Football commentator for the BEIN channel (2016-2018)
Chief Editor of El País Sports (1999-2006)
Chief Editor of Culture and Babelia El País (2006-2007)
Deputy director of Marca (2007-2016)
El País (1986-2007)
He has worked in the Deia and La Gaceta del Norte newspapers (1982-1985)
Collaborator on El Larguero, Hoy por Hoy and A Vivir Que Son Dos Días (Cadena Ser, 1992-2007), Al Primer Toque, El Transistor and Julia en la Onda (Onda Cero, 2008-2017)
NBA Commentator (Canal Plus 1995-1998)
Columnist in La Vanguardia, Diario As, Diario de Noticias (Portugal), La Gazzetta dello Sport (2012-2016) and La Nación from Buenos Aires
Author of Héroes de nuestro tiempo (Editorial Debate) and Athletic 100, conversaciones en La Catedral, together with Manu Leguineche and Patxo Unzueta (El País Aguilar)
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán Award for journalism (2011)

Sergio Martín Herrera is a Spanish Journalist, former Director of the 24-hour public information channel and Director and Presenter of La Noche en 24 horas and Los Desayunos de TVE until 2016.

Technical and methodology advisor for LaLiga, the Trainers Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Spanish Footballers Association (AFE).

Over 30 years’ experience in football in different roles, in particular as Methodology Director and Head of Training of Athletic de Bilbao for 7 years.

Speaker at over 200 football congresses and conferences
Graduate in Sports Physical Sciences
UEFA-PRO coach
Master in PF Fútbol

2004-2010. Methodology Director and Head of Training of Athletic Club for 7 years
2004-present. Teacher at the Bizkaia Coaches School
2011-present. Creator of KIMET PLANNING, founder and CEO of Kimet Sport SL.
1996-2003. Coach and physical trainer in Barakaldo CF and Sestao RC
1986-1997. Youth team football coach for 11 years

Graduate in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, Sports Management mention and Diploma in Physical Education from the European University of Madrid. Executive MBA from IEDE Business School.

In April 2017 he joined LaLiga as Presidency executive agent. Subsequently, in December of the same year he was appointed as LaLiga Director of International Development, which he currently combines with that of Presidency executive agent.

Prior to joining LaLiga, he developed his career in Marketing and Business in the sports, education and fitness industry, working as manager for Spain and Portugal of the Brazilian company Gympass and previously as director of Sports Centres in the company BeOne.

Between 2012 and 2016 he held several positions of responsibility in the area of Marketing in the European University – Laureate International Education, stressing his time as head of Marketing of the Real Madrid University School. In addition, he was worked as Marketing consultant for the Dutch company SEG Sports’ introduction into Spain.

8 professional football seasons: Real Sociedad, Athletic Club de Bilbao, Córdoba CF, Numancia and Mirandés.

Professionally:

2006-2009 Human Managent Systems
Consultant in Human Management Systems and in charge of the creation of the Human Sport business unit.

2011-2016 – ieTeam Consultores
Founding Partner of ieTeam Consultores, a concultancy firm aimed at company strategy, internationalization of countries in different countries around the world, with collaborators in Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Sweden among others.

2014-2016 ieTeam Sport
Partner director ieTeam Sport with 4 lines of business: Public Admin., companies, clubs/federations and sportsmen and women.

2016 … – Piolet Sports Management
Founding Partner: Sports Management Company focused on trying to provide solutions to the different sports agents. Sportsmen and women, clubs, federations, Public Admin. Also organization of sporting events.

2008-2016: Wavegarden
Investor Partner

2016-… Intermedical Solutions – Batea – Futboltek
Investor Partner

Javier Arizmendi is 33 years old and was born in Madrid. He is a former Spanish professional footballer with a history of over 12 years in clubs in the first and second division.

He was trained in the youth teams of Atlético Madrid, with whom he made his debut in the first division when he was 19 years old, before going to clubs like Deportivo de La Coruña, Valencia (winning a King’s Cup), Zaragoza and Getafe. He also played a season in the Swiss first division and was in the Spanish national team in 2007.

