By Paul Nicholson
May 10 – FIFA’s top brass and the three CEO’s of the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cup organising committees are among the headliners for the FT/IFA one-day conference at the Copacabana Palace Hotel, Rio de Janeiro, June 17. With five weeks to go the speaker line-up for Rio is taking a star-studded shape.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter will open the conference with an address followed by an interview with FT sports editor Roger Blitz. FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke will close the conference with an address covering world football generally and his hopes for Brazil 2014 and the readiness of the country for the tournament.
Brazil’s sports minister Aldo Rebelo (pictured) will address delegates on how the Brazilian government plans to achieve its economic goals for the FIFA World Cup, and the economic impact the World Cup is expected to have on the country.
Rio de Janeiro’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, will also be speaking.
The agenda is packed with big names. Perhaps one of the most compelling sessions will be with the three world cup chiefs Ricardo Trade, CEO, Brazil 2014 World Cup, Alexei Sorokin, CEO, LOC, Russia 2018 and Hassan Abdulla al Thawadi, CEO, Qatar 2022 World Cup bid, talking about their vision for the future of the game in the world. This is the first time the three World Cup leaders have sat on the same panel.
Shoehorned into the schedule will be sessions on the future of Brazilian football – at home and in the international marketplace. Alongside this the panelists will tackle Brazil’s World Cup legacy. Luiz Eduardo Baptista da Rocha, president Sky Brazil, Luis Paulo Rosenberg, VP, Corinthians, Marcos Motta, founding partner, Bichara e Motta Advogados and Michel Davidovich, general manager 2014 Football World Cup Team, Brazil, Coca Cola have all confirmed attendance
A session titled ‘Fields of Gold – Where is the New Growth in the Football Market?’ will look at where the global commercial opportunities lie and what can be done to increase the value of rights holders. Panelists for this session include Edward Lange, CEO, Allianz Brazil, Marcelo Campos Pinto, Executive Director Rede Globo, Ian Ayre, CEO Liverpool FC and Simon Oliveira, Global PR for David Beckham.
Sir Martin Broughton, chairman, Sports Investment Partners, and chairman of British Airways will lead a ‘Football Freestyle’ session with Felipe Faro, CEO Santos FC, picking up on issues of the day.
IFA conferences are by invitation. To register interest and for more information go to www.ft-live.com/football.
Insideworldfootball is a media partner of IFA.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734801317labto1734801317ofdlr1734801317owedi1734801317sni@n1734801317osloh1734801317cin.l1734801317uap1734801317