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On top of the FMA World Gathering, which happened on 26-27 July, all FIFA Master alumni were invited to attend the UNESCO’s Change the Game Sport Conference, on 23-24 July. Conference day one, the Partners’ Forum, advocated for and illustrated the social impacts of investments in sport policies and programmes ahead of conference day two, the Ministerial Forum, which focused on sport policy and investment at government level. The Partners’ Forum featured the launch of UNESCO’s Social Impact of Sport Report, setting the scene for a series of sessions exploring topics related to investment in sport through people, infrastructure and innovation where the FMA could take part in meaningful discussions about investing in Social Impact, in and through Sport.

On this topic, FMA’04 Pedro Trengrouse met with Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate and Olympic Laurel awardee, founder of Yunus Sports hub, a global social business network creating solutions in and through sport, harnessing the power of social business and sport to end poverty, unemployment and the climate crisis, working with thousands of young people, athletes, business leaders and organisations in sport to help them realise their social business potential.

On July 24th, UNESCO  hosted the FMA for a  major  gathering  of  high-level  sport policy-makers  in  the  leadup  to  the  2024  Paris  Olympic  Games, bringing together government representatives from the  fields  of  sport, education and equality, alongside sport professionals, educators and civil society actors, in line with the shared recognition of UNESCO and the FMA of the universal  appeal of sport and its  potential to transform societies, reaching  across all generations and communities. Sport can be used to change mentalities, drive environmental and social progress,  and advance inclusiveness and gender equality. These impacts are all at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate as well as our education at the FIFA Master and the roles of the FMA in the Sports industry . The Ministerial Forum launched three other important UNESCO reports which may be interesting or relevant for members of the FMA community and their work: The global state of play: report and recommendations on quality physical education; Sport and gender equality game plan: guidelines for gender-transformative sport policies and programmes; Towards a safer playing field: tackling violence against women and girls in sport; call to action. This event also identified commitments from States to strengthen the social impact of sport and the outcomes of these discussions were presented at the Heads of State summit organized by France on 25 July 2024. 

All the FIFA Master alumni were invited to attend the UNESCO’s Change the Game Sport Conference on both days, 23-24 July. The event took place at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris, and was born out of a proposal submitted by FMA members. 

FMA’04 Nick Lau, in his capacity as UNESCO Senior Consultant for Major Sport Events, was part of the organization of both days, and Kirsty Burrows, Head of IOC’s Safe Sport Unit and FMA’15, was one of the speakers at the event.