Students on the international Master of Sport Administration course were able to get a behind-the-scenes view of elite football and watch the work of a club’s media team at a match between FC Sochi and FC Yenisei within the Russian Football National League (FNL).

The match was the main game of the tournament, taking place at the Fisht Olympic stadium in Sochi.

The MSA students obtained first-hand experience of:

- how the stadium operates on match day: from security measures and spectator support to live broadcasting;

- what media officers do during the game;

- how to organise a press conference with the teams’ head coaches after the final whistle.

As an exciting extra, the match organisers arranged a meeting of the students with Spanish Robert Moreno, head coach of FC Sochi, in a press conference format. Anton Kostrov, head of media at FC Sochi named this meeting the best press conference of the season.  

The Russian International Olympic University expresses its gratitude to Director of the Fisht Stadium Veniamin Bogomolov and the FC Sochi management for organising a highly effective on-site training and providing students with the opportunity to see the operations of a professional football club from the inside. Such experience is extremely important for future professionals in the field of sports management.

RIOU continues to welcome applications for the English-language Master of Sport Administration course (a professional retraining programme for candidates with university qualifications). The course will commence on September 17, 2025. To learn more about the admission terms and or submit your application, please visit RIOU’s official website. Information about grant opportunities can be accessed via this link.