An excerpt from the interview of Tracy Lu - She has more than 20 years of working experiences at national, regional and international football organisations with the Chinese FA, AFC and FIFA, achieved in roles from team manager, international relations, FIFA General Coordinator, FIFA Committee member to project lead at FIFA.
Q) You spent multiple years at the Chinese FA and then decided to pursue your Masters. You did the FIFA Master program. How did you take that decision? How was your experience?
A) It was 2011, I wanted to have a break and I was very lucky that my former boss at that time was really supportive and he paid my tuition fee. So, I said okay, I'm ready to go! I was part of the 12th edition. I was like the grandma of the class. We had 29 classmates in total. I think the results of the study were really, really successful. Ten out of twenty-nine students were or are still working at FIFA. That doesn't include anybody else also working at MA level or at the Confederations level, so it's a good result and we are very happy with these opportunities.
Sports business education, in general, has been very successfully created, to have this access and a bridge to the industry for many young people, young professionals who want to be in this industry.
One very unique element of working in sports is that most likely you won't become a billionaire, but you are working with a well-paid hobby, so you have it on a daily basis. You have direct access to your stars; you get to know the first inside story of what's happening with football and you have this unique opportunity with this dynamic job to meet different people with different cultures on a daily basis. You travel a lot, of course not now, we miss that part (due to the pandemic).
"It’s very difficult to find a job in any other industry that you have your passion in as a hobby, and you get paid. It's a very bright side of being a sports professional."
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