3rd FGV FIFA Master Alumni Seminar: a huge success!

On July 2nd The FIFA Master Alumni Association (FMA) organized in partnership with Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), Brazil’s most prominent business school, an outstanding Seminar which discussed the most current and relevant topics in industry of sport.

Over 400 people, including more than 80 accredited press members from TV, newspaper, radio and online, went to the Theatre Maison de France, in the centre of Rio de Janeiro and followed a rich and informative programme.

The opening of the Seminar was done by FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter; Brazil’s Minister of Sports, Aldo Rebelo; FGV President Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal; and Rio de Janeiro’s Governor, Luiz Pezão. In order to celebrate FMA’s 5th World Gathering as well as award won by the FIFA Master as the Best Postgraduate course in Sport Management in the World, FMA vice-president Joao Frigerio presented a commemorative plaque to president Blatter.

That was the first time that both President Blatter and Minister Rebelo made public statements since the beginning of the World Cup.

The programme followed with a list of high-profile speakers.

The Secretary for Football for the Ministry of Sports, Toninho Nascimento, shared the first panel about the impact of the World Cup in the Brazilian football landscape with TV Globo director Marcelo Campos Pinto, AmBev’s Marketing Manager Rafael Pulcinelli, and the 2-times World Cup winner, Cafu.

FIFA Master director and IOC member Denis Oswald opened the panel called “Olympic Games: the next big thing in Brazil”. He was joined by the president of the Olympic Public Authority, Gal. Fernando Azevedo e Silva, and Marcus Vinicius Freire, Executive Sports Director of the Brazilian Olympic Committee.

The panel about sport and education had a challenging presentation by sports marketing guru and Unesco consultant Patrick Nally, and an enthusiastic speech by FIFA Master scientific committee member Pierre Lanfranchi. The panel was closed by Unicef’s coordinator in Rio, Luciana Phebo, who announced a partnership with the city of Rio de Janeiro, which joined a programme called “Vamos Jogar” (“Let’s Play”) which aims to grant the right of access to practising sport to all children.

The panel about Corporate Social Responsibility had a moving presentation by FIFA Master alum Pedro Trengrouse, who was followed by StreetFootballWorld director Vladimir Borkovic and Responsiball’s Daniel Cade, also an FMA member.

After a lunch offered by Ambev with several presidents of important Brazilian football clubs, the seminar resumed with a panel discussing the challenges brought by the globalization of football. The panel had the participation of two FIFA Master alumni – Hicham El Amrani, CAF’s Secretary General, and Manoel Flores, CBF’s Competitions Manager. They were joined by Eduardo Tega, Director at Universidade do Futebol.

The panel about the Challenges to organize a World Cup had the participation of the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Sports, Luis Fernandes, and World Cup winner and Local Organizing Committee member, Bebeto.

SporTV presenter Marcelo Barreto moderated a panel about the challenges to “communicate” a mega-event, with the presence of FIFA’s Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs, Walter de Gregorio, Rio 2016 Communications Director, Mario Andrada, and the LOC Comms. Director, Saint-Clair Milesi.

The last panel of the day was about Sports Law, and had presentations from FIFA’s Legal Counsel, Maria Elisa Dominguez Rubio, Brazilian sports lawyer, Marcos Motta, and the President of the British Chamber’s Arbitration Committee, Dr. Pedro Batista Martins.

The 3rd FGV FIFA Master Alumni Seminar was closed by FGV director, Stavros Xanthopoylos and FMA president, Tim Goethals.

The Seminar was mentioned in hundreds of media outlets in Brazil, including the most important newspapers and the most important TV news in South America: TV Globo's Jornal Nacional.

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