From Monday 26 to Friday 30 January 2015, the MESGO III participants were in London for the third 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, which has been an academic partner of the MESGO programme since its first edition in 2010, this third session was an opportunity for the MESGO III participants to visit various illustrious sporting venues, including Wembley Stadium, Emirates Stadium and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (the site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games).

The MESGO team was honoured to welcome keynote speakers representing the UK parliament, the English Premier League, The Football Association (The FA) and FIFA TMS. The participants were also delighted to meet Andrea Traverso, head of UEFA’s club licensing and financial fair play unit, as well as David Conn, a journalist for The Guardian.

On Tuesday 27, the group attended the League Cup semi-final between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC. The Thursday evening was dedicated to a football-themed historical tour in Covent Garden area, followed by dinner in a traditional pub as part of a team-building activity.

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

From 17 to 21 November, the 23 participants involved in the third edition of the MESGO programme were warmly welcomed by several international bodies based in Switzerland for their second session, focusing on the governance of sports organisations.

UEFA welcomed the participants of the third MESGO cohort during one day as part of the second session in Switzerland. Participants had the occasion to exchange with UEFA General Secretary, Gianni Infantino, who participated in a round table entitled “Governance of sports organisations: stakeholder representation”.

On the Monday, they were at the Maison du Sport International in Lausanne, the home of SportAccord and the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), for a lively round table featuring keynote speakers from both organisations.

The next day, Tuesday, the MESGO group visited the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee, where Howard Stupp, Director of Legal Affairs, presented the structure and policies of the IOC and Antony Scanlon, Executive Director of the International Golf Federation (IGF), gave an insight into the structure of his organisation.

At the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on the Wednesday, the governance of this global sports organisation was presented by Patrick Baumann, Secretary General and IOC member. He was followed by the Secretary General for Sport of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Jean-Louis Valentin.

Finally, on the Thursday, the MESGO III participants were the guests of UEFA, which has been actively supporting the MESGO programme as a sport partner since its creation. They were introduced to the UEFA General Secretary, Gianni Infantino, during a very interesting round table involving different stakeholders:

– the European Club Association (ECA), represented by David Frommer, Head of international and Public Affairs (and MESGO graduate in 2014);

– the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), represented by the association’s General Secretary, Georg Pangl;

– and the UNI Global Union, represented by Walter Palter, Head of Department (Sport PRO), as the voice of professional athletes.

This second session closed with a visit to the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, where a presentation was given by Katie Sams, Chief of Staff in the office of the Director General.

The next MESGO session will take place in London from 26 to 30 January and will be dedicated to various issues related to competition design and regulation.

The third edition of the Executive Master in European Sport Governance (MESGO) – a unique education programme for sports organisations’ elected representatives and managerial staff started on Monday 29 September 2014.

The French Football Federation (FFF) hosted the participants of the third MESGO cohort during one day as part of the first session in Paris.

Within the group of 23 participants in the third MESGO edition there are 19 different nationalities represented. The course comprises nine one-week seminars spread over 18 months and takes place in different European cities, and aims, amid an ever-changing environment in the sports industry, to provide its participants with a better understanding of the key current and future challenges faced by the sports sector, while also focusing on the European dimension involved. The last two sessions will take place outside Europe (New York and Rio de Janeiro), focusing on in-depth studies of other sports organisational models.

In his welcome speech at the Maison de l’Amérique latine on Monday 29 September, the Secretary General of FIBA Europe, Kamil Novak, said that MESGO is not only a fine example of collaboration between the worlds of academia and sport, but also a very real example of a project managed jointly by Europe’s major team sports. “This association brings together the European federations for basketball, football, handball, rugby and volleyball, as well as the International Ice Hockey Federation,” he said. “MESGO is unique because these federations, representing Europe’s top team sports, have been involved in the selection of the content used during the programme ever since its launch.

“No doubt, this explains the success that the programme has enjoyed among top sports executives in Europe and worldwide. In effect, this partnership guarantees that the topics covered are closely aligned with the concerns of sports federations and their partners. This course represents a tremendous platform not only for discussion and the exchange of knowledge between our respective federations, but also with representatives of other bodies such as national associations, clubs, governments or private organisations working in sport.”

