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WFS and Common Goal team up to turn discussion into action at WFS Live
WFS and Common Goal team up to turn discussion into action at WFS Live 1200 675 WFS Live

World Football Summit and Common Goal are moving a step forward in their commitment to promote football’s contribution to social change. At November’s upcoming WFS Live event, the organisations will partner up to provide a platform for stakeholders from the football industry, the non-for-profit and private sectors, as well as the global football community to discuss how the sport can maximise its contribution to our people and our planet. 

It is a discussion becoming increasingly critical in the current landscape that will feature prominently under the title of the next edition of WFS Live from 23-27 November, 2020: “Building football’s roadmap for the future”. The event’s opening day will be entirely dedicated to promote discussions around how to embed purpose at the heart of football and invite participants to reimagine the football industry over the next 10 years, driven by the ambition of maximising its positive impact.

From the very outset, the event will also seek to create alliances and opportunities for collaboration between stakeholders from the industry and the wider global community. The intention being to take conversations beyond the summit and turn discussions into actions that positively transform both the industry and the future of our society.

“Promoting football’s power to drive social change has been at the core of World Football Summit since its foundation, but we believe the time has come to take a step forward,” said Jan Alessie, Director of World Football Summit. 

“As the world’s biggest shared passion, football has a key role to play in raising awareness and tackling crucial issues like racism, climate change and so many more. Through this partnership with Common Goal we aim to place the need for football to maximise its contribution at the center of the industry’s agenda and start turning discussions into actions.”

Common Goal, the football industry’s fastest growing social impact movement, encourages professional footballers, managers, officials, clubs, businesses and all other stakeholders from the football industry to donate a minimum 1% of their earnings to support high-impact initiatives that use football to drive progress towards the United Nations’ Global Goals. The movement’s long-term vision is to unlock 1% of the entire football industry’s revenues — estimated at €50 billion per year. 

Over previous years, World Football Summit and Common Goal have established a long-term partnership. Since 2017, WFS has pledged 1% of its revenues to Common Goal and Common Goal has actively participated at every event organised by WFS over the past four years. 

At the inaugural edition of WFS Live, Common Goal co-founder Juan Mata took part in a purpose-led discussion with Ronaldo Nazario on philanthropy in football and their individual personal commitment towards social change. 

WFS also donated part of the proceeds from the event to support the Common Goal COVID-19 Response Fund, a collective fund aimed to support young people in the most vulnerables communities around the world affected by coronavirus. In anticipation of the second WFS Live edition, WFS have committed to increasing this support, and will donate 10% of all ticketing to Common Goal.

Industry Awards 2020TW
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WFS Industry Awards now open to applications until 18 October
WFS Industry Awards now open to applications until 18 October 2333 1313 WFS Live

This year’s WFS Industry Awards are now open to applications and will take place virtually at WFS Live on Friday, 27 November.

With applications now open, the deadline for submissions is 18 October.

The WFS Industry Awards were created exactly to acknowledge and reward the achievements of executives, managers, sponsors, agencies, media, NGOs and so many other professionals whose talent, passion and dedication help make football the world’s greatest game and a thriving industry.

Since the inception of the WFS Industry Awards in 2017, the ceremony has been a part of World Football Summit’s annual congress in Madrid.

Unfortunately, this year the event has been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but there are even more reasons to celebrate the work of the industry.

During the past months football has faced the biggest challenge of its history – one that is being overcome thanks to the talent, commitment and brilliant work of outstanding professionals.

This year they deserve to be rewarded more than ever, and with the invaluable support of our partners we are committed to doing so, and that is why we have decided to maintain the WFS Industry Awards.

The winners of each category will then be announced on 16 November and they will have the chance to be interviewed on our digital stage in a 20-minute session that will be part of the WFS Live Conference Programme.

There are also two new categories to make sure all professionals have the chance to join our Hall of Fame: Best Digital Platform and Outstanding Innovation Initiative.

As such, the WFS Industry Awards 2020 categories read as follows:

You can find information on how to participate, HERE.

