The ninth and final MESGO session of the current edition started on Sunday 28 February with a welcome event near Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro. The Escola Capoeira Cidadã association, headed by Mestre Curumim, organised a workshop with capoeira, a Brazilian martial art, and samba before a cocktail party with traditional Brazilian food and drink.

On the Monday, the MESGO group was hosted by the Fundação Getúlio Vargas university, where two professors gave a presentation to introduce the context of sport in Brazil with an economic approach. In the afternoon, the group met Rio city hall’s head of international relations, ambassador Laudemar Aguiar.

At the Fundação Getúlio Vargas with ambassador Laudemar Aguiar, head of international relations at Rio’s city hall

The next day, the MESGO team moved to Barra de Tijuca to spend the morning at the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV). Its chief executive himself, Ricardo Trade, gave a presentation on the development of the CBV, before talking about his previous experience as the chief executive of the 2014 FIFA World Cup local organising committee in Brazil.

Ricardo Trade, chief executive of the CBV

That day’s lunch break was at the Grand Mercure Riocentro hotel owned by GL Events, whose staff gave a presentation on their concept for temporary and sustainable facilities for major sports events. Andrew Parsons, president of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee and vice-president of the International Paralympic Committee, then provided his view about Paralympic sport in Brazil ahead of the Paralympic Games. The afternoon ended with a visit to the future Olympic and Paralympic venues organised by Delphine Moulin, General Manager of the test events for the Rio 2016 Organising Committee. These test events aim to test all operations involving competitions before the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

During the training session before the synchronised swimming test events

Visit to Cariocas Arenas in the Olympic Park

On the Wednesday, the MESGO participants were hosted by TV Globo, the biggest TV channel in Latin America, which is especially well known for its telenovelas (soap operas). João Pedro Paes Leme’s team gave various presentations about the company, with a focus on their sports broadcasting programmes.

João Pedro Paes Leme, executive director of Central Globo de Esportes at TV Globo, presenting the day’s programme

Former international judoka Flávio Canto, now a judo commentator at TV Globo, then gave a presentation on the Instituto Reação social project, which aims to develop judo in the favelas. To finish the Wednesday session, a representative of Esporte Clube Pinheiros in São Paulo explained the specificities of multisport clubs in Brazil, which mix grassroots and high-level athletes. In the evening the MESGO team gathered at Zazá Bistrô for a friendly dinner as the social event of the week.

Social event at Zazá Bistrô

At the headquarters of the Clube de Regatas do Flamengo football club on the Thursday morning the MESGO participants were given an overview of the number one national sport by a speaker from the Brazilian Football Confederation, a sports lawyer and Bernardo Accioly, legal director of the club.

Round-table discussion at Flamengo’s HQ about Brazilian football clubs

The group then went to Club France (or “Casa Bleue”) at the Brazilian equestrian centre (Sociedade Hípica Brasileira), future meeting point for the French Olympic movement during the Games in Rio. Alexandre Bazire, attaché for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the French ministry of foreign affairs and international development, gave a presentation on the “casa” concept: a place of reception and gathering in a friendly and festive, with the French Olympic team, to experience together the magic of the Olympic Games. A round-table discussion was then organised with Bruno Souza, secretary of sports and leisure for the city of Niterói and former international handball player, and Marcelo Hargreaves da Costa, former international volleyball player, who both played in Europe.

Round-table discussion at Club France with Bruno Souza and Marcelo Hargreaves da Costa, providing an exchange of viewpoints between Brazil and Europe

After that there was a visit to the Olympic and Paralympic rowing venue at the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon.

Visit to the Rio 2016 rowing venue with Colleen Orsmond and João Vitor França, respectively rowing manager and venue general manager for Rio 2016

Session 9 finished after the group spent the Friday morning at Fluminense FC.

The MESGO group at Fluminense FC

Following a presentation about the Fluminense youth academy, the chief executive of Lagardère Unlimited Brazil (Lagardère Group), Aymeric Magne, provided a case study about the difficulties of implementing a project abroad. Finally, former international football player Raí Oliveira and his colleagues gave a presentation on the children’s association Gol de Letra and the project Atletas pelo Brasil which promotes sport.

