Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna

University of Sussex

Open Society Foundations

Esher Sixth Form College

Elektro Tehnicka Skola "Nikola Tesla" Banja Luka

OŠ Braća Pavlić - Banja Luka

Chairman of FK Željezničar, Executive Chairman of Mayfair Investment Club, Senior Vice President at 6G Digital Sweden AB, President of The Balkans' Foreign Investment Advisory Council, Ambassador of ThePower MBA

A consortium of Rugby experts and passionate enthusiasts harnessing the power of Web3 and the blockchain collectively connect, engage, build and drive decisions shaping the sustainable future of rugby for fans, clubs, players and everything in-between; at all levels, in all formats.

This Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) aims to bring the world’s first fan-governed organization to rugby unlocking the community to build alongside the game of rugby in its current form, this time from the ground up. A new operating system for Rugby.

RugbyDAO

Fan in Residence 

Elevating Business Efficiency through Private and Sustainable Generative AI 

Clairo’s goal is to a global leader in Private GenAI services. 

In a world where GenAI services are going to transform businesses, the challenges they bring cannot be overlooked. Foremost among these is the persistent dilemma of leveraging corporate data while upholding security and averting data breaches. This concern has prompted numerous companies to impose restrictions on services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and even the recently introduced Microsoft Co-Pilot faces intricacies, especially concerning data processing locations.

Clairo AI offers private GenAI solutions that enable businesses to unlock the full potential of their data securely. Our approach ensures that the invaluable insights and knowledge within an organisation's data remain its exclusive competitive advantage, inaccessible to outsiders. We firmly believe this direction is the future of GenAI in business, where the risks associated with client and corporate data in publicly available solutions are deemed unacceptable.

Clairo AI

Member of the Board of Advisors

WeSportUp is the sports and wellness startup accelerator based in Rome, Italy. 

The initiative is part of the CDP national accelerator network and aims to create a strong ecosystem within the sports industry stakeholders and the brands and companies around sports and wellbeing. 
The project, born thanks to the initiative of CDP Venture Capital and Sport e Salute, is managed by Startup boot camp and Wylab with the partnership of top corporate partners, including the likes of Juventus  FC, Fastweb, Renault, BNL, Snaitech, to name a few. 

Its aim is to be an open ecosystem capable of involving the most important companies, institutions and investors of Italy to research, select and accelerate the best Italian and international startups and help them scale leveraging the Italian sports industry.

WeSportUp offers an intense 13 week program in which the selected start-ups will have the opportunity to collaborate with importnat companies and institutions in the sports and wellness sectors, raised capital and receive professional support from selected mentors.

WeSportUp Accelerator

Startup Mentor

PwC is the leading auditing and consulting company in Germany. As an independent member of the international PwC network, it offers its services worldwide.  PwC Germany has access to more than 327,000 employees in 152 countries.

The Scale B2B Tech program offers +100 qualified  contact points to the innovation ecosystem. 

Masterclasses with dedicated  subject matter experts from PwC on Corporate Sales Readiness, Hiring, Investor Readiness, Pricing, Data Driven Marketing.

Network Sessions with Stakeholders from the innovation ecosystem including Corporate Session, Investor Session, and Entrepreneurs. 
= the Scale Innovation Ecosystem!

PwC's Next Level is the leading engagement ecosystem for value creation between start-ups, corporates, and venture capitalists in Germany. It supports innovative start-ups and scale-ups to meet their growth ambitions and take their business to the next level.

The Scale Program connects start-ups, investors & corporates to grow and discover joint collaboration opportunities together.

The kick-off has set the tone for the upcoming six months, where collaboration and innovation with PwC clients and venture partners are at the forefront. We applied for the program to prepare our unique solution's market entry in the DACH region even further.

PwC Deutschland

Scale-up Mentee

The Ignition Innovation Competition is the platform for sports start-ups to demonstrate their solutions in front of industry leaders.

The competition is focused on the 5 pillars of Ignition:
Media & Consumption
Data & Analytics
Fan Engagement
In Venue
Commerce

The winner will receive an equity-free Growth Support Package of over $100,000 in value delivered by SportsPro. As well as three potential opportunities to be positioned in front of the international sports industry.

SportsPro

Judge, 2024 Ignition Innovation Competition 

UNIPLAT is the world’s first online platform specialised for researchers and entrepreneurs from all over the world to share their ideas and research projects related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and gain support from individuals or institutions.

UNIFY PLATFORM AG

The Geopolitical Economy of Football - Where Power Meets Politics & Business
The Geopolitical Economy of Football will feature at least 55 chapters, one of which written by me. It covers everything from Super Leagues & franchise clubs to soft power & diplomacy, Europe, Asia, Africa, Americas & more.

Amazing what happens when a whole bunch of talented people get together and decide to do something. Well over 100 academics involved in this collaboration.