After retiring from football in 2014, in the same year he graduated in Business Administration and Management from the Alfonso X El Sabio University. He also has two financial Master’s Degrees (Eserp Business School and IEB).

In January of 2016 he joined the Tressis investment firm as an asset manager, where he currently works with special dedication to advice for sportsmen and women.

After several years at Banco Santander UK, heading the Marketing Planning and Marketing Communications, Planning and Delivery, he is Marketing Director at Banco Santander Spain since 2015, and  he has also assumed the position of Head of Sponsorships & Social Media since 2017.

Xabier Ochandiano Martinez, born in Bilbao, has a degree in Business Administration and Management. He has a remarkable career in public service. His first professional steps were taken within the municipal area of Bilbao in the then Municipal Agency for Employment for a period of 10 years, which then became called Bilbao Ekintza, assuming the areas of Employment, Trade, Business Promotion, Tourism and Internationalization. The international scope was one of the portfolios led by Xabier Ochandiano until 2013, when he was asked to manage the Employment and Innovation Department of the Basque Government.

In May 2015 Xabier Ochandiano was appointed Councillor for Economic Promotion, Trade and Employment, where he runs all the initiatives and projects managed by the municipal company Bilbao Ekintza, also attracting many of the international events that have been held in the city.

Oriol Bueno is a sports consultant. He founded and directed European TransWorld Sports Managment (TWSM) in 2010, specialized in football consultancy. TWSM developed youth football programs around the world, especially in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Cyprus, Morocco, USA, where he collaborates with the respective football federations and private institutions with the aim of promoting social integration and equality opportunities through the practice of this sport. He created the trademark “Barcelona Soccer Academy”. Brand aiming to improve high performance players and clubs all over the world thought its programs. Currently he is developing integration systems between football and technology.
He is frecuent speaker in universities and seminars on youth football, such as the International International Pontevedra Congress of Football, at the University Pompeu Fabra University and European University. He collaborates regularly with several sports media.
Specialized in mortgage and real estate marketing, he was CEO of real estate developer IBUSA until 2010. Vice Chairman of the Board of Union of mutual territorial adviser, counselor at Ferrer & Ojeda Asociados, member of CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) and member of the Environment Comission of APCE in Barcelona.

“I prefer people who just want to improve and compete in a healthy way. High competitive profiles many times cannot distinguish between his team and the opponent”.

Borja García is Tenured Lecturer in Sports Management and Policy at Loughborough University  (United Kingdom), recognized by the QS  international ranking as the number one in the world in sports studies in 2017. He is also visiting lecturer at the German Sports University (Cologne) and at the National University of Seoul (South Korea). Information Sciences Graduate from the Complutense University of Madrid, Borja worked for five years in various Spanish media companies like Cadena SER, the Diario AS newspaper. He completed his academic training with a Master’s Degree in European Studies at Leeds University (United Kingdom) and a Master’s Degree in European Policy and Administration in the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium), and finally obtaining his Ph.D. from Loughborough University with a thesis that investigated the impact of the European Union regulatory policies on professional football.

Borja García is a recognized international expert in his two main lines of research: the study of the sports policy of the European Union and the study of the governance structures of professional sport, in particular the relations between public authorities and sports federations. Borja is one of the founding members of the Association for the Study of Sport and the European Union (Sport & EU, www.sportandeu.com ). In his academic work, he has published more than a dozen articles in scientific journals of international prestige, numerous chapters in collective books and has co-edited two books. In 2010 he was recognized by the port & Citizenship think-tank with the prize for the academic personality of the year making the greatest contribution to the study of the role of sport in the formation of European citizenship.

Recently Borja Garcia was one of the principal researchers of the FREE project (Football Research in an Enlarged Europe), supported by the 7th Research Framework Programme of the European Union  (FP7).

