With a highly successful fifth edition in the bank, World Football Summit – the global football industry platform – has announced that its flagship WFS Europe event is moving to Sevilla from September 2022.
The partnership was announced by Antonio Jiménez, Sevilla City Office managing director, on the Main Stage at WFS Europe, which was held at the Wanda Metropolitano from 22-23 September for the first time this week.
Making the collaboration official, Jiménez explained that next year’s iteration will be a landmark moment for both World Football Summit and the city of Sevilla.
“Sevilla has amply demonstrated its ability to organise and host major international events of all kinds and, in addition, it has quality public and private services that respond to the needs of congress participants and visitors,” he said.
“Sevilla is a city of sport. Along with our leading football teams, Sevilla FC and Betis, which are the soul of our football fans, there are numerous amateur football clubs and, likewise, the Municipal Sports Institute deploys a robust strategy to support grassroots sport in all neighbourhoods,” he added.
Further details on the date, speakers, and venue will be released soon, but there is plenty for football fans in Sevilla, and the wider football industry, to get excited about in the meantime.
Speakers such as LaLiga president Javier Tebas, Atletico Madrid president Miguel Ángel Gil, legendary players Fernando Hierro and Samuel Eto’o, and former Afghanistan captain Khalida Popal were among a star-studded lineup at WFS Europe, while previous editions have seen the likes of Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazario, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino take to various WFS stages.
Attendees this year also heard from representatives of Juventus, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, FIFA, UEFA, CONMEBOL, the Bundesliga, and many more from the biggest clubs, federations and leagues in the world.
Both LaLiga and Facebook were among the partners that supported the event and football in Sevilla was given a spotlight through the appearances of Sevilla FC General Manager José María Cruz and Real Betis Balompié General Business Director Ramón.
“At World Football Summit, we’re enormously passionate about both football, and the football industry, and we know that the city of Sevilla shares that passion,” said World Football Summit director, Marian Otamendi.
“We’re heading to the south of Spain on the back of a triumphant return to physical events at the Wanda Metropolitano, and the entire World Football Summit team is extremely motivated to deliver a football industry event like no other when we land in Sevilla.
#WFSEurope was something else.
👥 1,400+ on-site attendees
💻 600+ online attendees
🗣️ 110+ speakers
🌍 90 countries
💬 35 panels
🤝 9,700+ contacts made
🗂️ 7,300+ connections created pic.twitter.com/54agBECe8C— World Football Summit (@WFSummit) October 5, 2021
“To work alongside the local government to develop and deliver WFS Europe in 2022 was an opportunity that we couldn’t miss out on. We cannot wait to get started next year.”
Founded in 2016, each edition of WFS Europe has taken place in Madrid.
World Football Summit has since held its international WFS Asia event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is in the process of finalising dates for the inaugural WFS Africa summit in Durban, South Africa after the coronavirus pandemic put the planned 2020 debut on pause.
A first venture in the Americas will see World Football Summit partner with Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (FEDEFUTBOL) to deliver Congreso de Fútbol de las Americas in San Jose, Costa Rica from 16-17 March next year, before returning to Spain and settling into Sevilla in September.
