Villa Manager Houllier Among Those to Speak at Soccerex

February 25, 2011

Soccerex have extended their line-up for the European Forum, pharm held in Manchester, March 30-31, announcing that manager of English Premier League soccer club Aston Villa Gérard Houllier, Burnley central defender and Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Clarke Carlisle and Chief Operating Officer of Wasserman Media Group, Sam Rush will speak at the Soccerex European Forum, 30-31 March, Manchester.

They will be part of a panel titled “Will financial regulation improve football?” which will look to assess the potential positive and negative impacts of European soccer’s planned financial regulation. The session will begin with an exclusive presentation on the financial fair play concept by Andrea Traverso, Head of Club Licensing, UEFA, the man responsible for the implementation of UEFA’s financial fair play rules.

Traverso will then join his fellow panellists to discuss the rules, how they will be implemented and the effects they will have on the many and varied stakeholders in the industry. The session will be moderated by Dan Jones, Partner, Head of Sport Business Group, Deloitte.

The panel combines a selection of football stakeholders ensuring the different viewpoints of manager, player and agent are covered. Clarke Carlisle, who was appointed as PFA chairman in November of last year, commented: “I am really excited to be representing the PFA and giving a player’s perspective on this important issue to Soccerex’s audience of football industry leaders.”

This not-to-be-missed panel is part of an exciting conference agenda covering topics such as the German football model, the different commercial challenges facing clubs, digital media and fan interaction, sponsor and rights holder relationships, and Eastern Europe’s upcoming tournaments and market development.