Alberto Labarga is telecoms engineer from the Public University of Navarra and has a Master’s Degree in Information Systems from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. He is Head data scientist of Shokesu where he tries to make sense of the analysis of social data and boost its prominence. His professional career, both business and academic, has always been linked to the field of big data analysis seeking application in areas like bioinformatics in the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge (UK) and now in Navarrabiomed of the Miguel Servet Foundation. He has held positions of responsibility in different technology companies like CEIT-TECNUN, Imagina Biotek, European Bioinformatics Institute (Cambridge, UK) and Integromics.  He defines himself as a hacker and activist for free culture and open knowledge and has set up various start-ups always in the field of data analytics and is partner of Shokesu.

Ander Michelena is responsible for leading the international strategy of StubHub, along with his partner and Ticketbis co-founder, Jon Uriarte. After developing the successful Ticketbis ticket sales platform, acquired by StubHub in May 2016, Ander has more than seven years of experience in the ticketing industry. He currently leads the expansion of Stubhub in the markets of Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Before founding Ticketbis when he was only 26 years, Ander was working in Morgan Stanley in London, where he specialized in mergers, acquisitions and floating large European companies.

He graduated in Company Administration and Management at the Pontifical University of Comillas ICADE (Madrid) and studied for a year at the University of Marquette (Wisconsin, USA).

Co-founder & CEO of M&C Saatchi Sponsorship. Victor Cobos is a British-Spanish executive with an extensive experience in the Sports & Entertainment Industry. He has worked some of the most iconic sports properties such as Formula One and a broad range of events including Robbie Williams and One Direction’s live concert tours and festivals on a global scale. At the heart of M&C Saatchi’s approach ‘Brutal Simplicity of Thought’; M&C Saatchi Sponsorship maximise revenue streams for right holders and deliver successful innovative solutions for brands.

CEO Wolters Kluwer Spain & Portugal and General Manager of Legal & Regulatory

Javier Clemente Lázaro (Barakaldo, Vizcaya, 12 March 1950)

As a football player his only professional team was Athletic Club, until an injury cut short his promising career.

As a coach, he has managed nine clubs in La Liga with over five hundred games played in the First Division, mainly with Athletic Club, with whom he won two Spanish league titles and one King’s Cup (Copa del Rey), and eRCD. Espanyol, with whom he reached the UEFA Cup final.

He was also the Spanish national team coach between 1992 and 1998 at two World Cups (1994 and 1998) and one European Football Championships (1996); National manager of Serbia (2006 and 2007), Cameroon (2010 and 2011) and Libya (2013 to 2016).

Double Degree in Economics and International Relations (Suma Cum Laude) from the Faculty of Economics of Boston University. Master in Economic Policy and PhD candidate for Oxford University and MBA from M.I.T.

He developed his career as Associate Consultant in the British strategic consultancy firm L.E.K. Consulting (based in London, Chicago and Milan 1999-2001) Senior Analyst, in the Corporate Strategy Department of Telefónica (Madrid 2001-2003), Analyst in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (New York) 2004, Deputy Director to the CEO in the Guascor Group (Bilbao 2005 – 2011) and subsequently in Dresser-Rand  (Houston & Bilbao 2011-15) first as Director of Strategy of the Renewable Energies Department, assuming the global management of  Strategy & Corporate Development Department of this American multinational from the energy sector since February 2013.

Imanol Pradales was born in 1975 in Santurtzi. He has a PhD in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Deusto.

He completed his training with a Master’s Degree in Advanced Management from the IE Business School, a Master’s Degree in Knowledge Management from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and Masterclass on the Labour Market from the London School of Economics.

He is professor on sabbatical of the University of Deusto, where he taught between 1999-2007. At this university he also held positions of management, where he promoted, and was General Manager of DeustuLan, Centre of Employment (2004-2006).

Between 2006 and 2007 he combined his work teaching in the University with acting as advisor to the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. Between 2007 and 2011, he was appointed Director General of Bizkaia:xede (now Bizkaia:talent), an association for the attraction, retention and linkage of talent to Bizkaia promoted by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia along with prominent companies and universities of Euskadi.

Between July 2011 and June of 2015 he was Provincial Councillor for Economic Development. Since July 2015 he has been the Provincial Councillor for Economic and Territorial Development.

In addition, he is a member of the boards of directors of the Bilbao Port Authority, Bilbao Exhibition Center, Technological Park of Bizkaia, Ekarpen VCF, SPRI and president of several public companies.

