FICCI signs MoU with Australia's Deakin University to foster education and skill development in sport

Deakin University, Australia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at New Delhi, this week, to build capacity in the area of sport in India.

The signing took place at the Australian High Commission in the presence of Chris Elstoft, Deputy High Commissioner, senior representatives from the Australian High Commission and industry representatives.

The MoU between the two organisations was signed by Ravneet Pawha, Executive Director (South Asia), Deakin University, Australia and Rajpal Singh, Director and Head, Sports and Youth Affairs, FICCI.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Pawha said, "Deakin's partnership with FICCI is a key development in the University's relationship with both Government and industry in India. It is a powerful opportunity for us to engage and contribute to the key aspects of education and skill development within the sport framework in India." While Elstoft commended the partnership as furthering Australia's commitment to India and an excellent opportunity for Deakin to improve its already strong sport management programmes.

According to Vinod Mathur, Deputy Secretary General, FICCI, the partnership would be a perfect fit to the Government of India's initiative towards enhancing skills of stakeholders across the sports fraternity in India. Australia's expertise in sport will add value to the entire fraternity, while building capacity in the areas of importance, viz., management, governance and science of sport.

Besides, experts from Deakin are in India these days, to conduct workshop, titled, "Success in Sport: How to grow Sport Business and develop Athlete Performance", in three cities- Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Deakin University, Australia, is known to be ranked in the top 10 institutions worldwide (Sport Business Illustrated 2015) for its sport management programmes and is based in Melbourne - the sporting capital of the world.