Around seventy students, alumni and members of the FIFA/CIES International University Network recently took part in the traditional LATAM study trip which was organised within the framework of the Pan American Games Santiago 2023.
With support from the Universidad Santo Tomás (UST) and in cooperation with Chile's Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP), the participants from Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Chile and Argentina attended various lectures on themes relating to the experience of life through sport for a Paralympic athlete, the human legacy of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the strategic plan for Argentina's national football teams, and the GEN Chile project which aims to select male and female players in colleges and football schools to prepare them for top-level competition.
They were also able to attend a number of Santiago 2023 events, including volleyball, swimming, gymnastics and football (Chile-Uruguay match), while discovering what was going on behind the scenes of the event, the Chilean capital and the city of Valparaiso which is one of the country's cultural and intellectual centres, and whose historic quarter has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Whether on the university campus, in a stadium or in a restaurant, the LATAM 2023 study trip enabled the participants to make contacts that went beyond the course and their degree. This is one of the strengths of such an initiative and of the FIFA/CIES International Programme.
Many thanks to the University of Santo Tomás and ANFP, our Chilean partners!