A united nations of 32 students from around the globe has started studying the prestigious FIFA Master course at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).
The one year course, supported by football’s world governing body, involves students dedicating a term of study each at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture (ICSHC) here at DMU, the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy, and the University of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland.
Previous graduates from the course, which this year was named number one in Europe by SportBusiness International for an unprecedented fifth time in their global sports management course rankings, have gone on to work with global brands such as UEFA, Manchester United, Manchester City and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Alumni include South Korea’s former Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung, Japan’s 2006 World Cup Captain, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Women’s Champions League winner Ami Otaki and New Zealand rower Emma Twigg, who was ranked world number one while studying at DMU.
Students from Brazil, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, South Africa and most places in between said they had been hugely impressed by the DMU campus and the city of Leicester, as well as the course.
In their first week of study they have already taken in the Leicester City v Liverpool Caraboa Cup match, which Leicester City won 2-0 at the King Power Stadium, and been on a study trip to Wimbledon. They have also started their lectures which are based around the history of sport.
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ICSHC director Martin Polley said: “We have a wide range of nationalities represented this year including our first ever students from Mongolia and Malawi.
“There is also a strong representation from Asia, a continent which has some huge sporting events coming up including the Qatar FIFA World Cup, the Winter Olympics in South Korea and both the summer Olympic Games and Rugby World Cup in Japan.
“The international mix of the course is hugely important and the students very much want to learn about and from other cultures.
“It is the highlight of my year meeting the new cohort of students at the start of what will be an incredible journey.”
The course was founded in 2000 by the International Centre for Sport Studies (CIES) in Switzerland which runs the FIFA Master in association with the three universities.
This year was a particularly special welcome event for the students, with course Scientific Directors Martin Polley, Pierre Lanfranchi, and module co-ordinator James Panter being able to welcome the new class to Leicester in what is the 21st anniversary year of the ICSHC at DMU.
Read stories about some of the inspirational international students studying this year's FIFA Master each day this week
Posted on Monday 25 September 2017