September 4 – The World Football Forum 2014 to be held at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow, November 13, has announced that a panel discussion on the implications of UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations will be led by the Chief Executive of Chelsea Football Club, Ron Gourlay.
The forum will be the first time the Russian market has been opened to the world’s football business since the Brazilian World Cup and the country finalised plans for the infrastructure build for 2018.
Insideworldfootball is partnering with organiser Eventica and delegates receive a 7% discount if they quote IWF on registration. They also receive a free six-month subscription to the soon to be launched Insideworldfootball archive.
Financial fair play (FFP) was initiated in 2011 and since then clubs that have qualified for UEFA competitions have to prove they do not have overdue payments towards other clubs, their players and social/tax authorities from throughout the season. The aim of the rules is to prevent clubs going into unaffordable debt, and UEFA has shown it is prepared to apply sanctions to clubs that break them.
For Chelsea FC the rules have had a major impact on the way the business has been managed and Gourlay will debate the effect of the rules on the club and the football business more generally.
Chelsea is one of four major clubs in Europe that has Russian energy giant Gazprom as a key sponsor. The others are Zenit St Petersburg (where Gazprom is also the club’s owner), Red Star Belgrade (where it is believed Gazprom is about to become the majority owner) and Germany’s Schalke. Chelsea is owned by Russian Roman Abramovich who sold his Sibneft energy company to Gazprom (but not his football club).
A total of 1,070 infrastructure projects have already been identified in Russia for the 2018 World Cup. The championship will be hosted in 11 cities: Moscow (Luzhniki and Spartak Stadiums), Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Sochi, Rostov-on-Don, Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd and Saransk.
The programme for the World Football Forum will cover current issues in the football industry. Speakers and participants will include leading players in crucial football industry sectors such as infrastructure, construction/engineering and overlay services, as well as sports marketing experts, corporate sponsorship directors, commercial directors of football clubs as well as hotel and accommodation providers and security experts.
To register visit the official website http://worldfootballforum.org/ Alternatively email ku.oc1734857709.acit1734857709neve@1734857709ofnI1734857709 or moc.l1734857709labto1734857709ofdlr1734857709owedi1734857709sni@t1734857709catno1734857709c1734857709. When registering do not forget to use your IWF code and get your discount and free six-month subscription to the Insideworldfootball archive.