New Delhi, Mar 2 (PTI) The Mahatma Education Society's Pillai Group of Institutions has partnered with FIFA and the CIES University Network to offer a Sports Management program, the first of its kind in South Asia.

FIFA-CIES which runs this course in 15 other countries will roll out its 16th centre at the Pillai Group's Management training centre in Panvel from September 2019 and is expected to attract applications from all South Asian countries, from which the required number of students will be chosen after a rigorous selection process conducted by CIES for FIFA.

This was announced by K M Vasudevan Pillai, chairman, Pillai Group of Institutions at a special FIFA/CIES/PILLAI Sports Summit on the theme 'Sport and the Development of a Nation'.

Four-time Olympian and Asian Games gold medallist Shiny Wilson, who inaugurated the summit, acknowledged the growing sports market in the country.

"While top sports persons will always get jobs, sports management will offer opportunities to people who are passionate about sport, but are not good enough to make a professional career out of it.

"With the FIFA-CIES Sports management course in partnership with the Pillai Group, they can now fulfil their dream of working with the best in the sports field," Wilson said.

At the inaugural session, Prof. Pierre Lanfranchi, Scientific Coordinator at CIES, Switzerland, emphasised the need for such training in sports organisations in the Indian subcontinent.

"The Indian sub-continent is witnessing an increasing demand for sports management professionals in recent times.

"At CIES, we developed the FIFA/CIES Executive Programme in Sports Management with the objective of equipping such professionals involved in the various sporting federations, associations and clubs with the necessary management tools while taking into account the specificities and realities of the local environment." PTI

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