Presentation on Gol de Letra and Atletas pelo Brasil by Raí Oliveira, Beatriz Pantaleão and Daniela Castro

The final session of the next MESGO edition will take place in Tokyo in March 2018.

The MESGO participants will meet again at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon on 31 March and 1 April as part of the viva voce exam session, during which they will each defend their professional thesis. The graduation ceremony on Friday 1 April will bring to a close the third edition of the programme.

The application process for the next MESGO edition is open until 12:00 CET on Monday 28 March.

For more information please visit http://www.mesgo.org/apply-now/

After seven sessions in Europe, the MESGO team was in New York from 30 November to 4 December 2015 to learn more about the North American model of sport.

Hosted by Major League Soccer (MLS) on the Monday, the participants had the opportunity to meet Stefan Szymanski, professor at the University of Michigan, and Steve Ross, professor at the Pennsylvania State University, who presented the economic and legal development of the North American sport leagues. They were followed by Sunil Gulati, president of United States Soccer Federation, and different speakers from MLS and the New York Red Bulls soccer club, who presented their respective organisations.

Round-table discussion at the MLS headquarters with Sunil Gulati, president of US Soccer

On the Tuesday, the group visited the NBA, where several presentations on this major North American league were given, focusing predominantly on competitive balance, social responsibility, the international approach and the marketing strategy of the NBA. Among the speakers were Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and former NBA player, and John Paul Basile, Associate Vice President for Business Development and Operations. A presentation on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was also on the agenda.

The MESGO team at the NBA

The MESGO participants were welcomed at the National Hockey League (NHL) on the Wednesday. Following presentations by Andrew Zimbalist, professor of economics at Smith College (Northampton, USA) and Joel Maxcy, president of the International Association of Sports Economists (IASE), the participants discussed the governance of the league with the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, and the deputy commissioner, Bill Daly.

The MESGO group at the NHL headquarters

At St. John’s University campus on the Thursday, the MESGO team visited the sports facilities of an American university during the training session of its basketball team. After a presentation about the organisation of the New York marathon by the New York Road Runners Association, the famous commentator of the American TV channel ESPN, Andrew Brandt, explained his career at the National Football League (NFL). The day ended with a discussion between the MESGO participants and the alumni of St. John’s University to share experiences and opinions by comparing the academic sport system in Europe and in the US, before a cocktail dinner.

Presentation of the campus by Glenn Gerstner, associate professor at St. John’s University and chair of the sport management division

Panel discussion comparing the academic sport system in Europe and in the US: presentation of the European model by Mario Woldt and Jonathan Hall (MESGO participants)

Co-led by Didier Primault, General manager of the Centre de Droit et d’Économie du sport (CDES) in Limoges, France, and Francesc Solanellas, consultant at the Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya (INEFC) in Spain, the eighth session came to a close on the Friday at Madison Square Garden. The morning was dedicated mainly to the organisation of baseball in North America, in the presence of representatives of the league (MLB), the players’ association (MLBPA) and a consultant working with players and their agents. The MESGO team then went behind the scenes at this mythical venue, which is famous not only for its frequently sold-out concerts but also for the matches of the New York Knicks basketball team and the New York Rangers ice hockey team.

Round-table discussion about the stakeholders in baseball: Paloma Ahmadi (MLB), Matthew Nussbaum (MLBPA) and Jeff Fannell (consultant for players and sports agents)

Visit to Madison Square Garden

The next and final session of the current MESGO will take place in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) from 29 February to 4 March 2016 and will focus on the future of sport governance.

From 4 to 8 October 2015 the MESGO III participants were in Germany for Session 7 of the programme. Jointly directed by Dr Holger Preuss, professor of sport economics and sport sociology at Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) in Mainz, and Volker Bernardi, executive director of the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) and sports law lecturer at the same university, the session covered several topics related to ethics in sport, such as corruption, sport for disabled athletes, anti-doping and environmental sustainability.

Get-together at a wine bar

After a get-together at a wine bar on the Sunday evening, the session began at JGU on the Monday morning, where Dr Mike McNamee, professor at Swansea University, introduced the basics of ethical behaviour.