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WFS Live tickets go on sale with very special promotion
WFS Live tickets go on sale with very special promotion 2333 1313 WFS Live

Tickets to the second edition of WFS Live are now on sale, after launching with a very special promotion that saw 10 people book their place at the virtual event from November 23-27 for just €10.

With just 10 weeks to go until WFS Live gets underway, our €10 offer on Monday, 14 September sold out inside just 30 minutes.

But our WFS Live ticket offers do not stop there and you can purchase your ticket to November’s online event via THIS LINK with a 50% discount at the price of just €35 until September 30.

WFS Live’s inaugural event – which gathered 158 speakers and over 3,400 professionals across five days of fascinating discussion – committed all net profits to both Common Goal and Fundação Fenômenos and 10 per cent of all ticket sales this time around will go to Common Goal’s COVID-19 Response Fund.

The donation of a proportion of ticket sales for the follow-up event is in keeping with its aim to change football for good, while building the industry’s roadmap for the future.

This is the full WFS Live ticket calendar for the coming weeks;

  • 15-30 September: 50% Super Early Bird discount, with tickets costing €35
  • 1-31 October: 20% Early Bird discount, with tickets costing €55
  • 1 November onwards: Full price tickets, costing €70

July’s WFS Live debut was the biggest industry event of the year and saw leading speakers such as FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazario, Common Goal co-founder Juan Mata, ad-guru Martin Sorrell and many others take to the virtual stages for panels in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

If you are interested in being a part of WFS Live and want more information on how to participate, to attend, become a partner or exhibitor, send us an email to: live@worldfootballsummit.com

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WFS Live returns in November, to build football’s roadmap for the future
WFS Live returns in November, to build football’s roadmap for the future 2560 1440 WFS Live

After the success of its inaugural edition, which gathered 158 speakers and over 3,400 professionals, WFS Live returns from November 23-27.

The second iteration will bring the football industry’s most influential community together once again to share experiences and lessons learned during the restart of competitions after the hiatus imposed by coronavirus, while pooling strategies for the crucial times ahead and exploring new paths for the industry to continue moving forward in the so-called ‘new normal’. 

Building football’s roadmap for the future will be the motto of this virtual gathering in which industry leaders will share strategies developed to cushion the multiple effects of the pandemic on their businesses, new opportunities they have encountered along the way, and their future prospects in light of the knowledge and experience gained in recent months. 

WFS Live will also stress the need to take this opportunity to evolve towards a more modern, more digital and more interactive industry, as well as one that is fairer, more inclusive and more supportive. The event will continue contributing to the fight against the effects of coronavirus on vulnerable communities, and 10 per cent of the ticketing revenues will be donated to Common Goal’s Covid-19 Response Fund.

“Resuming competitions and finishing them successfully has been the biggest challenge the sports industry has ever met,” said Jan Alessie, Director of World Football Summit.

“The experience and knowledge gained by the different stakeholders during the process is huge and it should provide invaluable guidance for the industry in the crucial times ahead of us. It’s therefore essential that leaders share their experiences, learnings and vision for the future, and together build a roadmap that will allow the industry to move forward with a firm step in this new and still uncertain normality.”

As in the inaugural edition, the WFS Live platform will allow attendees to engage with speakers by submitting questions during the sessions and to interact with other attendees via group discussions or scheduling one-on-one meetings and video-calls. In addition, new features will be released to improve the user experience and provide new networking opportunities for attendees, partners and exhibitors. 

The quality of the platform was the second most valued aspect according to the WFS Live Satisfaction Survey only after the quality of the speakers. A total of 94.1 per cent of respondents said they had met their goals, while 86.3 per cent of them were sure they would participate in a second edition.

Covid-19 has marked 2020 in every sector linked to sports, but the pandemic has not been the only significant event. The year will also be remembered as one in which sport firmly stood up to racism. The actions taken both individually by athletes of all sports, and collectively by organisations and companies across the industry undoubtedly signal a turning point in the need to eradicate racial discrimination. 

There were also significant statements of intent to bring greater parity between the men’s and women’s games, with the decision taken by the Football Associations of England and Brazil to pay their international female teams the same as their male counterparts, following the steps of Australia, Norway and New Zealand.