He speaks and writes in Spanish, Basque and English.

I have 25 years+ experience leading and building high performance teams within long term strategy for next generation business. I am highly recognized for my ability to lead results orientation and resilient operations, combining go to market innovation and ecosystem creation. My passion in customer intimacy and teamwork is supported with strong business responsiveness, integrity and trust.

GM of Cisco Spain since May 2007, the operation has help customers Digital Transformation, enabling productive dynamic organizations and superior customer experience. Cisco Spain provides strong foundation in technology architectures, cloud services and secure business solutions based in “as a service consumption models” to improve agility and faster response to market demands.

The company has to be continuously changing and transforming in order to lead the market through highly talented and motivated teams with strong commitment, the right accountability, focusing on the 3 horizons (perform, transform and lead) results. The disruption to gain and maintain Market Share leadership, the Innovative Long Term Strategy, allows Cisco Spain to achieve better performance than Cisco EMEA average. Cisco Spain has been awarded as the Best Workplaces #1 (x6) or #2 (x4) by Great Place to Work Institute between 2008 & 2017.

As part of the ecosystem, it is important to be in the Spanish Market as member of the most relevant associations; Member of the Board of DigitalES, AUTELSI, American Chamber of Commerce, American Business Council and advisor and mentor in several NPO for giving back and CSR with focus in inclusion through ICT educational projects.

I am a strong believer in the role of the servant leader, setting the tone to focus on results and lead transformation, where all the leadership team is strongly committed to work and support the entire organization, with the customer as a top priority , spreading the right accountability that foster the culture of mutual trust.

Ebru Köksal began her professional career in New York, as a financial analyst in Corporate Finance at Morgan Stanley, before moving back to Turkey to serve as a senior manager at Citibank between 1992 and 1999. In 1999, Ms. Köksal joined private equity fund of AIG as a VP, before joining Galatasaray Sports Club in 2001.

Ebru has held several senior positions at Galatasaray including, Galatasaray Marketing General Manager (2001 – 2006),  Galatasaray SC Marketing and Finance Group Head (2006 – 2009), Galatasaray Stadium General Manager (2009 – 2010).  Following the merger of football, stadium and marketing companies in 2010, she was appointed as the General Manager of the merged entity, Galatasaray Sportif A.Ş.

Ms. Köksal was the first woman to be elected to the Executive Board of European Club Association in September 2010 and she served as the vice chairwoman of Institutional Relations Working Group.

In October 2011, she was appointed as the General Secretary of Turkish Football Federation and led a restructuring and corporate efficiency project, which was higly praised by FIFA.

She was the receipient of the Executive of the Year Award 2011 by Stadium Business Awards.

She is currently a consultant in FIFA adn UEFA’s Development Programs, mentor at FIFA Female Leadership Development Program and UEFA Women in Football Leadership Program. She is a Board Member at MNT Health Services A.S. and Women in Football, UK and a members of Scottish FA’s Equality and Diversity Advisory Board.

Ms. Köksal served as a Board Member at Galatasaray Sports Club between June 2013 – May 2015 and besides assuming the role of General Secretary for the Board, she was responsible from Foreign Relations, Stadium and Football Academy.

Ms. Köksal is a graduate of Brown University, with dual degree in Economics and International Relations and graduate of Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Born in Bilbao in 1966. He has a PhD in Architecture and Master’s Degree in Building Planning from the Superior Technical School of Architecture of the University of Navarra, where he started his studies in 1984, becoming an architect in 1990. On 2 October 2008, he defended his doctoral thesis entitled “Forgotten Cathedrals. The national network of Silos in Spain (1949-1990)”. This doctoral thesis was awarded with the special prize for doctoral theses in the year 2009, in the School of Architecture of Pamplona and has been published in a book with the same title.

