The recent performance of the National Men’s Football Team of Costa Rica at international friendly matches and during the 2014 Central American Cup in the United States have ratified the fact that our country’s spirited performance at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil was no “Cinderella run.” Costa Rica is currently ranked by FIFA as number 15 in the world, and that’s just based on the performance of La Sele.

When you stop to consider that our country hosted the most recent U-17 Women’s World Cup, that three clubs from Costa Rica are strong contenders for the CONCACAF Champions League, that the National Women’s Team had a strong performance to qualify them for the 2015 FIFA World Cup in Canada, and that players such as star goalkeeper Keylor Navas are having great seasons at prestigious clubs such as the Real Madrid, it is no surprise that our country is becoming a hub for top notch sports management education.

This recent press release announces the seventh sports management program offered by the University of Costa Rica under official auspice of FIFA and the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES). If you are interested in becoming a future football club manager, this program is for you.

The University of Costa Rica (UCR), a CIES academic partner, had launched the registration process for the 7th edition of the UCR/FIFA/CIES Programme in sport management (Curso de Tecnico en gestion deportiva). This mixed curriculum – with courses taught in the classroom and online sessions – is open to all Spanish-speaking countries in Central America. The next edition will start in February 2015.

For the third year running, UCR will offer the courses making up the FIFA/CIES Programme in sport management in a format allowing students from Spanish-speaking countries in Central America to follow a great deal of the curriculum from home. Students will meet for two classroom sessions in February and in September 2015 in Costa Rica. The rest of the time, they will take part in the different online classes managed by the module heads (marketing/sponsorship, law, management, event management, finance and communication) specially trained by the University.

The success of this format has been confirmed over the years, as confirmed by Jorge Mario Veliz, a student from Guatemala (2014): “Participating in the UCR/FIFA/CIES Programme was really an enriching and stimulating experience both from an academic and from a personal viewpoint… Attending a significant part of the courses remotely was profitable. I will be able to apply the knowledge acquired with success in my line of work in Guatemala, namely management of professional football.”

Registration deadline:

5 January 2015

For more information:

Escuela de Educacion Fisica y Deportes

Universidad de Costa Rica

Judith Jimenez

[email protected]

www.facebook.com/curso.ucr.fifa

www.edufi.ucr.ac.cr

www.cies-uni.org/costa-rica