WFS Live: Building football’s roadmap for the future

These events are also featured in the comprehensive WFS Live Conference Concept, which pivots on five main themes:  

  • Explore: The ‘new normal’ in football
  • Bridge the gap: Partnerships, investments & more
  • Discover the next step: Sports technology & OTT
  • Inclusivity: This game is for everyone
  • Breaching boundaries: New global possibilities in sport

The WFS Live Programme, which will be released in the coming weeks, will also feature the final of the WFS StartCup by GSIC – the annual startup competition promoted by WFS and the Global Sports Innovation Center (GSIC). The WFS Industry Awards, issued annually by WFS to recognise outstanding works done by professionals of the different fields within the football industry, will also take place. Due to Covid-19, this year the awards will be handed virtually. 

Tickets for WFS Live will go on sale next Monday September 14th with a unique special offer, so keep an eye on your mailbox and the World Football Summit’s social media networks to make sure you don’t miss it.

In the meantime; if you are interested in being part of WFS Live and want more information on how to participate, send us an email to: live@worldfootballsummit.com 

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WFS Live proceeds donated to Common Goal and Fundação Fenômenos coronavirus efforts
WFS Live proceeds donated to Common Goal and Fundação Fenômenos coronavirus efforts 1080 1080 WFS Live

Having committed all net profits from WFS Live to social movements Common Goal and Fundação Fenômenos, World Football Summit and Octagon Brasil have contributed to their respective ongoing initiatives fighting coronavirus around the world.

As part of WFS’ continued investment in real-world change through the power of football, proceeds from WFS Live – our inaugural digital event – are now being distributed by both Common Goal and Fundação Fenômenos.

“An important part of what makes football the world’s most popular game is its unmatchable power to tear down barriers, bring people together and drive social development,” said Jan Alessie, director of World Football Summit.

“These are no easy times for the industry, but at WFS we believe that now, more than ever, it’s our duty to continue supporting these efforts and promoting the power that makes football so unique. That’s why we’re delighted to donate the net proceeds of WFS Live to our long-time partners at Common Goal and to Fundação Fenômenos – with whom we look forward to continue working with in the future.”

The fight against COVID-19

Celebrating its third anniversary this month, Common Goal was co-founded by Jürgen Griesbeck and Juan Mata in 2017 as a way of “uniting the global football community in tackling the greatest social challenges of our time.”

They have done so by bringing on board some of the biggest names in the sport – such as Jürgen Klopp, Megan Rapinoe, and Paulo Dybala – taking the pledge and donating 1% of their salaries to Common Goal causes.

Common Goal have already raised over €300,000 for its COVID-19 Relief Fund, while allocating €260,000 to 27 organisations in 20 countries, with the aim of supporting Football for Good’s emergency response efforts and young people hardest hit by the pandemic.

This has helped community organisations deliver education and medical supplies to deprived areas in 200+ communities across 90 countries, reaching out to more than two million people dealing with a global crisis that has left death, hunger, violence and displacement in its wake.

Similarly, Fundação Fenômenos were born in 2012 with football at it score in the shape of founder Ronaldo Názario – the Brazil legend who redefined the sport on the pitch and is now trying to have a similarly transformative impact off it.

The Sao Paulo-based organisation’s COVID-19 Fund will distribute raised funds from September to December this year, with the express aim of supporting communities across Brazil that includes: the indigenous and black population, those that identify as LGBTQI+, the homeless, refugees, and immigrants.

The start of a new partnership…

It was the first time WFS and Fundação Fenômenos has partnered, but certainly won’t ​be the last, with both organisations firmly committed to using football as the catalyst for bringing about societal change in areas that need it the most.

“We are absolutely satisfied with the WFS partnership,” said Fundação Fenômenos president Otávio Pereira. “The event itself was groundbreaking and successful on all fronts. Furthermore, we were glad to be part of the pool of NGO’s supported.

“We call to action others to promote and foster partnerships between private and third-sectors. This is a brilliant example how joint forces can change the world for the better.”

Alessie added: “Football players have a unique power to make an impact on people’s lives and Fundação Fenômenos is a great example of the remarkable goals that can be achieved when that power is used to giving back to society.