“You have just started a long journey,” UEFA’s head of national association development Thierry Favre told the participants. “During the nine forthcoming sessions, you are going to meet incredible speakers – a mix of talented academics and very experienced professionals.”

During the first session in Paris dedicated to the context of international sport, the participants were hosted at the Executive Education Department of Sciences Po, at the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF), at the French Football Federation (FFF), at Roland Garros and at the Maison de l’UNESCO.

Among the keynote speakers invited during that week to present different topics related to this session, the participants were lucky enough to meet Lindsey Eckhouse (NFL), Etienne Thobois (Keneo), Gilbert Ysern (French Tennis Federation) and Jérôme Valcke (FIFA).

The second session will take place in Switzerland from 17 to 21 November.

The list of the participants who have been selected for MESGO III is now available here.

After 9 sessions over 18 months, the second Executive Master in European Sport Governance (MESGO) course has been completed with 17 graduates receiving their certificates at the graduation ceremony in Nyon, at the UEFA headquarters.

“I hope you have found MESGO enriching”, declared UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino to the graduates. “A Master’s programme like this is absolutely necessary in today’s sporting world. He added: “Good governance is not only about taking decisions, but also assuming responsibility in taking decisions. I hope you have become aware of this in the past 18 months. MESGO acts as a benchmark that will help shape the future of sport. UEFA is very proud to contribute to this programme, and we are also learning a lot from the other team sports federations who are involved.”

Star guest speaker at the ceremony was the former athlete from the United Kingdom, Colin Jackson, whose outstanding career, in particular as a 110-metre hurdler, brought him an impressive array of world, European and domestic records and an Olympic silver medal. Colin Jackson gave a stirring keynote motivational speech to the graduates, speaking of the need for personal focus, commitment, discipline and responsibility – elements that he had been taught as a young teenage athlete and which helped contribute to his later successes.

Two participants of the course stressed MESGO’s importance. “To have these studies is a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” said Football Union of Russia deputy CEO Ekaterina Fedyshina. “We have all had the chance to step back from our daily work and reflect on our sport’s direction and long-term vision – and we have learned important knowledge from experts,” added European Club Association (ECA) head of public and international affairs David Frommer.

Applications are being invited until 15 April 2014 for the third edition of MESGO, online.

The ninth MESGO II session, dedicated to the future of sport governance, took place in Munich, Germany, from 3 to 6 February.

Being the last MESGO II session, the week was rather special, with two days dedicated to a workshop on the topic of “Imagining the future of sports in society”, coordinated by Dr Riel Miller, head of foresight at UNESCO. Earlier, the medium to long-term impacts on sport, the development of new technologies and the financial and economic situation in Europe had been examined. The future of football, sports governance and sports events were also the subjects of presentations by prestigious speakers. Finally, the vote of the people of Munich against a bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics was studied as an example of the role of the local population in major future events.

The session was hosted by FIBA-Europe, one of the MESGO sporting partners, as well as by the Allianz Arena, home of FC Bayern München.

Participants had the chance to attend the game between FC Bayern München and Eintracht Frankfurt and to enjoy beers and pretzels to celebrate handing over their professional theses.

The participants will present their theses and receive their diplomas at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, on 13 and 14 March.

The eighth MESGO II session, dedicated to the North American model of sport, took place in New York (United States) from 18 to 22 November.

Focusing on the governance and regulation of North American sport, this week-long session was an opportunity to look closely at the five major professional leagues in the United States – the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Soccer (MLS), the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) – with the MESGO group being hosted by a different league each day.

The regulatory tools of each league (such as salary caps, the draft and revenue-sharing systems), collective bargaining mechanisms and issues relating to competition law were tackled by prestigious speakers such as David Stern and Don Garber, the commissioners of the NBA and MLS respectively. Among the other topics covered during the week were college athletics and the university sports system (NCAA), the organisation of an NBA franchise (looking specifically at the New York Knicks), the specific nature of the US Olympic marketing and the peculiarities of NASCAR.

Participants also had the chance to visit prestigious sports venues such as Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium. The next and final MESGO session will take place in Munich (Germany) from 3 to 6 February 2014 and will be dedicated to the future of sport.