Executive Board Members

Prof. Thierry Zintz is the Dean of the Faculty of Sports Sciences of the Université catholique de Louvain. He is also Vice President of the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee and member of the Board of Archery World – Europe. Thierry has earned his Ph.D. in Physical Education (Management of Sport Organizations) from the University catholique de Louvain (Belgium) in 2004, where he also graduated in Physical Education in 1977.

Since 2005 he has been teaching Management of Sport at the Université catholique de Louvain. He is also an invited lecturer at the Université de Poitiers and at ESSEC (Paris) as well as a researcher in Sport Management (having published several articles and two books on the topic).

Thierry is the director of the MEMOS Programme (Executive Master in Management of Sport Organisations). This programme is a co-organisation of the International Olympic Committee and twelve universities in the world.

Major areas of interest and expertise: ‘Organisational Configurations of National Sport Federations’ and ‘Change Management in Sport Organisations’, with particular focus on the relation between professional and volunteer actors, management and recruitment.

Kirstie is acting as Head of Department, Associate Professor at the University of Chester – Sport and Community Engagement Department.

Prior to joining the Department in 2001, Kirstie spent a number of years working in local authority sport development in the North West. She has kept up-to-date with the industry through extensive external contact with key organisations (e.g. Sport England, Cheshire & Warrington County Sport Partnership).

Kirstie was also involved in the World Swimming Championships held in Manchester in 2008, leading the Volunteer Management Team. Kirstie has recently co-edited ‘Strategic Sport Development’, it was published by Routledge in February 2013.

Kirstie has recently designed and delivered a sports administration course for the Maltese Goverment sport agency Kunsill Malti Ghall-Isport (Sport Malta).

Main area of interest:

• Sport Development strategy/ strategic management of Sport Development
• Partnerships in Sport Development and Community Engagement
• Evaluation of Sport Development Interventions

Simone Digennaro is grant researcher at the University of Cassino and Sourthern Lazio, and consultant for the Italian National Olympic Committee and many National Sport Federations.

Having graduated from the University of Foro Italico (Rome) with a Sport Management master degree, he holds a PhD from the University of Strasbourg.

He led diverse researches and studies at regional, national and European level, being engaged with projects in collaboration with the European Network of Sport Science, Education & Employment (ENSSEE), the European Observatoire of the Sport and Employment (EOSE) and the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA). He has developed expertise in the analysis of sport as social phenomenon and a reliable knowledge about the processes of validation of informal and non-formal education.

Major involvement with EOSE: Led Researcher for the ESSA-Sport Project, LMI leader for the S2A-Sport project, National Ambassador in VSport+ project, Feasibility Study on Mobility in Sport in Europe.

Abel is currently working as Head of Sport Management Programme and Professor of Human Resources Management and Strategic Management of Sport Organisations at the Sport Sciences School of Rio Maior (ESDRM) in Portugal.

He holds a PhD in Sport Sciences and Sports Management from the University of Lleida and has been previously working for the National Sport Council, the Sport Instiute of Portugal and as a Basketball coach in various clubs.

Major areas of interest and expertise: Research on Human Resources in sport, Strategic Management of Sport organisations, Development of local sport policy.

Signe Luika is associate professor at the Latvian Academy of Sport Education (LASE), Head of Department of Sport Management and Communication. Currently, she is also director of bachelor and master programmes in “Sport management” and director of doctoral programme “Sport science” in LASE.

Since 2012, she is the head of the board of Latvian Coach Further Education Center. Signe is also an invidual member of the Latvian Olympic Committee.

Major areas of interest and expertise: strategical planning in sport organisations, sport policy develpoment in local, national and international level.

Mark occupied important senior roles in sport, gaining extensive knowledge in the administrative field. President of a local Waterpolo club and a Team Manager of a local Premier football club,  both clubs managed to win prestigious honors on the Island.

Appointed Director of Sport of the Malta Olympic Committee in 2009, period when Malta got the best ever results away from the island. He participated as official In London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He acted as chef de mission during Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and served in the technical commission of the Games of Small States of Europe

He represented Malta in DG Meetings and is responsible for major sports reforms that were happening in the entity. Led the SportMalta team during the Presidency of the council where Malta got consensus on a new Work Plan for Sport. In 2015 he was appointed as European Representative on the Commonwealth Advisory Board for Sport.