“The work that Fundação Fenômenos is doing with vulnerable communities in Brazil is amazing. I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Ronaldo and all his team. We’re honoured to be partners and we look forward to continue joining forces in the future.”

… And the latest in a long-term collaboration

As for Common Goal, this is the latest in a long-running relationship that dates back to WFS taking the 1% pledge just weeks after Common Goal’s inception three years ago.

The 1% pledge is just a small part of WFS’ ongoing commitment to the Common Goal cause, and as a platform that brings the football industry leaders together, WFS firmly agrees for the need to promote football as a force for good and a tool for social development.

Griesbeck and Mata have taken to the WFS stage numerous times, bringing awareness to the huge impact football can have on the lives of millions of vulnerable people around the world.

Most recently, Spain midfielder Mata joined Fundação Fenômenos founder – and WFS Live partner – Ronaldo for an important discussion on how football players can contribute more to society at July’s WFS Live event.

Both shared their hands-on knowledge and experience from their respective work with Common Goal and Fundacao Fenômenos, which includes their efforts combating COVID-19.

“Over the last few years, World Football Summit has successfully created a space to gather and discuss the future of football,” said Griesbeck, whose Street Football World organisation was collaborating with WFS some time before Common Goal was born.

“Together we aim to drive the agenda towards how it can meaningfully contribute to the development of a fairer society and a sustainable planet, towards a platform that encourages new voices within the industry.

“We’re convinced that it’s of vital importance and we’re committed to engage in this conversation alongside World Football Summit. We’re proud to have WFS on board as a Common Goal member and look forward to together being part of the solution in the times ahead.”​

“In recent years we’re seeing more and more football players becoming actively involved in social issues, such as the fight against poverty, racism or sexual discrimination. This is of great importance because nobody has more capacity to influence youth around the world more than athletes,” added Alessie.

“Common Goal’s work, making footballers and other industry players aware of their power to build a fairer society, has been key in this ongoing and crucial process. At WFS, we’re extremely proud of being members and partners of Common Goal since their inception, and we remain committed to ensuring that football as a tool for social development will be an important part of the industry’s agenda when addressing the future of the game.”

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And the finalists for the 2020 WFS StartCup by GSIC are…
And the finalists for the 2020 WFS StartCup by GSIC are… 2048 1021 WFS Live

4D Sight (USA), BBox Sports (Netherlands), Beyond Sports BV (Netherlands), IDOVEN (Spain), Immersiv.io (France), iSPORTiSTiCS (Brazil), Pico-Get Personal (Israel) and Sport Buff (United Kingdom) are the eight finalists of the 2020 WFS StartCup by GSIC, the startup competition that aims to locate the best ‘sportech’ projects and/or startups with innovative solutions that can impact the sports industry in general, and football in particular.

These eight startups were selected after an online pitch that took place on Thursday July 9th during Day 4 of WFS Live powered by Ronaldo, a virtual event that gathered 158 industry leaders and over 3,400 attendees from 120 countries. They will all take the stage again in the next edition of WFS Live for a final pitch after which the jury will decide the winner.

The eight finalists come from seven countries (two of them are from the Netherlands) and three different continents. The majority of them are focused on providing fan engagement solutions for football properties through AI, AR, VR, Machine Learning and other technology tools.

The winning project will receive one year of free membership to the Global Sports Innovation Center powered by Microsoft and a scholarship to the GSIC Institute’s Master in Digital Transformation. All the selected finalists will receive two complimentary passes for the next edition of WFS Live, which will take place in Q4 of 2020.

This is the fifth edition of the WFS StartCup. Thermohuman, 3D Digital Venue,  YBVR and GameReady, winners of the four previous editions respectively, have since gained great notoriety in the sportech ecosystem. The 2020 WFS StartCup by GSIC registered 90 candidacies from 30 countries. The jury shortlisted 16 pre-finalists that had the chance to pitch during WFS Live powered by Ronaldo.

