The third session of the MESGO, focusing on governance and regulation, took place from the 10th to the 14th of January in London, organised by Birkbeck Sport Business Centre, Birkbeck College, University of London.

The subject matter during this week-long module included corporate governance, regulation of sport competitions (with illustrations on football, rugby union and cricket), club licensing and financial fairplay and the regulation of the sport labour market. Moreover, a special focus on the regulatory failure as a factor in the banking crisis was made as a perspective of another sector with lessons for the organisation of governance in the sport system.

Daily gatherings occurred at Wembley, Twickenham and Emirates Stadiums and in the premises of Birkbeck College, University of London. Amongst the speakers were representatives from the English Premier League and the Football Assocation (FA) who explained the basic principles applied by these organisations in their co-regulation of English football; French Rugby Union league vice-president Patrick WOLFF, who explained the regulation of French rugby union, and Arsenal FC General Manager Arsène Wenger, who presented a club perspective on regulatory tools.

In terms of entertainment, the MESGO participants attended the Carling Cup semi final football game between West Ham and Birmingham (2-1).

The next session will take place in Brussels early March on the legal framework of the European sport governance.

The second session of the MESGO, focusing on sports organisations and its functioning, took place from the 15th to the 19th of November in Switzerland, in the headquarters of various prestigious international organisations.

The subject matter during this week-long module included governance and accountability of sports organisations, strategic planning in such bodies and stakeholder representation in sports organisations. Daily gatherings occurred at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Stade de Genève, all located in Geneva. Furthermore, the participants attended the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne and the Union des Associations Européennes de Footbal (UEFA) in Nyon, with various illustrations on these structures.

Among the speakers were UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, who explained the political and administrative organisation of UEFA, FIBA general secretary Patrick Bauman and FEI CEO Alex McLin who joined a round-table discussion on governance and accountability of sports organisations. In addition, the IOC Chief of the President’s Executive Office Christophe De Kepper debated on the political and administrative organisation of the IOC and FIA president Jean Todt along FIA secretary general Pierre de Coninck, on the organisation of motor racing sport.

The twenty MESGO participants also had the opportunity to entertain themselves with a football game played (and won!) against UEFA staff. Furthermore, they attended the Switzerland friendly football game against Ukraine.

The next session will take place in London early January on the governance and regulations issues.

The first session of the MESGO is hosted by Sciences Po in Paris together with several other prestigious sports facilities. On this occasion, a formal diner with representatives of all the partners involved was organised to mark the start of the Executive Master in European Sport Governance academic cycle.

The INEFC hosted the meeting of the Selection Committee in its premises of Mont Juic, Barcelona. The Committee examined preselected applications coming from 18 different countries and made up a final list of 20 accepted applicants. See the list of accepted applicants here.