FIFA unites World Cup winners and club executives as teammates to study for soccer diploma

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World Cup and Champions League winners are learning about the soccer industry at FIFA alongside club founders and front-office leaders. All were teammates in the classroom at the soccer body’s headquarters in Zurich to study all fields of the industry for the FIFA Diploma in Club Management. Now in its third edition, the FIFA course aims to give former stars a pathway to careers off the field and better educate soccer industry executives about the players’ perspective. “When we learn something, it is a great feeling. These courses give us a chance to do that,” said Juan Mata, who won a World Cup title with Spain and a Champions League with Chelsea. As a co-founder in 2017 of the socially progressive Common Goal charity, Mata’s smarts already were established and he was expected to have an impactful post-playing career. However, former Argentina and Inter Milan midfielder Esteban Cambiasso cautioned in one session that some industry executives “think that if a football player develops his brain, that is a danger.” Cesc Fàbregas is studying on the course while coaching in Italy at Como, newly promoted to Serie A after a 20-year absence, where he is also a minority investor. He was hired at Como by Dennis Wise, who played for Chelsea and England, was an executive at Newcastle, and is part of the FIFA selection board for the course and helps teach it. “There are many of us that are capable of doing it and we have shown we are capable,” Wise said. “You are never too old to continue to learn.” FIFA started its diploma course in 2021 following the UEFA masters course taught since 2015 by the European soccer body with input from universities in England and France. This generation of newly retired international players typically acquired enough wealth to have serious investment options and no need to work again. Mata has a stake in Formula One team Alpine. Wise suggested the motivation for FIFA students to be educated was “not about money. It is about success and achieving certain things.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.