A chapter of mine for the ‘The Geopolitical Economy of Football’ is entitled “Football, Geopolitics, and Digital Technologies: A Dynamic Nexus Shaping Global Dynamics”

The Geopolitical Economy of Football is intended to be a companion volume to ‘The Geopolitical Economy of Sport – Power, Politics, Money, and the State’ https://www.routledge.com/The-Geopolitical-Economy-of-Sport-Power-Politics-Money-and-the-State/Chadwick-Widdop-Goldman/p/book/9781032390598

It covers much territory, from Messi & the MLS to Saudi Arabia & the World Cup, Super leagues, football in Africa, Russian gas sponsorships, franchise networks, stadium diplomacy & much more

The book will be published by Routledge in the second part of 2024. 

Edited by Professor Simon Chadwick, Dr Paul Widdop and Michael M. Goldman

Taylor & Francis Group

Co Author, The Geopolitical Economy of Football 

The T Challenge is the global stage to award innovators & disruptors with an infinite network of opportunities for positive impact by Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA.

T-Mobile US and T-Labs, Deutsche Telekom’s research and development unit, have once again teamed-up for the third annual T Challenge, a worldwide competition for start-ups, developers, researchers and designers to showcase innovative research and solutions for how 5G and Web3 development can transform the way people use the Internet. This year’s T Challenge is designed to fuel new innovations in Web3 to spark a change in business models across the globe through open-source innovation.

The following 20 finalists are now in the second phase of the competition and will continue to refine their solutions in preparation for an all-expenses paid trip to Bonn, Germany, this May where they will present their solutions to top leaders at Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile US. Of this group, six winners will be selected, and will split €600,000 euros, or roughly the same in U.S. dollars, in prize money. Winners will also have the opportunity for their solutions to be featured by T-Mobile US and Deutsche Telekom in other projects across Europe and the U.S. 

For more information about the T Challenge, visit www.telekom-challenge.com

Deutsche Telekom

T Challenge Finalists 

Africa Business of Sport Podcast - Africa's #1 sport business podcast.

A 6-episode series podcast co-hosted with Africa Business of Sport Podcast founders Edem Spio and Jabu Mtwa, African sport business experts, entitled Sports Blockchain on the power of blockchain and its application in the sports industry.

This 6-episode series of talks on this subject designed to educate, inspire, enlighten and inform not just the sports industry but a wider audience too kicked started with Lucy Mills, ex Barcelona FC, co-founder of READY and Board Member at Lewes Football Club where we discussed the utility of NFTs to the sports industry; successful women's sports-based NFT drops; how sports organisations can effectively engage their fans with NFTs; a glimpse into how Lewes FC views NFTs; READY's approach to educating sports stakeholders about Web3 opportunities in sport' and how women's sport can leverage Web3 to boost its commercial growth and fan engagement.

Blockchain has been around for 40 years and in the last 15, it has become the technology that is starting to positively dominate and impact the society we live in; it has applications not only in fintech and sports tech but in media, marketing, real estate, security, education, arts, fashion, legal, energy, charity, supply chain, insurance, law enforcement to name a few. As a part of the 4th Industrial Revolution, it is set to bring so much needed transparency and democratise the industries and build the trust across the board. I hope you enjoy it and you can find it on Anchor, Apple and Spotify.

Africa Business of Sport Podcast is an award-winning sport business podcast that delivers expert analysis of ever-evolving trends, stories and developments across the sport industry in Africa and globally. The podcast gathers and interrogates various global and African perspectives of the rapidly developing sports business ecosystem.

Africa Business of Sport Podcast

Podcast Co-host

Made In London Media

Advisor Board Member

We make fan engagement platforms future proof.
We power existing platforms or develop completely new ones.
We help you navigate change and succeed in the new digital age. 

Digital natives create their own communities, entertainment and even businesses. For companies it has become increasingly challenging to engage. At the same time, direct-to-consumer relationships are becoming more and more business critical.

We integrate fan and business ecosystems and make your life easy.

Our expertise, infrastructure, platform and unique front-end features will ensure that your fan engagement is truly futureproof.  

“Web3 is not a hype. This is about the future of how we engage, the future of business, the creator economy, the convergence of the digital and “real” world as well as true online identity, ownership and authenticity….”
Peter Warman, Co-founder & Chairman, Newzoo

We distinguish three levels of Web3 implementation.
You decide where to start and when to level up. You will be ready whenever you and your fans are.

We believe that the future of sports requires a partner that is ahead of the curve.
Blocksport is that partner. We built our platform and infrastructure for you.  Web3 made easy.

We love tech that truly empowers people as well as businesses.
Our versatile infrastructure and platform is built to integrate your systems and processes.

We are on a journey that is far bigger than sports.
We aim to empower community engagement for people and businesses in the new digital era.