The jury of the 2020 WFS StartCup by GSIC is composed by relevant industry professionals such as Paul Bragiel, Managing Partner at Bragiel Brothers, Iris Córdoba, General Manager at GSIC, Danny Cortenraede, President & Business Owner at Wannahaves, Edson Crevecoeur, Vice President, Strategy & Data Analytics at 601 Analytics, Andrew Gilligan, Head of Research & Insights at City Football Group, Aaron Gourley, Editor at FC Business Magazine, Charlie Greenwood, Founder and CEO at Sports Loft, Samuel Jackman, Chief Development Officer at VenueNext Europe, Mathieu Lacome, Head of Research & Development at Paris Saint-Germain, Sebastián Lancestrémere, WW DT Partnerships & Sports Industry Managing Director at Microsoft, Sam Li, Head of International at Sina Sports, Thomas Lim, Deputy Chief at Sport Singapore, Massimo Marinelli, CEO at Aser Ventures, Rohn Malhotra, Co-founder at SportsTechX, Unmish Parthasarathi, Founder & Executive Director at Picture Board Partners, Fredda Rodríguez, Head of Digital and Emerging Technologies at CONCACAF, Minerva Santana, Director of Innovation and Global Development at LaLiga and Luis Vicente, Group CEO at Eleven Sports.

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WFS Live was the largest football industry event of the year
WFS Live was the largest football industry event of the year 6250 2083 WFS Live

The first ever edition of WFS Live powered by R9 came to an end on Friday July 10th with a unique live conversation with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Football’s global chief shared his views on the current state of the football industry and his plans to continue growing and globalising the game in the coming years, despite the significant challenges that lie ahead due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The chat between Infantino and O Fenômeno was the icing on the cake of a unique event that featured 37 conferences in three different languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese) with up to 158 top-notch speakers. These international leaders shared their knowledge and experience with the sole objective of finding the best ways to overcome the unprecedented challenges that the global sports industry is facing.

If unity is an essential requirement to face the post-Covid era, and everyone agrees it is, then there’s no doubt that the football industry is in a much better position to overcome the challenges ahead after WFS Live, the largest event the football industry has seen in 2020. Figures prove that WFS’ first online was much more than its Conference Programme. It was a global networking and knowledge-sharing platform that brought together the entirety of the industry like never before.

Our 3,407 attendees from 120 different countries made over 10,000 contacts (4,3 contacts per active user), created 10,700+ discussions and exchanged 22,000+ messages. The conversations were clearly fruitful, as video-calls went on for an average of over 45 minutes and attendees rated each other with an average of 4,8/5. 85 percent of the attendees that were rated scored 5 Starts, the highest possible rating.

WFS Live became one of the main talking points across the global industry during the entire week, generating over 1 million impressions on social media (640,000 on Twitter) and 15,000 engagements.

“I’m very grateful to the more than 3,000 participants from all the continents, the 158 speakers who debated for 5 days very important and relevant topics for the entire industry and to the sponsors who joined us on our dream to connect the football industry virtually. You collaborated directly with the NGOs Common Goal and Fundação Fenômenos,” said Ronaldo in his final closing speech.

“When we started this project our mission was to develop a useful platform to allow the football industry to come together in these difficult times in which we are forced to be apart due to the pandemic. The remarkable figures achieved during the past week prove that we fulfilled our objective and I’m happy and proud to say that today the football industry is more united and therefore in a better position to face whatever challenges may lie ahead. I would like to thank all the attendees for participating and all our partners for supporting us in this new project that we expect to grow and improve in the coming months,” said WFS Director Jan Alessie.

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Day 5 highlights: Drogba, Carney, Collina, Infantino, Ronaldo, and more
Day 5 highlights: Drogba, Carney, Collina, Infantino, Ronaldo, and more 1236 566 WFS Live

Day 5 of WFS Live was packed with action and relevant discussions. African leaders such as CAF General Secretary Abdelmounaim Bah or football legend Didier Drogba discussed the best strategies for the game to continue growing in the continent, Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of FIFA’s Referee Committee, addressed how VAR is changing the game for the good, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino shared his plans for the future with Ronaldo Nazário in a unique live conversation. And as a special treat for our Spanish fans, we had Vicente del Bosque, Fernando Hierro, David Villa and Juan Mata sharing their memories on the 2010 World Cup, in which the Spanish National Team conquered the world with their unique “Tiki Taka” style.