He has been working since the year 1992 within the international Architecture, Consulting and Engineering firm IDOM, where he is currently Partner and Director of the Sports Architecture Department. His works and projects have been awarded numerous awards, both for work built in and in ideas competitions, highlighting the First Prize for the best Sports Building in the World Festival Summit in Madrid in 2017, the First Prize World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore in the category of Sports Architecture in 2015, the selections for the FAD Awards in 2010 and 2006, the Citation of Honour and selection for the 7th and 8th Architecture Biennale of Sao Paulo 2009 and 2007, the selection for the Young Spanish Architects Show (JAE) in 2008 and for the European Rosa Barba Landscape Prize  within the 5th European Landscape Biennial, or the First Prize City, Planning and Ecology 2008 of the Vasco Navarro Official Association of Architects  among others.

He is also Associate Professor of Projects in the Superior Technical School of Architecture of the University of Navarra since 1991, and has taught classes and conferences in various universities and professional forums.

Among the more unique projects that he has performed are the new San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao for Athletic Club, the Convention Centre of Lima in Peru, the project for the Metro stations of the city of Bahrain, University Schools of Technical Industrial Engineering and Mines in Bilbao and the Teachers’ College of Leioa for the University of the Basque Country, the project for the building for the International and Regional Pavilions of the Expo Zaragoza 2008, the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC), the Talud de Galindez and Plaza de Pau Casals in Bilbao, the urban regeneration of Bolueta in Bilbao or the Technological Scientific Centre of the University of La Rioja.

Most of his works have been published in international architecture journals and books during his professional career, with hundreds of publications, including printed and digital media.

Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Navarra and specialized in Industrial Engineering and Engineering in Automatic and Industrial Electronics, he did some of his studies in Germany.

His work has always been linked to research and development, which has allowed him to participate in the launch of innovative products and publish various scientific articles. He has worked in research centres such as the Fraunhofer IGD and CEIT, as well as in leading companies like Siemens.

In 2012 he founded Osagune, company whose main objective is to respond to requirements in the field of health and sport through the use of technological tools.

Recently he joined OLOCIP, a pioneering company in the research and application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to professional football. Together with a large group of scientific experts in IA, technology and sport they offer cutting edge products and services that optimize the operation of the football clubs and related companies.

Degree in economic Law from the University of Deusto (1995). He completed his training with the Master Degree of Corporate Legal Practice of the Companies Institute (1997).

He joined the Firm in 1998, where he worked in the Bilbao office before being appointed head of the San Sebastián office in 2005. He was appointed partner in 2009 and now runs the San Sebastián office.

Within the area of tax law, his advice covers a broad range of tax matters and judicial review related to the companies, consolidated groups and individuals.

He has specialized in the treatment and tax planning of companies and tax groups.

It  also often works in restructuring, mergers and acquisitions operations and advice on special tax schemes.

Javier Ruigòmez regularly participates in seminars on Tax law and specialist conferences.

Law Graduate with specialty in economics from the University of Deusto, where she was an active member of ELSA (European Law Students Association) and coordinated European projects related to humanitarian actions for NOHA (Network on Humanitarian Action).

In 2015 she worked to support the legal department of the office of the European Capital of Culture 2016.

He completed the Master of Legal Counsel of the joint programme between the University of Deusto and the Pontifical University of Comillas (ICADE), while undertaking an internship in Cialt.

In 2016, she joined the Commercial Division of the Bilbao office of Bufete Barrilero y Asociados, working on matters   related to the banking procedural practice.

In 2017, she joined the Madrid office of Bufete Barrilero y Asociados, in the division specializing in start-ups and innovative developments Barrilero Legal Angels.

Born 28 March 1961 in Bilbao. He worked as director of services between 1991 and 1994 for the Basque Government, in the team of the then Regional  Interior Minister Juan Maria Atutxa. In 1994, he was appointed Legal Regime and Public Service Director General  of  Vizcaya Provincial Council and in 2003 became Provincial Councillor for Social Action.

In June of 2011 he was appointed Provincial Councillor for Presidency, becoming the right hand man of the President of the Provincial Council José Luis Bilbao. In December 2012 he was appointed Regional Minister for Employment and Social Policy of the Basque Government, having to leave his office in the provincial council.

In October 2014 he announced his candidacy to be mayor of the city of Bilbao for the Basque Nationalist Party and in February 2015 he resigned as Regional Minister for Employment and Social Affairs, being replaced by Ángel Tarsicio Toña Güenaga.

