• English
  • Français
  • Español
International
FIFA/CIES International University Network
17.02.2022

Colombia: Launch of the 1st FIFA/CIES International Programme in Sports Management

At a ceremony held on 16 February in Bogotá, Universidad Sergio Arboleda (USA), the Federación Colombiana de Fútbol (FCF) and the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) officially announced the launch of the first edition of the FIFA/CIES International Programme in Sports Management in Colombia.

It is with great satisfaction that Universidad Sergio Arboleda, the Federación Colombiana de Fútbol and the International Centre for Sports Studies officially announced the launch of Colombia’s first edition of the FIFA/CIES International Programme in Sports Management in the presence of representatives from the sports and media communities.

The event took place on 16 February at the Centro de Eventos Hall 74 de Bogotá in the presence of Rodrigo Noguera, Rector of Universidad Sergio Arboleda, Ramón Jesurún, President of the Federación Colombiana de Fútbol, Jair Bertoni, FIFA Director Member Associations Americas, Ernesto Lucena Barrero, Dean of the PRIME Business School of the Universidad Sergio Arboleda, Cesar Augusto Londoño, Dean of the School of Health and Sports Sciences, and Ivan Novella, FCF Head of Development and National Selections.

Opening the ceremony, the representative of Universidad Sergio Arboleda stressed the importance of improving Colombia's sports industry through training. "For our university, it is a source of pride to organise the FIFA/CIES International Programme in Sports Management. Indeed, our athletes are achieving more and more positive results at national and international level. It is therefore necessary to continue to train new leaders and strengthen those who are already leading these processes and thus further improve the country's sports industry”, he said.

For his part, the FCF President declared, "The objective of this partnership is to offer managers and interested people the widest possible overview of modern sport. The FIFA/CIES International Programme will provide them with the tools to effectively manage their federation, association or club in a global way, while taking into account the particularities and realities of sport in our country.”

From CIES headquarters, Vincent Schatzmann, CIES Secretary General, addressed the participants in a message stating that, "It is a great pleasure for us to organise the FIFA/CIES International Programme in Sports Management in close collaboration with two motivated and enthusiastic partners . Our presence in Colombia responds to the needs of a great country of sport and football, and to the necessity to train a new generation of managers who have to face a complex and increasingly difficult environment.”

In the framework of the event, Universidad Sergio Arboleda organised a round table session to discuss the situation of sport and sport management in Colombia as well as the importance of the FIFA/CIES International Programme for the training of people involved in sport. It brought together Jair Bertoni (FIFA), along with Baltazar Medina, a former President of the Colombian National Olympic Committee, Faryd Mondragón, who is a former player of the Colombian national football team, Sara Vargas, a swimmer from the Tokyo 2021 Paralympic Games, as well as Alvaro Llorente, CIES Coordinator in Colombia.

Created in 2004, the FIFA/CIES International Programme in Sport Management is taught in 19 countries across Africa, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. It provides students with an insight into the essential aspects of sports management through the intervention of professors and experts at national and international level. More than 5,000 student have already taken the course. The vast majority of them are active in sport and football in international, continental and national federations, leagues, clubs, government bodies, municipalities and sport-related companies.

FOR MORE INVORMATION ON THE FIFA/CIES INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME