Royal Belgian Football Association offers three 50% scholarships at IFBI Brussels
Starting September, the Royal Belgian Football Association is launching its brand new Knowledge Center. Through a partnership with Brussels universities ULB and VUB, the RBFA now offers three 20K scholarships for students interested in a Postgraduate Course in football management at the International Football Business Institute (IFBI).
Key takeaways
- A new collaboration between the RBFA and universities VUB and ULB, as the start of a Belgian knowledge center around professional football
- Focused on research, training and sharing knowledge, the goal of this partnership is to further professionalise football in Belgium
- Employees of the Football Association receive additional training through the International Football Business Institute (IFBI)
- The RBFA awards three scholarships of 20,000 euros for international Postgraduate Studies in Football Business at IFBI Brussels.
RBFA Knowledge Center
On August 29, The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has given the starting signal for the RBFA Knowledge Center, a national knowledge center on football. Therefore, starting from the academic year 2019-2020, the RBFA will work closely together with the Brussels universities ULB and VUB. This brand new cooperation will partly take place through IFBI Brussels, part of VUB.
With this new collaboration, the RBFA wants to promote and further develop Belgian professional football, both on a commercial and economical level. In addition, the Football Association allocates 60,000 euros to give three high-potentials the opportunity to gain a Postgraduate Degree in football management at the International Football Business Institute in Brussels.
➜ Read more details or apply for a scholarship
Training and knowledge through IFBI
Employees of the Football Association can now take various courses every academic year and follow courses at IFBI Brussels. In addition, IFBI organises a three-day workshop every year for the RBFA staff on topics that concern them: ticketing, fan engagement, digital, etc. IFBI will also organise a field trip to football clubs abroad, for employees of the Belgian professional clubs.
Three IFBI scholarships of 20,000 euros
In this context, the Football Association also wants to offer a springboard for those who want to build a career in the football industry. To this end, it will fund three scholarships worth 20,000 euros for a Postgraduate Course at the International Football Business Institute (IFBI) in Brussels. The three scholarship students will each set up a study on themes such as sponsorship, fan experience or interpretation of data.
Peter Bossaert, CEO of the Royal Belgian Football Association: “With these three scholarships, we want to guide young, motivated candidates with a passion for football and a sense of entrepreneurship towards a successful career in the football industry. With their study and research, they will contribute to our Knowledge Center and help building a community that shares knowledge and experiences about football in the broadest sense."
Applications open until September 11
The registrations for the scholarships are open to recently graduated high potentials and young professionals considering a career switch to the football world. But the Football Association also hopes to convince former top athletes to continue their sporting career through the scholarship build within football.
The registrations close on Wednesday, September 11 at 12:00. The Royal Belgian Football Association then draws up a shortlist of 10 candidates. Selected candidates will have to present themselves on Thursday 12th and Friday September 13th during the selection days at the RBFA.
➜ Read more details or apply for a scholarship
Blog written by Martijn Ernest, Research & Development