On 13 June 2015 he was elected Mayor of Bilbao, thanks to an investiture agreement with the Euskadi Socialist Party.

Jon Arregi has been running the SD Eibar Foundation since 2014, which has a sporting part with 13 youth teams, and the First Women’s Team (looking for promotion from the Second Division). On the institutional level, the Foundation has a budget of 1.3 million euros and dedicates significant efforts to promote other sports practices, equality and civil rights, relations with companies, fostering entrepreneurship and generating content with the University of the Basque Country, including the first Football Club Management Course taught fully within a LaLiga stadium. SD Eibar Fundazioa is the extension of the Club and the link with the surrounding social actors, within the efforts to demonstrate that “Another Football is Possible”.

Degree in History, Master’s Degree in Digital Marketing and Communication, Master’s Degree in Business Management.

Martin Kallen is the CEO of UEFA Events SA, a wholly-owned company of UEFA, in charge of managing all operational and commercial aspects for UEFA competitions.

With a degree in economy from the University of Berne, Mr. Kallen held several management positions in business administration and marketing before joining UEFA in 1994 as a Manager in the Marketing Department.

In 2002, Martin Kallen became involved in the organisation of the UEFA European Football Championship. He relocated to Portugal to take on the role of COO of EURO 2004 SA, the company responsible for organising and delivering the tournament.

Mr. Kallen then took over the role of CEO of EURO 2008 SA upon his return in Switzerland and led the successful delivery of the UEFA EURO 2008 tournament in Switzerland and Austria.

With the creation of UEFA Events SA in 2010, Martin Kallen became Operations Director and responsible for all operational matters for national team and club competitions of UEFA.

In this role, he managed the organisation of UEFA EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, followed by UEFA EURO 2016 in France, where he simultaneously held the position of CEO of EURO 2016 SAS in Paris, the joint venture company created by UEFA and the French Football Federation to organise and deliver the tournament.

Alongside the centralisation of commercial rights for club competitions and European Qualifiers, Mr. Kallen piloted the internalisation of match operations within UEFA, leading to greater operational synergies between club football and national team football.

With several editions of UEFA EURO, Champions League and Europa League finals under his belt, Martin Kallen is a recognised leader in sports management and has been holding the position of CEO of UEFA Events SA since July 2015.

Gaizka Mendieta Zabala was born in Lekeitio, Bizkaia, on 27 March 1974.

His first steps as a footballer were in the lower levels of the Club Deportivo Castellón. In 1992 he debuted for Valencia C.F. where he stayed for 9 seasons and came to age as a football player, considered as one of the best players in the 1990s and leading the Valencia team to two Champions League finals in 2000 and 2001, years in which he was named as best European midfielder. With Valencia he also won the King’s Cup and the Supercopa of Spain in 1999.

In 2001 he was signed by Italian soccer and was transferred to S.S. Lazio. In the 2002/03 season he returned to Spain on loan to FC Barcelona. He ended his professional career in 2008 after playing four seasons in the Premier League with Middlesbrough FC winning the English League Cup in 2004.

With the Spanish Team he played 40 games and participated in the UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.

Currently he is ambassador of LaLiga, member of the board of AEdFI, ambassador of FC Barcelona, sports analyst and DJ.

Professional experience in the sector (Football):

Since 2012: National Professional Football League  (LaLiga) exercising the responsibility of Corporate Director General.

1999 – 2013: Valencia Club de Fútbol, SAD. Financial Director until 2008, and until 2009 General Director and from 2010 to 2013 Executive Vice-President, responsible for financial matters.

Academic training:

Degree in Business Studies from the University of Valencia. Executive Master in Tax Advice. Centro de Estudios Garrigues. Other higher education – Financial

“I am 35 years old, born in San Sebastian and I have a Degree in Company Management, specializing in finance, from the University of Deusto. I took the last year of the degree in the Paris Institute Supérieur du Commerce (ISC) getting my Master’s Degree in International Management in 2005.

