About RIOU

The Autonomous Nonprofit Organisation "Russian International Olympic University" (RIOU) was established on 21 October 2009 under the Memorandum of Understanding between the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee and the Russian Olympic Committee, and under a decree of the Russian Federation No 774. The founders of the University are the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and Interros private investment company.

The Chairman of the RIOU Board of Trustees is the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.

Testimonials

RIOU is the world's first university dedicated to sport business education, offering unique programmes infused with Olympic values and experiences. RIOU's activities concentrate on training specialists in sports management for the Russian and international sports industry, and the Olympic and Paralympic Movements. The University's educational programmes cover the main aspects of sports education: venue and infrastructure management, competitions, mass communications, diplomacy and administration, and career management. The university`s main educational product is a one-year Master of Sport Administration (MSA) course. Today RIOU is an international centre for education and platform for multilateral dialogue between researchers and practitioners in the area of sports and Olympic education.

Among RIOU's professors are renowned Russian and international experts in sports management. The University is aimed at the development of systematic partnerships with leading Russian and foreign universities. Our current partners list includes: the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein (Austria), Coventry University (UK), Brunel University (UK), University of East London (UK), Sheffield Hallam University (UK), IPC Academy (UK), World Academy of Sport (UK), Olympic Studies Centre at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russia) and Moscow University of Industry and Finance (Russia), Savonia University (Finland), Shanghai University of Sport (China), National Taiwan Sport University, INSEEC Group (France), Paris-Sud University (France).

The Chairman of the RIOU Supervisory Board is the Honorary President of  the Russian Olympic Committee, IOC Member Alexander Zhukov

Supervisory council
In 2011 RIOU launched a unique publishing programme which includes a quarterly popular science periodical, the RIOU Herald, as well as the RIOU Library series consisting of memoirs, archive materials, research works on Olympic history and philosophy, and the best-selling Russian and foreign books on sport and Olympic education.
RIOU's educational activities are currently based in Sochi where the University's state-of-the-art campus facilities are located. RIOU's head office is situated in Moscow.
 

As the custodian of the 2014 Games Archive, RIOU is responsible for preserving the information legacy of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games and creating the right conditions for research in the field of the Olympic Movement and sport. Under the agreement signed in September 2013, the Sochi

2014 Organising Committee has handed over to RIOU all the archival material (electronic copies of text documents, official audio, photo and video materials covering the whole period of the Committee's activities, as well as artefacts and memorabilia). RIOU is cataloguing the deposited archives and will ensure access to the collections for non-commercial, informational, scientific, educational and cultural use.
The creation of the Russian International Olympic University is a landmark project and the main element of the Sochi 2014 Games humanitarian legacy. RIOU graduates will form a new generation of effective sports managers armed with knowledge and skills to successfully manage sports organisations, events and venues in any economic environment. The range of their career opportunities will include structures of the Russian and international Olympic and Paralympic Movements; state and local governing bodies; sports federations and clubs; sports media; sports marketing companies and manufacturers of sports goods.
Rector's speech

Mission

  • To create a next generation university - the very best in the sphere of sports and Olympic education
  • To prepare leaders for the Russian and worldwide sports industry
  • To build modern research facilities for the Olympic Movement and Russian sport
  • To keep and develop the Olympic legacy of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.

Over the last decades, the sports economy and industry have undergone considerable changes: the macroeconomic environment has been radically changed and the sports industry is rapidly transforming into an independent, developing business area. The radical changes within the sports industry are ongoing and much has still to be done to put Russian sport at the top of the industry.

Staging a series of large international competitions in Russia, firstly the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, has revealed a great demand for next generation sports managers. The Russian International Olympic University has become a key instrument in preparing professionals who will not only take part in organising the most innovative Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, but also provide effective management of the sports industry in the future.

Documents