Master in European Sport Governance (MESGO)
Birkbeck Sport Business Centre (BSBC), Birkbeck College, University of London, has entered into a partnership with four other leading European universities with established reputations for research and teaching in the fields of sport governance, business, economics and law - the Centre De Droit Et D'Economie Du Sport, University of Limoges (France), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany), Institut Nacional D'Educacio Fiscia De Catalunya, University of Lleida (Spain), and Science Po Paris (France) - to deliver an innovative new Executive Master programme in European Sport Governance (MESGO). The programme is designed to provide successful applicants with a comprehensive overview of the key debates and challenges facing sport organisations in an era of rapid change in European sport, with the objective of in turn better equipping them to develop more effective management strategies for their own organisations as they address these challenges.
The programme commenced in September 2010 and is aimed at executives with at least five years' senior management experience in sport organisations such as: international, European and national federations; clubs, leagues and trade unions; European institutions and governments; and partners of sport organisations (media, sponsors, etc.). The MESGO has in fact been developed in close co-operation with a range of European team sport leaders to ensure the optimum balance between theoretical analysis on the one hand and practical problem-solving and strategy development and implementation on the other. Full details of the programme curriculum are available on the MESGO website.
The programme is being supported by five of Europe's leading team sport confederations: CEV (the European Volleyball Confederation); EHF (the European Handball Association); FIBA Europe (International Basketball Confederation-Europe); FIRA-AER (European Rugby Association); and UEFA (Union of European Football Associations).
The programme was officially launched at a ceremony at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on the 19th November 2009 attended by representatives of the academic partners and supporting sport federations.
MESGO Group: Members of the academic and sports' bodies partners at the MESGO launch event.
Commenting on the launch of the initiative UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino commented:
- "The Executive Master in European Sport Governance (MESGO) is a unique platform for training, social and professional contact, knowledge sharing and personal development for sports organisations' elected representatives and managerial staff. Pioneered by five internationally renowned universities and research centres, it naturally has UEFA's full support."
- "I think we all have something in common in our different organisations, be it on the academic side or sporting side. We always try for excellence, and good governance is something that we take very seriously in our work every day – how to manage and run our sports at European level. It's very important for our top executives to have a level of training and excellence that they need."
The staff of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre (BSBC) look forward to working with our new academic and European sporting movement partners over the next year on this innovative new project. The MESGO offers the opportunity to disseminate to a senior executive audience the results of ongoing research by BSBC academics on sport governance thus increasing the impact of this research in the sport governance policy community.
Geoff Walters and Sean Hamil from the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre with Gianni Infantino, General Secretary of UEFA at the MESGO launch event.
The MESGO programme commenced in September 2010 with the first of the nine modules taking place in Paris. The second module was delivered in Switzerland in November 2010 with one of the days teaching being delivered at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.
