DISC honours Atletico boss Simeone
dubai — The 12th Dubai International Sports Conference has again brought together an exceptional group of influential and innovative professionals in all areas of world football, to share their expertise and experience during two days of workshops and presentations, a press release said.
The conference started on Wednesday at Madinat Jumeirah and over 300 delegates discussed and debated key topics which impact the future of football, both regionally and globally.
The theme of the conference is ‘Modern Investment in International Football’. Fifa president Gianni Infantino heads the list of distinguished group of chairmen, directors, referees, agents, players and coaches who will discuss and debate key topics which impact the future of football both regionally and globally.
On Thursday, the second day of the event, China’s Italian coach Marcello Lippi; Pierluigi Collina, joint chairman of the Fifa Referees Committee; and top international referee Felix Brych will discuss Football Development and the Impact of Technology.
Italian legend Francesco Totti, Spanish icon Carles Puyol and UAE’s Gulf Cup hero Ismail Matar will then discuss Investment Strategies for Players. In the final session of the conference, Fifa president Gianno Infantino will speak on the future of investment in football.
In a fitting conclusion to the conference, the prestigious and highly anticipated Dubai Globe Soccer Awards will be staged on Thursday to honour the best performers of the last season.
The awards this year will be presented in 13 categories. The nominees are selected by the Globe Soccer Jury of international footballing coaches, directors and chairmen.
Meanwhile, a special Dubai Globe Soccer Award was pre- sented on Tuesday. Diego Simeone received the Master Coach Special Award for his remarkable achievements with Atletico Madrid.
Atletico won the La Liga in 2014 and also reached the Champions League finals in 2014 and 2016.
In the first session on Tuesday, Javier Tebas Medrano, president of La Liga, Eric Wynalda, candidate for the presidency of the US Soccer Federation and Marco Brunelli, CEO of Serie A, discussed Best Practice in Professional Football Leagues.
Addressing the globalisation of the game and the changes in match schedules, Medrano said: “A Real Madrid fan in China is just as important as a Real Madrid fan in Madrid. We need to increase exposure worldwide.”
In the second session Atletico Madrid’s Argentinian coach Simeone was joined by compatriot Hector Cuper, the current coach of the Egypt national team, and Fabio Capelli, Jiangsu Suning FC coach, to discuss Investing in youth sector.
Cuper, who helped Egypt qualify for the World Cup after a gap of 28 years, said: “The Egyptian players are very humble. It comes down to education and the system, I like it a lot, they have more respect.”
The first day concluded with Ferran Soriano, the highly innovative CEO of Manchester City; Vadim Vasilyev, AS Monaco vice president; and Umberto Gandini, AS Roma CEO, addressing the Economic Impact of Football.
Gandini discussed the approval of plans for the development of a new stadium for AS Roma. “This marks an exciting period for the club, we are performing well on all fronts, and this is a positive chapter for the club,” Gandini said.
Soriano, speaking about the evolution of the game, the growing digital presence and the recent partnership with Amazon, said: “We need to innovate, it’s trial and error. It’s worth taking the risk. It’s going to be spectacular.”