Khalid Al-Khudair is the CEO of SMC. His previous role to SMC was CXO to one of the largest banks in the Kingdom leading the experience and brand transformation and chairs the Media committee on behalf of all Saudi Banks.
Khalid Founded Glowork in 2010, an employment organization that created thousands of jobs for women and placed over 40,000 women thus far.
He is the first Saudi Ashoka Fellow, Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum & an Endeavor Entrepreneur.
Khalid has held the role of Chief Operating Officer- Markets at KPMG in Saudi, Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan.
He has a Bachelors Degree in Commerce from Saint Mary’s University in Canada with three majors, Marketing, HR and Psychology, and has completed his Executive Education in Leadership at the University of Yale, and in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School.
Khalid a multi-award leader with and acclaimed personality with awards and titles such as the Chaillot Prize for Human Rights by the European Union, The King Salman Award for Entrepreneurship, Ranked 3# Most Influential Arab by Arabian Business, EY Entrepreneur of The Year, amongst many others.
Khalid sits on the board of management for the General Entertainment Authority also sits on a number of Advisory boards throughout the Globe including the L’Oréal Global Panel of Critical Friends, The Global Agenda Council on Middle East and North Africa Issues at the World Economic Forum, and is an Amend’s Fellow at the University of Stanford.
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WFS Asia Leading Voices
These were some of the speakers during WFS Asia 24
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Khalid Alkhudair
CEO - SMC
CEO – SMC
Khalid Alkhudair
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Raj Athwal
CEO - Odisha Football Club
CEO – Odisha Football Club
Raj Athwal
Raj is an inspirational and collaborative CEO having previously worked at top clubs including Glasgow Rangers, Coventry City and Watford bringing over 25 years of experience of working in the higher echelons of British football to India’s top flight league.
He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience having worked in the English Premiership and Championship with some of the World’s top coaches.
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Kristian Dobrev
Deputy CEO - The FBA - Football Business Academy
Deputy CEO – The FBA – Football Business Academy
Kristian Dobrev
Kristian’s passion for sports, traveling and connecting (with) people has taken him to nearly 50 countries across all continents. A sports industry native, he studied Business Administration & Sports Management in Barcelona and California and cut his teeth working in different roles at Nike, Havas, Mediapro and eventually Soccerex. He then embarked on a more entrepreneurial path during which he faced great challenges as Partner at Axis 10 Sports Consulting Group and then as Business Development Director at ATEVO Sports Group. In late 2015, Kristian got together with a few former colleagues to start shaping an innovative and disruptive idea regarding the football industry that in 2017 came to life as The Football Business Academy – now recognized as a global leader in football business education. As Co-Founder and Deputy CEO of The FBA, he has been mainly in charge of developing and servicing The FBA’s 75+ partnerships, using his deep understanding of and network in the global football industry to facilitate valuable learning and networking experiences for everyone involved.
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Shawn Doss
Chief Business Officer - Elevate Sports Ventures
Chief Business Officer, International – Elevate
Shawn Doss
With a reputation for connecting global sports brands, teams, leagues and properties with revenue-driving solutions and partnerships, Elevate Sports Venture’s Chief Business Officer, International, Shawn Doss will spearhead the agency’s international corporate development strategy, leading efforts to secure and deliver results for its worldwide roster of current and future clients.
Previously, Elevate’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, the 15-year industry veteran’s resume boasts experience with an impressive roster of US-based and international professional sports teams, leagues and properties, including: the EPL, Formula 1, the FIFA World Cup, the LFP, La Liga, and EuroLeague; the San Francisco 49ers and Levi’s Stadium; Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment’s New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center; the Arizona Coyotes, the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena, and more. As a founding member of the Elevate senior leadership team, Doss played a critical role in several of Elevate’s foremost client acquisitions and project management efforts which have culminated in three consecutive nominations to the esteemed Sports Business Awards in the Best in Property Consulting, Sales and Client Services.
Doss received his Master’s in Business Administration from Columbia University and B.S. in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University. The Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada native has called Madrid, New York, San Francisco, and Sydney home; he currently resides in London, England with his wife Jacqueline, daughter Naulakha (8) and son, Luciano (5).
Doss is a 2022 recipient of the internationally renowned Leaders in Sport, “Leaders Under 40” Award; and has acted for a Judge for the Leaders in Sports Awards from 2018 – 2021.