Blocksport

Chief Operating Officer

Welcome to SportsFi, a digital transformation platform for sports transactions and management! 

Our platform is designed specifically for leagues, teams, agents, and professional athletes, providing them with a seamless and secure way to manage their business.

With SportsFi, you can easily and securely trade players, renew and manage contracts, execute deals, access capital, and manage your finances. 

Our centralised system connects leagues and federations, minimising human error and improving transparency, efficiency, and efficacy. We utilise AI to optimise decision-making when trading players, negotiating contracts, and assessing risk.

With SportsFi, there's no need to worry about sharing files or financials through emails. Our data rails provide a secure connection between users and third parties, including financial institutions and funders, enabling convenient access to liquidity for the sports sector.

Experience the future of sports transactions with SportsFi.

SportsFi is part of the ASF (All Sports Finance) group of companies,.

SportsFi

Board Member & Senior Vice President 

Active Sport Capital (ASC) is a 21st century sports agency which offers our clients’ entire worlds into consideration to maximise their current potential both on the pitch and off the pitch, whilst planning for sustainable futures, via a 360 degree football representation by recognising the power and influence sport has on today's popular culture. Our speciality includes Asia, in particular China, when it comes down to opportunity this part of the world offers, particularly off the pitch. We are in the process of launching a football fund which will assist certain European leagues, clubs and youth academies with necessary funding to not only survive but further develop, flourish and succeed in today's competitive global environment with the specific focus on the clubs and players coming from the Balkans region, in particular Serbia and Croatia.    

We at ASC are future focused, making sure we fully consider both our clients' aspirations and those of their families too. It is a complete service offering not just the traditional agency contract negotiations, transfers and guidance (on and off the pitch) but also together with our partner companies and agencies, crisis management, strategic brand building, brand partnerships, image rights, social and digital marketing, PR, philanthropy, charity and post career development, all coupled by also covering life skills, wealth management and media training, future planning and daily support.  Today's players are role models and ensuring their long lasting success is at the heart of our business.   

Our life, business, investment and sport industry expertise and successful track record makes us wise ambassadors with a critical eye and simple goals of managing expectation and maximising possibility of all our athletes, all with a personal relationship built on trust, insight and aspiration.

Active Sport Capital

Chairman of the Board

The Mayfair Investment Club 3S is a “by invitation only” club with the ethos around 3S’s, smart, sensible and sustainable investments hence alongside the lines of social enterprise ideas and investments with purpose (impact investment); our criteria is simple: each admitted member must be serious and interested in becoming a successful professional investor, not entrepreneur and he or she must be interested in building a credible investment portfolio. 

In their first year of Investment Club participation which is likely to feature 4-7 investment opportunities inside your portfolio, ranging from lower risk (real estate, bonds), medium risk (VCs portfolio of companies, hedge funds) and higher risk (high growth companies, currently in the process of scaling their operations nationally or globally, across different investment rounds, largely from post seed (Series A & B)), each successful member will gain a unique understanding of investment strategies and an unprecedented access to creators, visionaries and masterminds of top hedge funds, VCs, high growth companies and many other industry heavyweights who have walked the walk from the challenging and testing times of the 1970s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 2008 and now COVID19 and 2020. 

That combined experience through the decades of economic booms and busts puts the Club and its members in a unique position to learn, develop, improve, deliver and succeed, no matter what the current situation dictates and indicates. 

The Mayfair Investment Club is the first of its kind designed to nurture and develop investment ‘talent’, through the industry experience and expertise in real life. This is not an educational institution competing with other investment courses; we are here to work with each member’s own infrastructure and ensure that all investments they make are in the genuine and high calibre companies that have been already vetted by the industry professionals.

Mayfair Investment Club

SHANGHAI GLOBAL TRADING (SGT) is a highly specialized global management team designed to meet the unique business needs and opportunities of clients & brands worldwide interested in importing their goods into the Asian market (China, Japan and Korea) as well as assisting Asian companies to export their goods into European and American markets. With offices in London, Shanghai and Seoul, and a wide global network that includes decision and policy makers, SGT offers an one stop shop to all its existing and perspective clients.

Shanghai Global Trading

Managing Partner

The Balkans’ Foreign Investment Advisory Council was established in 2019 as a result of the ambition of foreign businesses (and investors) and the Balkans diaspora in London (and globally) to improve the investment climate in the Balkans in addition to the on-going efforts of each individual government and their investment promotional agencies. 

The key task of the council is to assist the Balkan states in forging and promoting a favourable investment climate based on global expertise and the experience of international companies both those already operating in the region as well as hoping to operate in the Balkans region. 
BFIAC aims to function on the basis of direct dialogue between the chief executives of investor companies and the Balkans’ governments, with a focus on the crucial aspects of fostering a healthy investment climate and long term relationships as well as partnership and collaborative relationships with all neighbouring countries. Its immediate task involves introduction of digital transformation projects set to attract billions of dollars’ worth of direct foreign investment into the region complimented by technology and knowledge transfer led by some of the world's leading companies and economies.

