FIFA-CIES Partners with Pillai Group to launch Executive Program in Sports Management

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 28: Mahatma Education Society’s Pillai Group of Institutions, a Mumbai based not for profit trust that manages over 48 educational institutions in Maharashtra organized a FIFA/CIES/PILLAI Sports Summit. The conference also saw the launch of FIFA/CIES Executive Program in Sports Management in partnership with CIES (The International Centre for Sports Studies, Switzerland).

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) towards this direction was signed by Pierre Cornu (President-CIES) and Dr. K.M.Vasudevan Pillai (Chairman-Pillai Group) in the presence of Vinod Tawde (Minister for Education and Sports - Government of Maharashtra) and many other prominent professionals from the sports industry in India on December 3, 2018 in Mumbai.

FIFA (World’s Governing body of Football) along with CIES established the FIFA/CIES University Network in the year 2004 ‘to give students the broadest possible vision of management in modern sports’. Today, FIFA/CIES has an established network for conducting their executive sports management program in 15 different countries in Asia, Africa, South America and Central America, as well as in the Caribbean, the Middle East and Europe. India is the 16th country in the global map to have such a program and 1st in South Asia to get an authorization for running such an initiative. The program allows managers from various sports organizations to gain knowledge of management principles in fields such as marketing, sponsorship, finance and accounting, communication, management, law and event management.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. K. M Vasudevan Pillai Chairman, Pillai Group, said “Our partnership with FIFA/CIES has come at a crucial time where our country is all set to take its sports ecosystem towards a new direction. The Pillai group has focused on excellence in education for five decades now and is also known for encouraging its students to pursue a career in sport. We are proud that our alumni include nationally and internationally known athletes who have participated at the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games, Indian Premier League (IPL) and Indian Super League (ISL). We are, therefore, convinced that being part of the FIFA/CIES University Network will allow us to become a leader in the field of sport management in South Asia.”

He further added, “With the rise of world class leagues and clubs in the Indian sports, formal education in sports management has become the need of the hour. This program will enable the Pillai Group to nurture and develop skilled sport managers at the level of federations, clubs, small sports associations, government, corporates and local sports entities.”

The first edition of the Pillai/FIFA/CIES Executive Program in Sports Management will start in September 2019.