We are convinced that only through ethical business conduct will the interests of professional sport be safeguarded in the long term. The development of socially responsible leaders in the sport business is essential for achieving this goal. This is what Johan Cruyff Institute stands for.
Our founder, Johan Cruyff, strongly desired to enable athletes to develop dual careers and make a successful transition to the business world after their retirement from professional sport. He considered athletes to be the best people to lead sports organizations, as they understand the specifics of sports and will thus defend the values of sport in business to the utmost.
At Johan Cruyff Institute, we put our commitment to Johan’s belief and legacy into practice through our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. The CSR program is based on the strong conviction that we have the moral obligation to safeguard ethical conduct in the sport business for the betterment of the sports industry and society as a whole. Our CSR program focuses on the social engagement of our partnering sports entities and ensuring that athletes are able to develop dual careers.
Partnering sports entities
Any potential partner, associated entity, sponsor, ambassador or representative is screened for moral conduct and alignment with our corporate values before they can take part in any of our projects. Our employees, students, faculty, collaborators and associates endorse and respect the Johan Cruyff Institute Code of Conduct.
Athlete Scholarship Fund: The Cruyff Athlete Fund
Another important pillar of our CSR program is The Cruyff Athlete Fund, enabling professional minority sports athletes, and those athletes about to make the transition to the management of sport, to study any postgraduate or master’s program at Johan Cruyff Institute. For each new course, the academic admissions committee of The Cruyff Athlete Fund selects several candidates (who meet the defined admissions requirements), supporting them with study grants of up to 100 percent.
Our goal is to educate leaders in the sports industry who will best defend the interests of sport, regardless of their race, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age or income level. The Cruyff Athlete Fund was created to give access to all professional minority sports athletes and those athletes about to make the transition to the management of sport wanting to develop a dual career who wouldn’t be in a position to do so without our study grants.
Support to entities
Another initiative we actively support through the CSR program is the Johan Cruyff Foundation. Johan Cruyff created his foundation to help children and young people improve their quality of life through sport and movement. We support the Johan Cruyff Foundation through volunteering, support services and funding of special projects.
Furthermore, we are members of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). PRME is a United Nations-supported initiative of higher education institutions committed to transforming business and management education, working to develop responsible leaders of the future and obtaining the Sustainable Development Goals through responsible management education.
In 2020 we submitted our SIP (Sharing Information on Progress) Report and since then we are listed as Advanced PRME signatory.