The Balkans’ Foreign Investment Advisory Council

President

The Bosnian Nobility House (BNH) aims to bring together all noble families of the Bosnian origin and connect them with other noble and royal circles in Europe and the rest of the world, starting with the House of Lords, London, United Kingdom. The BNH's main goal is to play an integral role in returning the prosperity back to the Bosnian nation and restoring its positive image.

The Bosnian Nobility House

Ceric & Co Family Office 
We are an independent multi-family office based in London assisting HNW and UHNW clientele with a range of corporate and personal services. With   a   core   emphasis   on   trust   and   reciprocity,   the   Ceric & Co Team   serves   national   and   international   clients   and   brings   together   qualified   and highly-respected professionals with long-standing expertise in the provision of a wide range of professional services. These   services   include   trust   &   estate   planning,   corporate   and   fiduciary   services,   UK   inward   investment   advice,   international   tax   advice,   bespoke   legal advice,   visas   for   non-EU   citizens,   UK   real   estate   planning,   legal   and   taxation   and   the   transition   of   wealth   between   generations.   In   addition,   the Ceric & Co  team provide a range of personal and concierge services and advice on philanthropy. Working   with   trusted   partners   both   in   London   and   globally,   we   provide   an   exemplary   service   across   a   full   spectrum   of   private   family   needs,   effectively becoming each family’s eyes and ears when in London or indeed anywhere else in the world

Ceric & Co

Chairman

RESULT Sports is a Pioneer in Digital Sports and understands the challenges and unlocks the potential on digital platforms for Athletes, Clubs, Leagues and Federations for the past 10 years. Our Unique Value Proposition is the holistic Integration of relevant Data & Digital Key Performance Indicators into all of our activities. The work dedicated is specific to each client and we are fully focused on the targets and objectives of our partners by integrating our standardised, scalable Digital Platforms. These are based on their Know-how, their Experience and their valuable Data gathering for more than 10 years across Social Media. Formed in Germany in 2009, RESULT Sports established offices in Germany, Turkey and South Africa.

Borussia Dortmund is one of the clients of RESULT Sports. We have been working with Borussia Dortmund social media, communication and marketing team since 2009, helping the club achieve an incredible communication potential, both in Germany and Internationally too. Over the past 11 years, RESULT Sports accompanied Borussia Dortmund to uplift and process any relevant data gained from the clubs digital channels, enabling and facilitating a unique, tailor-made communication strategy. This included: Constant Identification of most engaging content formats; Increase of the matchday experience; Defining community needs to enable specific content strategies; Focusing on the cultural content expectations of the community; Integrating Digital Sponsorships into relevant formats since 2014. RESULT Sports’ other clients include the likes of Juventus, AS Roma, Celtic, Benfica as well as the likes of the German Football Association and UEFA, to name a few.

RESULT Sports

Board Member & Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)

FK Željezničar

Executive Board Senior Adviser 

Fudbalski klub Željezničar Sarajevo is a professional football club, based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The name Željezničar means “railway worker", originating from their establishment by a group of railway workers in 1921. Throughout its history, the club has cultivated a reputation for producing talented home-grown players through its academy.

During the days of socialist Yugoslavia, FK Željezničar were national champions in the 1971–72 season, qualifying for the European Cup during the 1972–73 season. The club has also finished as runners-up once in the league, and contested 1980–81 Yugoslav Cup final. In Europe, the club reached UEFA Cup semi-finals during the 1984–85 season and the quarter-finals during the 1971–72 season.

FK Željezničar is the most successful football team in present-day Bosnia, having won 6 Bosnian championships, 6 Bosnian Cups and 3 Bosnian Supercups. The club's so far best post-war European result was qualifying to the 2002–03 Champions League third qualifying round, losing to Newcastle United. Their biggest rival is FK Sarajevo with whom they contest the biggest football match in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Sarajevo derby.

Made In London (MIL) is affiliated with Made In Agency (MIA). It is a China-focused digital advertising company based both in London and Shanghai. From customised content generation, digital marketing to social media, we provide a one-stop China marketing solution to best assist ambitious western brands and talents (sporting and creative including music, film and arts) to enter the Chinese market in the best possible way, increasing their chances of success, and launch their own brand using the power of social media channels such as Weibo, Wechat and Douyin (Tik tok), and in such a way reach out to niche media in order to attract millions of Chinese middle-class users & Gen-Z followers and win commercial deals with some of the leading Chinese brands such as Tencent, Bosideng and Aftershokz, to name a few. David Beckham, Eliud Kipchoge and Chris Froome are amongst those global sporting champions we have worked with and continue to do so.

Samir Beg Ceric