Straight after the Master, I joined PwC in the offices of Bilbao and San Sebastian where I worked for 3 years. Afterwards, I moved to the Madrid office where for 6 years I developed my career there reaching the post of Manager, specializing in multinational telecommunications companies.

In August 2014, I joined SD Eibar as Financial Director which had just been promoted to the first division and had to professionalize its structure. I accepted this challenge and two years later, in June 2016, coinciding with the change in the presidency of the Club, I became the Managing Director of the Club.

My management is characterized by leadership based on values and teamwork where the main challenges for the coming years are focused on keeping the first team in the first division, the internationalization of the Club, and the development of digital area. Always reminding ourselves that our sector is privileged due to the expectation that it generates and its attraction, which is why as a club  we must work continuously to promote the various cultural, educational and social initiatives that need attention but do not have as big an impact as football.”

Xavi is in charge of creating the vision and development of Gatorade and Propel Innovation and their expansion into technology platforms. Xavi leads also the Brand Design team leading the brand look across different consumer touch points including retail theater, packaging, build-outs, etc.

Xavi was born in Barcelona where he earned a degree in Architecture. He has a strong sports performance and design background stemming from his 11 years of experience with Nike in Spain, Mexico and Brazil.

“Life doesn’t end here. We have to go on. Life cannot end here. No matter how difficult, we must stand back up. We only have two options: either allow anger to paralyse us and the violence continues, or we overcome and try our best to help others. It’s our choice. Let us please maintain respect. My warmest regards to everyone. It’s been a most amazing and rare experience. We’ll see each other again soon because life does not end here.”

Jürgen found it was only on the football pitch that armed young Colombians seemed willing to engage in dialogue, with football proving a catalyst for communication and cooperation. Drawing on this insight, he developed Fútbol por la Paz (Football for Peace) – a youth project that used football to combat violence in Medellin.

Fútbol por la Paz was not your average football programme. Guns had to be left at the front door, teams had to include a gender mix and disputes had to be settled by the players themselves – not referees. Hardly conventional, yet highly effective. Before long, participants began to reimagine their lives away from the pitch, leading to an increase in social mobility and a decrease in youth mortality. All through the power of football.

Jürgen soon realised that Fútbol por la Paz was not alone. All over the world, organisations were using football as a tool to tackle their various local issues, from AIDS prevention to social integration to gender equality. But there was a problem. There was very little collaboration between these organisations and, by extension, very few opportunities to share experiences and exchange knowledge. Something needed to be done.

With this in mind, Jürgen founded streetfootballworld in 2002 – a global organisation that connects grassroots initiatives like Fútbol por la Paz and amplifies their impact. The journey since then has been nothing short of remarkable.

In charge of defining and implementing the digital strategy in all areas and business of the club, with 2 main objectives: (1) bring the season ticket holders and fans closer to the club, improving business processes and identifying new sources of income; and (2) improving the sport at all levels, from the professionals to the youth teams. The latter are covered both by the Zubieta teams, and the teams belonging to the network of clubs with agreements with Real Sociedad.

Industrial Organization Engineer from the University of Navarra, with more than 25 years as a consultant and project manager in different sectors: sport, advertising, software development, consulting, aviation, machinery manufacturers, automotive, retail; leading projects mainly focused on the implementation of ERP solutions, CRM, Data analytics, definition and development of online presence strategies, online marketing campaigns, and more broadly in the definition and execution of digital transformation strategies for companies and business.

Andoni Iraola Sagarna was born in Usurbil, Gipuzkoa, on 22 June 1982

He was trained in the youth teams of Antiguoko in Donostia – San Sebastian until he came to the Athletic Club youth team in 1999. In 2003 he made his debut in the first division with Athletic Club where he spent 12 seasons, playing three finals of the King’s Cup (Copa del Rey), one  UEFA Europa League final and one  Supercopa of Spain final. He ended his career in the Bilbao club as captain, and for the fans becoming one of the players considered a legend

9 caps with the International team, and after leaving Athletic Iraola ended his football career in New York City FC in the MLS, playing a total of two seasons along with major players like David Villa, Andrea Pirlo or Frank Lampard.