MIP Alumni News

Jason Roberts is currently in Cairo, Egypt at an important discussion with FIFA to meet up with the Technical & Development Committee. In light of the latest incidents, violence in stadia, referees refusing to use the VAR, a player tearing his shirt in front of his complicit coach, the President has reaffirmed his willingness to undertake various reforms. Despite the 26 referees who have been sanctioned and the ongoing investigations, the President thinks CAF still have a long way from its objectives of cleaning CAF. CAF President Ahmad Ahmad opened the meeting of the Technical & Development Committee in Cairo, Egypt, highlighting on [...]

The first cohort of MIP alumni met up in Lyon, France earlier this year. The MIP Alumni looked back at the tremendous memories that the UEFA MIP course has helped to create as they court up and re-connected over a game of futsal. MIP alumni including current PSG Ladies Sporting Director, Bruno Cheyrou, Simon Rolfes, Mbo Mpenza, and Christian Karembeu were all present at this meeting and even had a futsal game to continue their friendly rivalries on the pitch. It was a very enjoyable day and as the MIP community grows we look forward to many more days like this. In particular, MIP [...]

We spoke to ex-Bayern Munich Ladies and Germany defender, and now current Bayern Munich ladies Sporting Director and MIP Board member, Bianca Rech. Here is part of the transcript of her interview.   What are the best pieces of advice you’ve been given about management? Bianca: Best piece of advice – Listen to people. Don’t just decide because you think it’s the right thing to do. When you work in a group it’s very important to listen to the people and this especially applies to management. You were the first group of MIP graduates. How do you think MIP had helped you to develop and succeed in [...]

UEFA has announced that Roberto Rosetti is to replace Pierluigi Collina as its Chief Refereeing Officer, after Collina announced his decision to step down for personal reasons at the UEFA summer refereeing course in Nyon yesterday. Roberto Rosetti, 50, was an international referee from 2002 up to his retirement in 2010. The highlight of his career came during UEFA EURO 2008, where he refereed the opening match between Switzerland and the Czech Republic, as well as the final which saw Spain win the tournament against Germany.  In 2008 he was awarded the honour of being named the World’s Best Referee by [...]

As the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia has been completed it has been great to see a number of our alumni attend the World Cup in a variety of capacities. Alumni who have travelled out to Russia include Bruno Cheyrou, Nuno Gomes, Christian Karembeu and Jason Roberts. It is great to see our alumni have attended the World Cup in different capacities as Bruno, Nuno and Christian have covered the World Cup with BeIn France, BeIn Sport and ZDF respectively. Whilst, Jason attended the World Cup in his role as Director of Development for CONCACAF. He [...]

FC Barcelona announces that Robert Fernández will not extend his contract as the football first team technical secretary which runs out on 30 June of this year. The Club would like to thank Robert Fernández publicly for his commitment and dedication to FC Barcelona over the years and wishes him success in the future. As such, FC Barcelona also announces that Éric Abidal will take over the role as football first team technical secretary. His official presentation will be on Monday 18 July. The former Barça player returns to the Club that he joined in 2007 and where he won [...]

UEFA MIP Alumnus Bruno Cheyrou was recently been named as PSG Ladies' Sporting Director in November last year. Bruno's remit is to optimise PSG Ladies' competitiveness and instill a clearer organisational structure at the club. In addition to this, Bruno leads on the recruitment of players to coaches to the club. Last season PSG Ladies finished in third place outside of the Women's Champions League places. Bruno has helped to improve PSG Ladies' fortunes this season as they are equal on points with Montpellier Ladies with a game in hand. In the Coupe de France Feminine PSG have reached the Quarter-Finals [...]

It was great to see MIP Alumni Christian Karembeu, Nuno Gomes and Eric Abidal take part in the successful Match for Solidarity game in Geneva. There was also additional MIP representation in the form current students in the form of Gaizka Mendieta and Youri Djorkaeff.The match which was watched by over 23,000 fans was full of quality and saw Luis Figo's team finish 4-3 winners against Ronaldinho's team with goals coming courtesy of Raul, Robert Pires, Michel Salgado and of course, our own Nuno Gomes. This star-studded affair which saw the teams managed by the legendary figures of Carlo Ancelotti and  Didier [...]

Christian Karembeu has signed the 'Athens Principle' on behalf of Olympiacos FC where he is currently strategic advisor. This principle was devised by Nottingham Forest owner and shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis and is backed by Harvard University. The initiative's primary aim is to promote the right to take part in sport. It has a code of practice which includes 12 principles which all clubs are urged to follow and "Encourages people to take up sport without discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, or national or social origin”. The 'Athens Principle' has now received high-profile backing from within the sports [...]

UEFA MIP Alumni committee member Jason Roberts MBE was named as the CONCACAF Director of Development in November 2017.  In his new role, Jason will focus on managing and strengthening the Confederation’s core development programs including grassroots, coaching education, and professional football development initiatives. Jason has now relocated to Miami where the CONCACAF HQ is based.  As part of CONCACAF's expansion Jason will lead on two focus areas - Professional Football Development and Technical Development. His role within Professional Football Development will see him manage club licensing implementation, league development initiatives and its benchmarking programme. Whilst his lead role in the Technical [...]