A two-day online session dedicated to Chinese Sport

MESGO V, Non classé

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!

MESGO V

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

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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!

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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

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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

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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

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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.

MESGO mourns the passing of Dr Dirk-Reiner Martens

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It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Dr Dirk-Reiner Martens on November 11, 2020.

Dr Martens was one of the most influential and renowned lawyers in the sports movement: and one of the pioneers in sports law in Germany and Worldwide.

Due to his extraordinary expertise in commercial and sports arbitration, at national and international level, he has acted in more than 250 arbitration proceedings relating to commercial law and to sports law either as an arbitrator, President of the tribunal or party representative. In addition to the CAS, Dr Martens was also listed as an arbitrator at the AAA, JAMS, CRCIA (Cairo, Egypt), FIA (Formula 1) and ICDR.

A strong advocate of alternative sports dispute resolution mechanisms, Dr Martens was one of the original creators of the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT), which today is the second largest sports arbitral tribunal in the world.

Dr Martens also worked with numerous Olympic and non-Olympic Sports Federations, advising on and implementing new systems of governance.

For MESGO, it has been an honour and a privilege to have Dr Martens among our high-profile speakers for each of our legal seminars. His presentations and sharing his experience as CAS arbitrator in particular, were always highly appreciated by the MESGO participants.

Both as a leading sports lawyer and CAS arbitrator, but also as a constantly enthusiastic, passionate and caring person, Dr Martens will be deeply missed. All the MESGO team convey their sincere condolences to Mrs Martens, to Mr and Mrs Martens’ families and friends, and to Mr Martens’ colleagues at Martens Rechtsanwälte. Our thoughts are with them during this very difficult time.

A MESGO week dedicated to ethics in sport

MESGO V

From 23 to 27 September 2019 the MESGO V participants were in Germany for Session 7 of the programme. Jointly directed by Dr Holger Preuss, Dr Mathias Schubert and Volker Bernardi from the Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) in Mainz, the session covered several topics related to ethics in sport, such as corruption, sport for disabled athletes, anti-doping and environmental sustainability.

The session took place in various locations across Mainz and Frankfurt: the Johannes Gutenberg University, the Mainzer Golfclub, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), the Opel Arena (Mainz 05 Stadium) and the Rowing Clubhaus Germania.

The session started at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with an introduction to ethics and sport by Mike McNamee, professor at Swansea University.

In a second presentation, Professor Jim Parry (Charles University, Prague) focused on the integrity debate in sport.

The second day opened up with Brendan Schwab, executive director at World Players Association and former FIFPro vice-president who presented us the Human Rights of Players in World Sport.

Among other speakers, Anne Tiivas, chair and director at Safe Sport International, focussed on the protection of children, young people and adult athletes from all forms of non-accidental violence in sport.

At the German Olympic Sports Organisation: Welcome speech by Veronika Rücker, secretary general at the German Olympic Sports confederation.

Jens Sejer Andersen, international director of Play the Game, talked about initiatives to fight corruption in sport.

At the Opel Arena (Mainz 05 Stadium): Presentation about the Paralympic movement and the current challenges in disability sport by Natalia Dannenberg-Spreier, head of brand and engagement at the International Paralympic Committee.

In his presentation, Thomas Weikert, president of the International Tennis Table Federation, discussed the social responsibility of sports organisations.

The session ended at the Rowing Clubhaus Germania: Michelle Lemaître, head of sustainability and Olympic legacy at the International Olympic Committee, presented the IOC’s sustainability strategy and share her expertise in this field.

MESGO sessions are also an opportunity for participants to share special moments. Several team-building activities took place during the week, including wine tasting, golfing and climbing.

The next MESGO session, which will focus on the North American model, will take place in New York from 2 to 6 December 2019.

The MESGO team in Barcelona for session 6

MESGO V

MESGO V participants recently visited Barcelona for the sixth session of the programme. Francesc Solanellas, professor in sports management at Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya (National Physical Education Institute of Catalonia) organised the session, which took place from 17 to 21 June and was dedicated to sports events.

The session began at INEFC on Monday 17 June, where Professor Francesc Solanellas introduced the Barcelona session and gave a presentation looking back on 25 years of sports events in Barcelona. Then, Iain Edmondson provided the city perspective with the case study of London and the 2012 Olympics. The day ended with a tour of the Olympic Ring by bike.

Tour of the Olympic Ring.

On Tuesday 18 June, the group visited the headquarters of Euroleague Basketball. The participants got to meet among other Xavier Gonzalez (former CEO of IPC), Jordi Bertomeu Orteu (chief executive and president of Euroleague Basketball), Roser Queraltó (chief business development officer) and Patrice Coste (commercial events manager at UEFA SA and former MESGO participant). Prior to the visit of FC Barcelona stadium and museum through the “Camp Nou Experience”, Javier Sobrino (strategic planning and innovation director at FC Barcelona) introduced the governance system and the strategy of FC Barcelona.

Participants at Euroleague Basketball.

At Euroleague Basketball: Presentation of the Euroleague model by Bertomeu Orteu, chief executive and president of Euroleague Basketball.

Presentation of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four by Roser Queraltó, chief business development officer, Euroleague Basketball.

Presentation of the UEFA Nations League by Patrice Coste, commercial events manager at UEFA SA and former MESGO participant.

Wednesday’s session was held at the Barcelona World Race, where Jeremy Cottino from UEFA and former IOC, presented risk management in a global view to make participants more aware about the global threats that could happen in a sports event and the way to prevent them. John Bailey, international expert on crisis communication gave participants the methodology to collect, process and disseminate information required to address a crisis communication. The day ended with a catamaran cruise as part of the week’s social event.

Jeremy Cottino, programme manager, CEO Office, UEFA

John Bailey, managing consultant, Global Communications Consulting

The following day, the MESGO group went to the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

Joan Fontseré (CEO of the Circuit), provided an introduction to the circuit. Then, moving on to MotoGP, Pau Serracanta i Marcet, managing director for the commercial area at Dorna Sports, gave a presentation on Dorna Sports.

Joan Fontseré, CEO, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Pau Serracanta i Marcet, managing director for the commercial area, Dorna Sports.

Holger Preuss (Professor at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz) and Gilbert Felli (former head of the Sport Department at the IOC) concluded the session by presenting the post-event issues (legacy, knowledge transfer and economic impact).

Back at INEFC on the Friday, the participants defended their MESGO thesis subjects in front of a jury.

The next MESGO session, which will focus on ethics, will take place in Mainz and Frankfurt am Main (Germany) from 23 to 27 September 2019.