June 18, 2019, Shanghai — The Centre for the Eurasian Sport Industry (CESI) of emlyon business school organized a successful Makers Talk cum book launch, introducing a new book titled “Routledge Handbook of Football Business and Management”. Among the invited guests are Professor Simon Chadwick, Director of CESI, Jeffrey Wilson, Advisory Board Member of CESI and Counsel at JunHe LLP, Cameron Wilson, Chinese Football Analyst and Founding Editor of Wild East Football, and Rufio Zhu, Vice President of Mailman Group.

Football in China has long been hindered by a shaky foundation, lack of talents, an ineffective system and management that is lagging behind. In recent years, the State has drawn out a new blueprint for the transformation of sports in China, including football in particular. With the launch of national plans for reform, Chinese football clubs, investors and relevant departments have also launched an array of initiatives aimed at promoting the healthy development of the football industry at home and internationally.

It is against this background that the event focused on football, a field that has drawn passionate attention across China. The talk is expected to contribute to the transformation and advancement of football in China by promoting dialog and exchange among domestic and foreign stakeholders in the industry and by learning from international experiences and ideas.

▲法国里昂商学院欧亚体育产业研究中心主人Simon Chadwic发言

The book "Routledge Handbook of Football Business and Management" launched at the talk was co-authored by Professor Chadwick and several industry experts. Professor Chadwick is lauded as one of the 30 sports marketing experts in the world and was described by The Times as “Britain's 'guru of sport management'.” This book surveys contemporary football in unparalleled breadth and depth. Presenting critical insights from world-leading football scholars and introducing football’s key organizations, leagues and emerging nations, it explores key themes from governance and law to strategy and finance, as well as cutting edge topics such as analytics, digital media and the women’s game.

This is essential reading for all students, researchers and practitioners working in football, sport business, sport management or mainstream business and management.During the round-table discussion session, the guests provided their insights around the topic of “Leading FIFA Countries”, and extensively discussed various topics such as what must China do to become a leading FIFA nation by 2050, what strategies should China take to become a  leading FIFA nation, and how to achieve China’s football goal.

▲Simon Chadwick、Jeffrey Wilson、Cameron Wilson、Rufio Zhu

This Makers Talk is the first major event organized by CESI after its establishment. By leveraging the solid experience of emlyon in the sports management arena, the Center aims to provide cutting-edge research results for the development of the sports industry, cultivate high-caliber talents, create industrial impact, provide a platform that integrates business, academia and research in the global sports industry that promotes value co-creation and resource sharing.

Center for the Eurasian sports industry of emlyon business school has particular expertise in European and Asian sport, as well as in the fields of experiences, talent, performance, digitalization and globalization. In these fields, our goal is to make a significant, meaningful contribution to the continuing growth and development of the Eurasian sport industry.

Simon ChadwickChadwick is a researcher, writer, consultant, speaker and academic with almost twenty-five years experience working across international and global sport. He is currently the Professor of Eurasian Sport Industry at emlyon business school. Huffington Post has identified him as being among the world's top-30 most important sports marketers; The Independent has ranked him amongst its top-10 most influential business people on Twitter; and The Times described him as Britain's 'guru of sport management'.