants also had the opportunity to attend a basketball game at the prestigious Madison Square Garden.

The next and final MESGO session will take place in Beijing (China) from 9 to 13 March 2019 and will be dedicated to the future of sport.