Introduction about ethics and sports by Dr Mike McNamee

In the afternoon Claudia Bokel presented the athlete’s perspective before participating in a round-table discussion with other speakers, including Dr Michael Ilgner, CEO of Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe (the German sports aid foundation), who provided the supporting organisation’s point of view.

Round-table discussion about ethical questions concerning the modern athlete

On Tuesday the MESGO group was at SWR, a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the south-west of Germany. In the morning representatives of Europol and Transparency International gave talks about corruption, while the afternoon was dedicated to sport for disabled athletes, with presentations from Matthias Berg, Paralympic medallist and lawyer, and Mike Townley, general legal counsel at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Case study about corruption in sport

The day ended with the entire team having dinner together as part of the week’s social events.

Social event at Bastion von Schönborn

Wednesday’s session was held at the Coface Arena, where several speakers, including Herman Ram, CEO of the Netherlands’ national anti-doping organisation, discussed doping issues in sports law.

At the Coface Arena

On the last day the participants went to visit the German Football Association (DFB). Heike Ullrich, head of women’s and girls’ football at the DFB, started by presenting ethical issues connected with the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany, since she was the deputy director and head of tournament organisation for this event.

The MESGO group at the DFB headquarters

The floor was later given to Mike Lee, director of public affairs for the London 2012 Olympic bid, senior advisor for the Rio 2016 Olympic bid and campaign advisor for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid, for a presentation about bidding for major sports events. In the afternoon, Christian Wassmer, head of recognised stakeholders’ relations at the International Olympic Committee’s sports department, explained the impact of the Olympic Agenda 2020 on international federations.

The next MESGO session, which will focus on the North American model of sport, will take place in New York City from 30 November to 4 December 2015.

MESGO III participants recently visited Barcelona for Session 6 of the programme. Francesc Solanellas and Andreu Camps i Povill, both professors at INEFC (the MESGO programme’s Spanish academic partner), organised the week-long session, which took place from 15 to 19 June and was dedicated to the subject of sports events. Guest speakers talked about national and international sports events such as the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the Euroleague Basketball Final Four, the Barcelona Open tennis tournament and the forthcoming Mediterranean Games (which are due to be held in Tarragona in 2017).

The session began at INEFC on Monday 15 June, where Javier Villamayor Caamaño, chief executive of Tarragona 2017 and second deputy mayor in Tarragona’s city council, provided an answer to the case study on Tarragona 2017.

Presentation of the case study on Tarragona 2017

On Tuesday 16 June, the group visited the headquarters of Euroleague Basketball, where they were welcomed by Jordi Bertomeu, the organisation’s president and chief executive, and Roser Queraltó, its chief business development officer. The group then attended a presentation by Oriol Ràfols and Josep Vergés, both former managers at FC Barcelona, before visiting Camp Nou, the club’s revered home.

At the headquarters of Euroleague Basketball

Visit to Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona

Wednesday’s session was held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where its president, Vicenç Aguilera, talked about the events held at that famous venue. The day ended with the entire team competing in a karting race as part of the week’s social event.

The top three drivers in the karting race celebrate on the podium

The following day, the MESGO group went to visit RCD Espanyol’s new stadium. They were given a guided tour by architect Mark Fenwick, who designed the stadium.

Guided tour of Power 8 stadium by its architect Mark Fenwick

Back at INEFC on the Friday, the participants gave oral presentations on their thesis subjects to their mentors, members of the Management Committee and a number of alumni.

The next MESGO session, which will focus on the subject of ethics, will take place in Mainz and Frankfurt am Main (Germany) from 5 to 8 October 2015.

From 20 to 24 April, the MESGO III participants were back in London for a week dedicated to strategic marketing. Organised by Peter Willems, head of marketing activities and sponsorship at UEFA, this session included several presentations by marketing specialists in various sectors, often outside sport (Coca-Cola, YouTube, IMG).

The week started with a methodological workshop on academic research, led by Sean Hamil (director of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre, one of the academic partners of the MESGO programme), in order to help the participants prepare their theses. Then, the MESGO team was welcomed in the headquarters of WPP Brand Union by its chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, for an introduction to the session proper.

Tuesday kicked off with a tour of Lord’s Cricket Ground followed by a sponsorship round table with Campbell Jamieson, general manager – commercial at the International Cricket Council.

