Johan Cruyff Institute, global leader in Sport Management programs, will be Academic Partner for World Football Summit 2019, to take place in Madrid on September 24th and 25th.
It will be the third year in a row that the academic institution founded by football legend Johan Cruyff will partner with WFS. In this time, they have hosted some very insightful panels. Last year they brought on stage former football stars Vitor Baia and Jorge Valdano, and also Roberto Martinez, manager of the Belgium national team, to talk about the challenges football players face once their career is over.
This year, they will host a session on how important it is for professional players to continue studying in order to have more employment opportunities in the future. This issue is becoming increasingly important as some players have admitted struggling with depression after quitting the game.
That’s one of the reasons why FIFPro, the worldwide representative organisation for all professional footballers, have launched the ‘Mind the gap’ campaign, supported by Giorgio Chiellini among others, to help athletes transition as smoothly as possible between the end of their professional sports career and a new career of their choice
The Johan Cruyff Institute has broad experience in working with athletes, as many top players and coaches from different sports around the world have taken part in their courses on Sport Management, Sport Marketing, Football Business and Sponsorship or Coaching.
Cruyff was convinced that athlete’s qualities run far beyond the pitch and that it was mandatory to involve them in a more relevant role in managing sport institutions. “They are committed, eager to improve and goal-oriented. With these traits and the right academic training, our athletes become successful leaders in the world of Sports Management. Who better to serve the best interests of sport than someone who has the heart of an athlete?“, said the dutch legend when founding the Johan Cruyff Institute.
“For the Johan Cruyff Institute it is key to be where the industry gathers and the debate takes place and WFS is an excellent platform not only to showcase what we do but also to reunited with our students and alumni as many of them are already playing important rolls in the industry”, said Cristina Palés, Marketing Manager of Johan Cruyff Institute.
Jan Alessie, co-founder and director of WFS, is also very excited with the agreement: “We are very happy to team-up again with a global leading institution like the Johan Cruyff Institute. They’ve been with us since the first edition and have played a very important role in the growth of WFS, hosting interesting panels and bringing very relevant actors on stage”.