The appointment of Doss to the international growth role in May 2022, caped three years of significant growth for Elevate; now boasting an active client roster of over 175 sports teams, brands, venues, events and properties from am…
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Ben Harburg
Co-Owner - Cádiz CF
Co-Owner – Cádiz FC
Ben Harburg
Ben Harburg is Managing Partner at MSA Capital, a global investment firm with over $2 billion in assets under management. He sits on Boards of Directors of various private, as well as those of foundations such as the National Committee on US China Relations, and the Asian Cultural Council.
He was a Neubauer Scholar at Tufts University and a Fulbright Scholar at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. He is a co-owner of Cádiz Club de Fútbol, a team playing in Spain’s First Division (LaLiga).
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Kike Levy
Head of NJF Sports and Media - NJF Sports and Media
Head of NJF Sports and Media – NJF Sports and Media
Kike Levy
Kike Levy is an entrepreneur and sports media executive with over a decade of experience at the forefront of the sports, media, and technology intersection. He is currently leading NJF Sports and Media, a pioneering sports investment firm that connects visionary entrepreneurs, investors, and sports properties to redefine the industry.
Kike’s led Sports Partnerships across Southern Europe at Meta Platforms Inc., where he transformed the digital landscape of sports media, designing and implementing digital strategies for the biggest leagues, teams, athletes and media across the region. Some of his partners include LaLiga, Serie A, Moto GP, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
Prior to this, he made significant contributions at Twitter Inc. and Infront Sports and Media AG. Kike’s journey in the industry is characterized by a passion for sports and a commitment to innovation, as he continues to inspire and transform the way fans engage with sports and content.
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Rich Orosco
Chief Brand Officer - Los Ángeles Football Club
Chief Brand Officer – Los Angeles Football Club
Rich Orosco
A 25-year entertainment, consumer products, and sports marketing veteran who has conceptualized and executed award-winning product launch campaigns. He is the winner of the 2018 Major League Soccer Marketing Executive of the Year Award, and was included on the 2019 Adweek’s L.A. Brand Stars list. Prior to LAFC, he co-founded American-made menswear brand Exley, served as the Co-General Manager of the Los Angeles Matadors in the World Series of Boxing, was the Vice President of Marketing at Warner Bros. Television, and the Executive Director of Advertising and Promotion at CBS Paramount Television.
Rich is a co-founder of the LAFC Youth Leadership Program, Board Chair of the Bresee Foundation Youth Center in Los Angeles, member of the Delta Aeromexico Latino Outreach Leadership Advisory Board, and has guest lectured at MIT Sloan School of Management, UCLA Anderson School of Management, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Emerson College Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University, and California State University Long Beach. -
Javier Tebas
President - LALIGA
President – LALIGA
Javier Tebas
Javier Tebas Medrano (San Jose, Costa Rica, 1962), of Spanish nationality, holds a degree in Law from the University of Zaragoza. He has been a practising lawyer since 1987 and founded his own legal firm, specialising in Company Law and, subsequently, in sports and bankruptcy law.
Tebas’s direct involvement in football began in 1993, when he was named president of Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, a position he held until 1998 (a period during which the club competed in Spain’s Tercera Division and Segunda Division B). He later served as a board member at C.D. Badajoz S.A.D. and C.D. Toledo S.A.D. before being elected vice-president of LaLiga in 2001. In 2003 he headed up the G-30, a group representing 30 small LaLiga clubs that was set up to collectively negotiate their audiovisual rights. He has been LALIGA president since 2013 and was re-elected in 2016 and again for a further four-year term in 2019. In 2021 he was appointed as representative of European Leagues on the UEFA Executive Committee.
Tebas’s tenure as LALIGA president has revolved around three core areas; the introduction of a financial controls system which has enabled the clubs to restructure their finances; the collective sale of audiovisual rights which boosts the clubs’ revenue in a balanced way, and the league’s internationalisation strategy, which has seen LALIGA and its member clubs establish themselves as a benchmark reference on the global stage, not just on the field but in the entertainment industry as a whole. In addition, Boost LALIGA, the strategic project of LALIGA and CVC Capital Partners, was recently created to promote growth and consolidation in the areas of technology, innovation, internationalisation and the sporting sphere.
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