Guided tour of Lord’s Cricket Ground

At Sky Studios on Wednesday, Aditya Aditya, senior broadcast rights manager at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), presented the future Olympic channel. In the afternoon, Frank Dunne, editor at TV Sports Market (part of SportBusiness Group), moderated two round tables in the presence of Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director at UEFA. The participants were able to consolidate what they would learn in the evening with a visit to the Sky TV studios before watching the UEFA Champions League semi-final between the two teams of Madrid.

Visiting Sky Studios
From left to right (top): Peter Willems (UEFA), Adrian Ixari (Football Association of Moldova), Timo Huttunen (Football Association of Finland), Tiago Craveiro (Portuguese Football Association), Julien Mordacq (LOSC Lille) and Andreas Savvides (PKF Savvides & Co Ltd.).
From left to right (bottom): Julie Trosic (MESGO manager at the Centre for the Law and Economics of Sport), Barbara Moschini (Italian Football Association) and Rotem Kamer (Israel Football Association).

At Twickenham on the Thursday, the participants met Mark Killingley, head of digital and CRM for the Rugby Football Union (RFU), before one group presented their case study on the London 2017 World Athletics Championships, in the presence of Fiona Green, director and co-founder of Winners.

Presentation about the RFU’s digital strategy by Mark Killingley at Twickenham

The MESGO III participants at Twickenham

To close the session on the Friday, the MESGO group attended a presentation about sports marketing by Geoff Newton, executive director of the Tennis Foundation, before visiting Wimbledon, London’s world-famous tennis venue.

The MESGO group in the Press room at Wimbledon.
From left to right (standing): Manuel Ruess (UEFA), Mhamed Zeghari (Mohammed VI Football Academy), Peter Willems (UEFA), Adrian Ixari (Football Association of Moldova), Balázs Nemcsik (Hungarian Water Polo Federation), Virgar Hvidbro (Faroe Islands Football Association), André Kruse (European Flying Disc Federation), Piara Powar (Fare Network), Mario Woldt (German Rowing Federation), Florian Simmen (UEFA), Jan Peter Dogge (Royal Netherlands Football Association) and Thomas Junod (UEFA).
From left to right (sitting): Noel Mooney (UEFA), Barbara Moschini (Italian Football Association), Julie Trosic (Centre for the Law and Economics of Sport), and Camila Rodrigues Barbosa (International Paralympic Committee).

The next MESGO session will take place in Barcelona from 15 to 19 June, culminating with an alumni event on the last day, bringing together participants past and present from the three MESGO editions.

The MESGO III participants were in Brussels from 16 to 20 March 2015 for their fourth session, which focused on the legal frameworks in European sport.

They visited the stadium of RSC Anderlecht on the Monday for an introduction to this legal week, then received a warm welcome from the Royal Belgian Football Association on the Tuesday, when a round-table was organised to discuss the role of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Welcome speech by Bob Madou, executive director Business, at the Royal Belgian Football Association

The Wednesday was dedicated to EU law. Hosted by the Committee of the Regions, the participants got to meet Gianluca Monte (case handler, DG Competition) and Julien Zylberstein (legal counsel, UEFA), both of whom are former MESGO graduates themselves. They were joined by two keynote speakers from different DGs of the European Commission: Dimitrios Kontizas (DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) and Zenon Severis (Sport Unit, DG Education and Culture).

Round table at the Committee of the Regions with, from left to right:
– Zenon Severis, policy officer, Sport Unit, DG Education and Culture, European Commission
– Julien Zylberstein, legal counsel, UEFA (and MESGO graduate)
– Gianluca Monte, case handler, DG Competition, European Commission (and MESGO graduate)
– Dimitrios Kontizas, head of sector “Free movement of workers”, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission

European social dialogue was the main topic discussed on the Thursday, before moving on to EU lobbying on the final day.

As usual, a team-building event was organised during the week – in this case some traditional beer tasting in the cellar of “Moeder Lambic”.

Beer tasting in the cellar of “Moeder Lambic”

The next session, dedicated to strategic marketing, will be held in London from 20 to 24 April 2015.

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.