Gianni Infantino on hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup every two years
“One idea that came in this period, and even before as well, is that maybe we should organise the Women’s World Cup every two years instead of every four years. For the next Women’s World Cup in 2023, we had a lot of interest around the world. We’ll go to Australia and New Zealand. Then, what happens next? Should we go to South America? Or maybe Europe or North America want to organise it again? Why not South America? Why not Africa? So, we need to see what we can do.”

Ronaldo Nazário on fighting against racism every day
“The fight against racism is not just a fight for black people, it’s everybody’s fight. We have to fight it every day. Nobody is born racist, but somehow people learn to be racist. We have to fight to teach those who learn that when kids. But, it’s everybody’s fight.”

Santiago Solari on the mental challenges faced by players during the Covid-19 lockdown
“During the lockdown, players have had to rely heavily on self-discipline and self-motivation. They have worked for weeks without the control of any staff and without the motivation of the daily competition and also without their teammates. For the first time in their careers, they’ve experienced the harshness and the loneliness of the preparation for an individual sport, which is much more difficult.”

David Villa on why Spain has to quit looking for the new Xavi and the next Iniesta
“It would be a huge mistake to try to find the new Xavi, the new Iniesta, the new Villa or the new Casillas. Spain has great players and great coaches. They are different to the ones that won the World Cup in 2010, but they are perfectly capable of building an excellent team. If we want to succeed in the future, we have to stop comparing the current players with the past players. If we do so, Spanish football has an enormous potential.”

Didier Drogba on the need to educate football players in Africa
“Education is the key. We need to educate the players because, for example, in Ivory Coast some of them don’t know how to read, how to write. Education is vital, it is crucial because you can’t focus just on creating good football players. This is a career that lasts 10, 15 perhaps 20 years, but after that there is a life and the move can be very difficult.”

Karen Carney (Visa) on the importance of long-term partnerships in women’s football
“When I first started playing I don’t think there was any partners, there wasn’t really big sponsors. Nobody really cared if I’m honest. Then, as England started to get to major tournaments, you saw sponsors and partners drop in at key times, maybe a year before the tournaments and then they would drop out. There wasn’t really any consistency. And what I noticed since now is that for instance with Visa’s seven-year partnership, which is incredible, Nike, Barclays… This stops those peaks and troughs of coming in at the key moments and then dropping out. How can the women’s game ever really develop like that? Visa’s seven-year plan shows confidence in the game and it shows believe and that’s massive for other brands as well.”

Pierluigi Collina (FIFA) on how VAR is forcing referees to change their mentality 
“Referees today grew up as referees without VAR, so this generation is in a process of big change. They have to adapt their mentality. To be clear, a referee on the field of play has been educated to defend the decision taken against everybody. Today he has to change this mentality because he has to understand and accept that his decision on the field can be overruled based on something that can be shown on the monitor. It’s a matter of mentality.”

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Gianni Infantino: “It’s time to speak about the international calendar, nobody is happy with it”
Gianni Infantino: “It’s time to speak about the international calendar, nobody is happy with it” 1242 570 WFS Live

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is keen to engage in dialogue with clubs and federations over the future of football’s calendar, a calendar that has already been completely shaken up by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is one of the main issues that Infantino addressed as he appeared in the closing session of WFS Live powered by Ronaldo, a Q&A which was hosted by Ronaldo himself.

The Brazilian legend asked the FIFA president about football’s calendar going forward and Infantino pointed out that it has already been shaken up due to the several months of inaction that the pandemic caused. Given that so many found the balance between club and national team matches problematic even before the crisis, now is the time for dialogue.

As Gianni Infantino said: “When you speak about it, you find out that nobody is really happy with the current international match calendar. You have national team games in September, October and November, then in March and then in June. You have players who have to travel halfway around the world back and forth for these games. I think it is time to speak about it.”

