National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are invited to put forward two individuals currently working within the ANOC family they think are deserving of a place on the second MSA programme at RIOU which runs from September 2014 until June 2015.

The scholarships come courtesy of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation which has made 20 million rubles (£357,000/$589,000/€434,000) available as grants for students enrolling on RIOU's MSA course for 2014-2015.

Successful applicants will have the cost of their education on the course covered, plus a monthly scholarship for the 10 months they will be studying, while ANOC says it will cover the cost of airfare in economy class for the two selected students.

"ANOC's mission is to provide the very highest level of service to its NOCs and lead them in raising professional standards and sharing global best practices," said ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al-Sabah.

"As ANOC's members come from all over the world we need to be innovative in our thinking and in the actions we take.

"Being part of an Olympic legacy project like RIOU is an excellent way to achieve this.

"These scholarships also give us a chance to offer opportunities to NOCs who may otherwise find their options restricted due to limited resources.

"They will provide scholars with access to some of the very best experts in the sports industry and their exposure to international best practice will equip them to contribute actively to the long-term development of their own and other NOCs in the future.

"I would like to thank Vladimir Potanin and his foundation for donating these scholarships to ANOC."

The two successful scholarship applicants will have their costs covered at RIOU while ANOC says it will pay for flights to Sochi ©Sochi 2014



RIOU was established in 2009 as a part of the Sochi 2014 legacy plans and its main headquarters has relocated to Sochi from Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin officially opened the  the $500 million (£313 million/€374 million) RIOU Sochi campus last September.

Its flagship MSA course aims to provide students with new knowledge and skills in relation to sports organisations, sports events and sports event management while it aims to create future managers in the Olympic Movement.

The first year of the programme saw 27 students from 14 different countries taking part, including Evelyn Hopp from the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), Jorge Mario Marroquín Menéndez from Guatemala and Llanga Pathirathnalage Wijeratne from the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka, all selected by ANOC to receive a Vladimir Potanin Foundation scholarship at RIOU.

Other students to receive scholarships on the course included United States women's hockey player and Vancouver 2010 silver medallist Molly Engstrom and Poland's Athens 2004 Olympic swimming champion Otylia Jedrzejczak.

The MSA programme combines traditional lectures and seminars with workshops, case studies, interactive classes as well as some practical experience.

The RIOU Sochi campus was officially opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year ©Sochi 2014



"I believe the opportunities for MSA students at RIOU are unparalleled within sport," said RIOU Rector Professor Lev Belousov.

"We have a state-of-the-art campus with exceptional facilities and a faculty drawn from a very wide pool of specialisms.

"We are also the direct beneficiaries of all the data and best-practice knowledge collected by the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee over the past seven years.

"For sports managers looking to develop new skills and broaden their knowledge base, our MSA is the ideal career booster.

The ANOC scholars on the current course have been model students and it will be great to continue ANOC's presence at RIOU next year with two more scholars."

Applications for scholarships are now open and need to be received by ANOC before April 15 this year and the recipients of the two scholarships will be announced in May.

For more information about RIOU and how to apply for the MSA course, click here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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