Their project supervisors were Professor Rosa du Randt and Vernon Oosthuizen from the Department of Human Movement Science and Mandela Uni.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw them having to delay their trip to June 2022. Dr Gareth Kortje and Daryll Roelf from South Africa, Damilola Bello from Nigeria, Chipo Sabeta from Zimbabwe, and Casper Jangale from Malawi emerged victorious in the 2020 network competition.
Their study was entitled “Critical Factors for the Successful Implementation of the E-Sport League System in Selected Countries in Africa.” They were joined in Switzerland by the winning groups from 2021 and 2022, namely Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi and Cairo University in Egypt.
Upon arrival in Neuchâtel, the group shared a welcome meal with the CIES President, Pierre Cornu and later presented a synthesis of their winning group projects (related to new technologies, eSports and volunteering) to the students of the 21st edition of the FIFA Masters in the presence of CIES Director, Denis Oswald.
The participants also attended a talk by Tom Dielen, Secretary General of World Archery, visited the Olympic Museum and met the CIES Secretary General, Vincent Schatzmann, at a popular area on the shores of Lake Geneva.
The winners also went by bus to Zurich to visit the Home of Football and received their diploma from Arsène Wenger, FIFA Chief of Global Football Development. They talked about the role of the sports manager and had photos taken with the legendary former manager of Arsenal Football Club. This final day continued with a stopover at the FIFA Museum and ended at the famous "Kreis 5" with a farewell meal.
The next group will start in September 2022.
Mandela Uni winners, from left Dr Gareth Cortje, Casper Jangale, Arséne Wenger (FIFA), Damilola Bello, Vernon Oosthuizen (Mandela Uni supervisor), Daryll Roelf and Chipo Sabeta.
The 2020, 2021 and 2022 winners of the FIFA/CIES Network Research Competition Prize taken at the CIES Headquarters in Neuchatel, Switzerland.