“It’s important to listen, to get input, to get opinions, to find the right balance,” he continued. “It’s important for us that we find the right balance between clubs and national teams. And not only a few clubs in Europe and a few national teams in Europe and Brazil and Argentina, but much wider than that. All over the world. We need to make sure that when we rethink our competitions at FIFA level, and also at national level, that we take the experiences we’ve had now with this crisis on board and we see how we can make football more impactful.”

“Nobody is really happy with the current international match calendar. You have players who have to travel halfway around the world back and forth for these games. I think it is time to speak about it.” – Gianni Infantino, FIFA President

The new-look FIFA Club World Cup will have a place in the new calendar, even if FIFA already agreed to move it from the summer 2021 slot. Ronaldo asked why not all in the football industry have been on board with the plans to revamp and expand this Club World Cup, and Infantino responded as so: “I don’t know why they’re afraid. Maybe because it would become the best club competition in the world very soon. I think it’s an example of something I’ve said before. When we decided to do the new Club World Cup, we decided at the same time to stop with the Confederations Cup and the current Club World Cup. I think we are the only sports body in the world that doesn’t just add, but that replaces and makes something that is more relevant and more interesting.”

Delving into the impacts of COVID-19 on the world of football, Infantino told Ronaldo about how FIFA is trying to help organisations around the world and how a relief fund of 1.5 billion dollars has been created. Even still, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions.

One of the repeated themes of the WFS Live week, which was held from July 6th to July 10th, was the issue of women’s football and how the impact of the coronavirus crisis could be even harsher for the women’s game. FIFA are aware of this, as Infantino explained.

“Women’s football is a top priority for FIFA and we have created a specific task force and working group to deal with questions about women’s football in this particular crisis,” he revealed. “We have committed 1 billion dollars from the next four years to be invested by FIFA in women’s football and, in spite of the crisis, we’ll continue with this investment of course. As part of our relief plan, we’ve invested in women’s football as well. So, I think we should not use coronavirus to put women’s football aside. On the contrary, we have to help women’s football even more because it has a bright future.”

“Maybe we should organise the Women’s World Cup every two years instead of every four years”, Ganni Infantino – FIFA President

Moving on to that future, Infantino suggested that the FIFA Women’s World Cup could become a biennial event. He said: “One idea that came in this period, and even before as well, is that maybe we should organise the Women’s World Cup every two years instead of every four years. For the next Women’s World Cup in 2023, we had a lot of interest around the world. We’ll go to Australia and New Zealand. Then, what happens next? Should we go to South America? Or maybe Europe or North America want to organise it again? Why not South America? Why not Africa? So, we need to see what we can do.”

The conversation between Ronaldo and Infantino concluded with some thoughts about football and footballers’ role in social movements, such as Black Lives Matter. Infantino explained that he is fully behind players voicing opinions on such matters, saying: “Players are people. So, for me, it’s normal and natural that they express their views. I’m definitely a defender of freedom of expression, always with respect and never with disrespect or with violence. But, whenever a football player is expressing their views or opinions in a respectful way or the right way then obviously this has to be welcomed because it has an impact in society and we want football to have a positive impact in society.”

Ronaldo completely agreed with that sentiment and called for education to play a role. As the Brazilian concluded: “The fight against racism is not just a fight for black people, it’s everybody’s fight. We have to fight it every day. Nobody is born racist, but somehow people learn to be racist. We have to fight to teach those who learn that when kids. But, it’s everybody’s fight.”

A selection of Gianni Infantino’s quotes :

On altering transfer market rules to allow players to finish 2019/20 with their current clubs:
“With different laws in different countries and with different interests in different countries, and also with different clubs, we had to find some reasonable and flexible rules and we amended our regulations on a temporary basis for this period for the transfers in order to, mainly, protect the integrity of the competitions. It’s important that if a player starts a competition with a club that they finish the competition with that club as well, or at least that we protect the integrity in the sense that this player cannot go on June 30th to play for another club in the same competition and play the last few matches there. Because this, of course, would not be fair from a sporting point of view.

