Sports Management Graduate Will Create Next Generation Sports Center

The second cycle in the joint FIFA/HSE professional training programme in Sports Management is open for enrollment through October 5. The training is conducted in Russian and involves creating real projects in the sports industry. Denis Nikiforov, a first cycle graduate, talks about what they offer.

Denis Nikiforov

The joint Russian-taught Sport Management programme between FIFA/CIES and HSE was launched in 2014. The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel. FIFA/CIES has 20 years of research under its belt and has built a reputation for training world class sports management specialists – including through partner universities in 16 countries. HSE is FIFA/CIES’s only Russian partner, and offers an intensive training programme that comprises six study modules and work toward a group graduation programme under the tutelage of leading Russian and international experts.

The first group of 36 graduates of the HSE/FIFA/CIES programme in Russia  worked on eight projects, all were applied and had practical applications in real sporting organizations. The project to create a watersports center in Moscow was led by Denis Nikiforov, a former professional sportsman, Russian rowing champion.

‘My career as a professional rowing champion had come to an end and I was looking for a new direction, professional training, and that was how I heard about this programme,’ Denis Nikiforov said. ‘It appealed to me immediately, both the impressive brands and type of study.’

The approach was really unusual – six study modules divided into three, each of which is taught in Moscow in a week – lectures, tutorials, and master classes involving around 50 Russian and international experts. The rest was individual study, even work on your final project.

Denis Nikiforov group’s project was related to watersports and involved a variety of PPP tools. ‘While I was studying, I became involved in the process to acquire land on the outskirts of Moscow for the Rowing Federation,’ Nikiforov recalls. ‘I really liked the idea of developing rowing into a sport with mass-appeal in Moscow, but the initially there was just the land and no funding. I formed a team with other students on the course, and outlined the final project to them. We drafted the final investment proposal together.’

Nikiforov and his colleagues worked on the engineering, legal, marketing, financial and procedural aspects of the project and put together the final project documentation. ‘Our goal was, without recourse to government funds, to create a new generation sports center that was both a classic fitness club and a rowing club,’ Nikiforov recalled. ‘The rowing club was to be a public institution under the auspices of a region in South Moscow, and the fitness club would be a private business. They would coexist under one roof, and form a fundamentally new product on the fitness industry market.’

The project is currently looking for private investors in the construction phase. It was supported by the chairman of the Amateur Rowing Association’s board, Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov. In his letter to the joint HSE and FIFA/CIES programme, he noted that the project ‘has great practical significance.’

Other projects developed by graduates on this programme, such as setting up a sports academy where sportspeople can receive full educations while also continuing their training uninterrupted, and to train stewards for the FIFA World Cup 2018, are also being implemented.

Applications for the second cycle of this joint HSE/FIFA/CIES programme in Sports Management are accepted until October 5. Applicants will undergo a competitive selection procedure based on their portfolio and an interview involving FIFA/CIES representatives. Graduates will receive HSE professional training certificates in Management and official FIFA/CIES certificates. HSE BA and MA students are welcome to apply, and enjoy a 15% fee discount. Further information can be found on the programme’s website.