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An anniversary conference has taken place at Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Leicester (Æß²ÊÖ±²¥) to mark 25 years of the prestigious FIFA Master course.

Hundreds of women and men from the sporting world – including former World Cup footballers and gold medal-winning Olympians - have passed through the doors of Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ in that time and gone on to hold prominent jobs with some of the world’s leading sporting authorities.

To celebrate the 25^th anniversary, Æß²ÊÖ±²¥’s International Centre for Sports History and Culture (ICSHC) held a conference called ‘The Olympic Games in Focus’, with academics covering different aspects of the games from the early Black British Olympians and the 1976 Olympic Winter Games to how Paris 1924 became known as the first modern Olympics.

There was also an ‘in conversation’ with FIFA Master alumni Primrose Mhunduru, who is the International Olympic Committee’s Gender Equality and Inclusion Manager.

Pierre Cornu, President of the CIES Foundation Council, said: “The idea at the start of this journey was to create a course with modules on the Humanities of Sport, Sport Management and Sports Law, and for each of these modules to be delivered in a different country.

“For this the CIES needed partners with a strong reputation in their respective fields. Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ was the first choice for the Humanities of Sport module thanks to its world leading research centre for the study of the history and culture of sport.

“Today we can now celebrate what has been, from the start, an extremely successful programme and one which has received significant awards, along with attracting students from around the world.”

FIFA Master representatives and students at Æß²ÊÖ±²¥'s conference

The FIFA Master, which was ranked as the No.1 course in Europe for the twelfth time in 2024 by the global SportBusiness course rankings, is co-ordinated by the Centre International d’Etude du Sport (CIES) and supported by football’s world governing body FIFA.

Selected postgraduates dedicate a term of study at Æß²ÊÖ±²¥’s International Centre for Sports History and Culture (ICSHC) in the Humanities of Sport before later spending a term at both the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy for the Sport Management module, and Switzerland’s University of Neuchâtel for the Sports Law module.

Professor Martin Polley, Director of the ICSHC and Co-Scientific Director of the FIFA Master, said: “The FIFA Master’s 25^th anniversary gave us in the ICSHC a great opportunity to celebrate the programme’s amazing history.

“The ‘in conversation’ with Primrose Mhunduru gave the audience some wonderful insights into working in the sports industry, and how gender equality and inclusion are being managed at the highest levels of sport.

“The event was a fitting tribute to the success of the course and the central role that Æß²ÊÖ±²¥’s Humanities of Sport module plays in it.”

Fellow FIFA Master Co-Scientific Director Dr Heather Dichter added: “Our event highlighted the exciting research we do on Olympic history and provided a sense of the kinds of historical framing of current issues in sport that we teach the students each year on the course”.

Prof Martin Polley with Primrose Mhunduru

Ms Muhundru said: “It was a pleasure to be part of your 25^th anniversary celebrations. Well done to everyone involved in putting this event together. I really enjoyed it and also the opportunity to meet the 25^th edition class.”

Further anniversary events will be held in Milan and Neuchâtel later in the academic year.

FIFA Master Humanities of Sport Module Coordinator James Panter, who devised the event, said: “The conference demonstrated everything which has led the FIFA Master to be ranked the No.1 Postgraduate Sport Management course in Europe twelve times, such as research informed academic teaching, alumni guest speaker sessions, an outstanding student and alumni community, but perhaps most importantly, the friendships and close working relationships which have been made since the course first launched in 2000”.

Applications for the 26^th edition of the FIFA Master course (2025-2026) are open until 12pm Central European Time on Friday 10 January 2025.