On the busy schedule facing world football over the coming years:
“The Champions League will be finished at the end of August and then we’ll immediately have national team games and then the new season starts and then it ends with the Euros and the Copa America. Then we’re already into 2021/22 and then that’ll be the year of the World Cup. So, it’ll be a very right schedule for the next couple of years. We have to realise that the core of football is the players. I think some people in some management positions have forgotten that, certainly in the past and maybe some as well in the present. We have to realise that, at FIFA, we are here to make sure that the stage is set for the main actors, which are the players, to shine. We need to be very careful and very mindful about this, about the health of the players. For this reason, for example, I’m happy that the IFAB agreed with the proposal of FIFA for there to be five substitutions for this period.”

On holding matches behind closed doors:
“To watch these games without spectators is sad. It’s sad. Of course, it’s better than nothing, but… I was saying before that the players are the heart of the game, but the fans are the soul of the game. I think that without fans it’s like without players. It’s not really football. In this moment, it’s not possible because of health reasons. But, we need to work to have the fans back in the stadiums as soon as it’s possible from a health point of view.”

On FIFA’s role in education:
“There are many many topics that we can speak to children about through football and we can help in the education of children. So, FIFA is investing in the Football For Schools Programme 100 million dollars to give 700 million children around the world the possibility not only to play football, but mainly to have, through football, the possibility to learn a few skills which are important for their lives.”

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Day 4 highlights: Simon Oliveira, Al Guido, Joe de Sena, the WFS StartCup and more
Day 4 highlights: Simon Oliveira, Al Guido, Joe de Sena, the WFS StartCup and more 1097 521 WFS Live

Day 4 of WFS Live powered by R9 saw leading social media experts discuss why athletes are becoming powerful influencers and why this trend is only just starting. Successful entrepreneurs like Alejandro Agag (Extreme E) or Joe de Sena (Spartan Race) exchanged views on what football can learn from other sports, whilst Barça’s Marta Plana and Pixellot CEO Alon Werber addressed the crucial role of technology in the “New Normal”. Plus, we had the semi-finals of the WFS StartCup by GSIC.

Simon Oliveira (KIN Partners) on who can become the LeBron James of football:
“If you look at the audiences of Messi, Ronaldo or Neymar I think they have the power of a Ferrari in their hands but they’re still learning to drive. They have enormous potential, some individually have more than the combined audience of The New York Times, The Washington Post and the LA Times put together. However, I think where LeBron was very clever was he very much identified what the content slate would be from his perspective. It was built around American black culture and things that he was passionate about. I think any footballer going to this are needs to be very clear as to what their identity is and what the content stream and platform should be for.”

Al Guido (49ers) on the need to embrace user-generated content
“We have 20 people on our content team capturing 49ers and other sports every single day. However, we have 10 million fans all over the world capturing 49ers content, so you have to embrace it. User-generated content is just another form of our 49ers Studio team. Last year, Live Nation and Ticketmaster had more reaction for tickets going on sale for the NFL season based on user-generated 30-second advertisements versus studio-recorded production quality, because people want to be in the action, they want to see what happens there.”
Alon Werber (Pixellot) on how automation and AI can save clubs post-Covid
“A lot of clubs in the world live on venue tickets and are going to lack revenue streams in the coming season, in which there are going to be severe restrictions on stadium attendance. Bringing quick and low cost production to allow them to continue connecting with their fans via a subscription model or through sponsorship deals can be almost a matter of life or death for these clubs in the coming season. At Pixellot we’ve been engaging AI and computer vision to film, produce and stream completely automatic games for 4 years and today we are installed in around 8,000 fields of 16 different sports. Last January we were producing live 100,000 hours of life events.”
Ricardo Dias (Ambev) on bringing content to people’s homes
“It’s time to stay at home. We are taking the opportunity to create new occasions for consumption. We are investing in e-commerce, lives and bringing them to people’s homes. It was not part of the plan, but it will certainly add a lot of value in the future.”
Diogo Kotscho (Orlando City SC) on creating and engaging digital communities

“At Orlando City, what worked was creating and engaging an entire community. As a result, today it is easier to see Orlando City flags, shirts and stickers around than Orlando Magic, the traditional NBA team and more related to tourism. We brought Kaká in the first year, which was important to start our journey with the fans.”

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