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The Brazilian ‘O Fenómeno' will be a speaker at the third edition of the congress of the football industry in Madrid on 24th - 25th September.

Former Brazilian striker Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima ‘Ronaldo’ has confirmed his participation in the third edition of the World Football Summit, where the Football Industry Meets, to be held on September 24th and 25th at the Teatro Goya in Madrid, with nearly 2,300 professionals and representatives from 160 clubs and 95 countries.

 

 

Ronaldo Nazario, known as ‘O Fenómeno’, is considered one of the greatest strikers in the history of football. He received the FIFA World Player of the Year Award three times (1996, 1997 and 2002) and the Golden Ball in 1997 and 2002. He was awarded the World Cup Golden Ball in 1998 in France and Golden Boot in 2002 in Japan and South Korea.

 

He is the Brazilian national team´s second all-time top scorer, with 62 goals, 15 less than the legendary Edson Arantes do Nascimento `Pele’, he won the 1994 World Cup in the United States and the 2002 World Cup in Korea.

 

He won the Bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and it was several injuries that kept him from becoming even more legendary when he played for the world’s top clubs, including FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan, before retiring at Corinthians in Brazil. With these clubs he won a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, a UEFA Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.

 

A FIFA Hall of Fame member since 2016, Ronaldo has joined a select panel of speakers at the World Football Summit, including another world champion, Spanish Manchester United player Juan Mata; LaLiga President Javier Tebas; Juventus President Andrea Agnelli; Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta; Rome Sports Director Ramón Rodríguez `Monchi’; and San Francisco 49ers President Al Guido. 

 

This third edition, which will be hosted by David Garrido, sports journalist at Sky Sports News, will once again feature the most influential professionals in the football industry, who will debate the key issues facing the sector and the opportunities for a business that accounts for 0.7% of the world’s GDP.

 

State-Clubs, Artificial Intelligence, Football Vs Soccer, the football industry in 2028, and emerging markets in Asian football will be some of the main topics covered at World Football Summit.

 

First International Edition

In addition, as announced last May, Kuala Lumpur will host the first international edition of WFS Asia in April 2019. This will be the start of a five-year contract to hold the congress on the Asian continent.

 

“After three years of hard work we have completed the first of the international expansion stages in which LaLiga has been an important supporter. Furthermore, there is no doubt that Malaysia, as the home of the Asian Football Confederation, is the perfect place to reach a clearly booming market,” argued Marian Otamendi.

 

WFS has also joined the Ibero-American Advertising Communication Festival El Sol to reward the best creative football campaign at the Gala WFS Industry Awards on September 24th, which has added new categories such as the Best Women’s Football Initiative.

 

Image: PA Images