The first edition of the Master starts with 20 students from 14 different nationalities, among them Barça Dutch star Lieke Martens, the best female player according to FIFA
The Master in Football Business of Johan Cruyff Institute in partnership with FC Barcelona is now a reality. This program is the big novelty of the new 2017-18 academic year and stands out not only for the diversity of the lecturers and professionals from the football industry who will be involved (a total of 70), but also for the wide range of nationalities of the students that have been attracted by the power of two brands recognized worldwide: FC Barcelona and the Johan Cruyff Institute.
A total of 20 students from 14 different nationalities will have the unique experience of studying the first and only educational program in football business developed around the successful FC Barcelona model, based on the club’s knowledge and experience, and following the particular learning methodology of the Johan Cruyff Institute. This includes taking care of the needs of the athletes on the Master and helping them to combine their training and competition schedules with the classes, and also the professionals who, for work reasons, require a flexible course schedule.
This is the case of Lieke Martens, the FC Barcelona player who was chosen as the best female player at the ‘The Best FIFA Football Awards’ gala. She has already started the classes of this Master, where she will be joined by another footballer, Chinese player Gao Leilei, currently in the ranks of the Unió Esportiva Cornellá. The two will share their classroom with a very diverse selection of professional profiles, including experts in finance, consulting, sport marketing, journalism, sport management, hospitality services and scouting.
Lieke Martens, the best female football player according to FIFA, is studying this Master
The course was presented on 4 September at the premises of FC Barcelona, where some of the classes will be taught. The director of the Johan Cruyff Institute, Mariël Koerhuis, the academic director of the Master, Oliver Seitz, and the director of strategic planning and innovation at FC Barcelona, Javier Sobrino, all attended the event. Some of the classes will also be held at the international headquarters of Johan Cruyff Institute in Barcelona.
Mariël Koerhuis: “Today we see the result of the strategic partnership that we signed a year ago with FC Barcelona. The intense work carried out will be seen in this Master in Football Business, which will bring together professionals who are already working in the football industry and others who seek to improve their knowledge and continue to develop their profile in this sector. It is part of our mission at Johan Cruyff Institute to professionalize the sports industry and, specifically, the football business”.
Oliver Seitz: “It is an honor to start this Master. We have worked hard to create the best possible experience, to design a master’s degree that I personally would have loved to do as a student. I have had the opportunity to meet all the students and see in their eyes that desire to start the program and start to discover how the football industry works. It is very exciting”.
Javier Sobrino: “FC Barcelona is definitely more than a club and that means we are not just a sports club, a football club, we also want to be a platform for knowledge. That means that we want to incorporate knowledge of the sports industry and also share this experience with key partners. And Johan Cruyff Institute is one of them. We are very happy to start this Master in Football Business with them and we hope that many students will join us in the future”.
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Johan Cruyff Institute uses a rich learning environment that fosters educational tools based on a student interaction model. We aim for a mix of students from sports and business sectors, which also enables students to share their unique experiences and learn from each other. Through ‘Cruyffian’ teaching methods the students will engage actively in creative challenges that require effort, commitment and intuitive thinking. Visit the web pages to find out more about our programs, which we deliver in English, for example:
