World Football Summit Arrives in Seville

Geneva Business School is participating in the sixth edition of the World Football Summit, the world’s largest convention on the football industry which will be held in Seville, the Andalusian capital, on September 28 and 29.

After a successful event last year at Atlético de Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium, WFS Europe moves from Madrid to Seville for the first time in its history, bringing together the entire ecosystem of the football industry. Currently, the WFS considered the world platform for the sector, is celebrating its sixth anniversary with a view to a promising future.

This year’s event looks to be unmissable for those interested in the corporate side of The Beautiful Game. The event is expecting over 3,500 attendees from more than 120 countries, and 200 football clubs. Also attending are delegates from FIFA, UEFA, La Liga, Bundesliga, and more leading football organizations. WFS 2022 is one of the biggest annual events on the calendar for football executives.

Among this year’s attendees is Professor Gregory Shields, who sees the enormous potential in this event, particularly for students, saying, ‘The world football summit offers students a unique opportunity to gain a deep insight into one of the most exciting sectors in the sports industry. Leading industry professionals will offer their views on the current and future trends, growth areas, challenges, and more. The summit also represents a fantastic networking opportunity where students can meet interesting people and make contacts for the future! Not to be missed!’

The event will feature panels covering every essential and burgeoning facet of football management, including investments & finance, women’s football, esports, and the use of technology in modern football.

The speakers for the event include:

After the first virtual edition of 2020, WFS successfully adapted to the new circumstances created by the pandemic. In September 2021, this was celebrated by its fifth edition of WFS Europe at Atlético de Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium. It was the first hybrid edition in the history of WFS which was joined by more than 1,400 in-person attendees and more than 600 virtual participants. Among the speakers were personalities such as the president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas; the CEO of Atlético de Madrid, Miguel Ãngel Gil Marín; and the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation and FC Barcelona legend, Samuel Eto’o.

‘This project still has a lot of potential to evolve and our goal is to position ourselves at the center of the football industry,’ said the director of the World Football Summit, Marian Otamendi.

‘We will continue to provide the platform for football industry professionals to come together and shape the future of this great sport in all parts of the world,’ he added.

One of our alumni, Diego Gonzalez, who’s specialized in Sports Management, attended the event. At this point, he was also there on behalf of the football team Aragua FC, as a delegator. When we asked him how he fancied the event, he explained that he enjoyed the multinational experience, which allowed him a more dimensional takeaway from the event.

He also did a comparison with the event back in 2019, which he attended as a bachelor’s student of Geneva Business School; “It’s very different. Because of covid, many of the attendees had to be online, and it was, therefore, more difficult to interact with them. Nonetheless, it was a good event, and I highly value the networking opportunities and the contacts it brought me for my future career”. Currently, Diego is graduating with his bachelor’s, specializing in Sports Management in our Barcelona Campus.