On 31 March and 1 April, 20 participants in the third edition of the MESGO programme defended their professional theses at UEFA headquarters.
Here are a few examples of the theses presented:
- Improving relations with stakeholders for a better governance of the football Association of Moldova
- A game changer? The economic and cultural transformation of Israeli football in the beginning of the third millennium
- Addressing the digital risk assessment: Proposals for small & medium sized International Federations
- Playing and spending in European Football: Examining the correlation between participation and consumption in European Football
- Broadcasting & sports media rights: the web as a no man’s land: World Cub Brazil 2014 experience
- Football clubs’ ownership and financial instability in CIS countries: The case of Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan
- Transfer of Knowledge from a Large Federation to a Small Federation: Referee and Disciplinary Functions in the Cyprus Football Association
- The role and value of independent non-executive directors on the board of a National Governing Body
- The Role of State Funding in Sports Development
- Selecting the host for UEFA EURO 2024 and beyond: To what extent must UEFA adapt its criteria and processes for selecting the host of the EURO in order to keep its integrity?
- Row ToGo, The construction of an Integrated Sports Complex
- What are the appropriate roles and responsibilities of a national football association on the one hand and of a professional league on the other?
- Challenges and benefits of integrating Para-sports into able-bodied sport federations
Sean Hamil, director of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre at the University of London.
The graduation ceremony was chaired by Sean Hamil, director of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre at the University of London. It began with speeches by representatives of a number of the programme’s academic and sporting partners: Giorgio Marchetti (UEFA’s competitions director), Nicolas Péjout (director of executive education at Sciences Po), Jean Brihault (president of the EHF), Didier Primault (general director of the CDES) and Elkhan Mammadov, general secretary of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (and a MESGO III graduate).
Speech by Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA’s competitions director.
Nicolas Péjout, director of executive education at Sciences Po).
Jean Brihault, president of the European Handball Federation (EHF).
Didier Primault, general director of the Centre for the Law and Economics of Sport (CDES, Limoges – France).
Elkhan Mammadov, general secretary of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (and a MESGO III graduate), with his thesis mentor, Wladimir Andreff.
Those speeches were followed by a slide show and a video montage (produced by Future Learning) looking back at the programme. Then, young explorer Teodor Johansen gave a keynote speech about achievements in life. Aged just 24, he has successfully crossed Antarctica and climbed a series of 5,000m and 6,000m peaks around the world. He has also been on three 8,000m expeditions, becoming the youngest person from Scandinavia to climb Mt Manaslu (8,163m). He almost lost his life on Mt Everest when an earthquake struck in 2015.
Testimony from young explorer Teodor Johansen.
There were also musical interludes by the band Less Than Four (Francis Stoessel, Timothy Verdesca and David Tixier).
The band Less Than Four (Francis Stoessel, Timothy Verdesca and David Tixier).
The MESGO programme’s academic and sporting partners are proud of their 20 new graduates and look forward to watching them contribute to the improvement of sports governance, both in Europe and beyond.
Congratulations to Anrijs Brencāns (Latvia), Jan Peter Dogge (Netherlands), Jonathan Hall (UK), Timo Huttunen (Finland), Adrian Ixari (Moldova), Kenny Jean-Marie (France), Rotem Kamer (Israel), André Kruse (Germany), Elkhan Mammadov (Azerbaijan), Noel Mooney (Ireland), Julien Mordacq (France), Barbara Moschini (Italy), Patrick Nelson (Northern Ireland), Balázs Nemcsik (Hungary), Camila Rodrigues Barbosa (Brazil), Andreas Savvides (Cyprus), Maciej Sawicki (Poland), Florian Simmen (Switzerland), Mario Woldt (Germany) and Mhamed Zeghari (Morocco).
The 20 MESGO III graduates at UEFA.
The fourth edition will start in September 2016 and will involve sessions in two new locations: Amsterdam and Tokyo.
For more information on applying, take a look at the MESGO website: www.mesgo.org/apply-now