The Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) has announced the results of its international scholarships competition launched in March 2023. Twenty scholarship winners will commence their studies on RIOU’s Master of Sport Administration (MSA) course in the coming September.
The university’s Admissions Board received entries from candidates from 29 countries, including 5 countries that had never been represented in RIOU’s student body before. This year’s fellows hail from 12 countries, with Armenia, China, India, Pakistan and Uganda each having two successful applicants. Mali will have its first student joining RIOU, becoming the 77th country whose citizens have received training on the university’s international sports management course.
Among the winners are employees of organising committees of major international sporting events, National Olympic Committees, national sports federations and international university sports institutions, and an anti-doping agency. The cohort also includes sports club managers, elite athletes, coaches, as well as entrepreneurs running their own sports business initiatives.
Most of the selected scholarship holders have extensive volunteer experience at large-scale international tournaments or sports management experience at international organisations, including working with major sponsors and conducting research for leading brands. Many of them are recipients of student awards in various categories.
Some of the candidates were nominated by RIOU’s partner organisations, such as Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal (H.V.P.M.), India’s leading sports university that signed a cooperation agreement with RIOU in May 2023.
The MSA students will learn about the main algorithms operating within the sports industry based on real-life cases and best practices, as well as developing skills in conducting sports research. The MSA teaching team comprises acclaimed Russian and international experts in the field of sports management. Upon completion of their studies, students will be awarded a RIOU’s retraining diploma, issued in Russian and English, with the qualification “Master of Sport Administration”.
It has been agreed that, as part of their practical training, RIOU’s MSA students will contribute to the staging of the World Youth Festival to be held in Sochi on 1–7 March 2024.
Winners of RIOU Scholarships Competition, academic year 2023/24:
- Aghajanyan Tornik, Armenia
- Ayebare Patricia, Uganda
- Ali Arshad, Pakistan
- Baber Farwa, Pakistan
- Bikmetova Zarina, Russia
- Da Silva Valente Heitor Gabriel, Brazil
- Diallo Mama C, Mali
- Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Dinkey Nilankani Bandara, Sri Lanka
- Dudharejiya Nirav Hareshbhai, India
- Ziiatdinova Aigul, Russia
- Yola Felix, Malawi
- Mndzebele Njabulo Brian, Eswatini
- Nassimbwa Mwebe Anna, Uganda
- Sedinkina Varvara, Russia
- Samy Samir Gaied Ghoubrous, Egypt
- Khzmalyan Hovhannes, Armenia
- Chen Rongzhi, China
- Youdon Tsering, India
- Yu Zhaoe, China
- Iakupova Fanisa, Russia
Congratulations to scholarship winners and welcome to RIOU!
