For more than 15 years, Adwa has led dozens of initiatives to help drive and develop the sport sector as well as playing a key role in mass participation across the Kingdom. Her early work included helping to establish the Kingdom’s first women’s football team in 2007 and founding the Riyadh Women’s Football League in 2008. Her continued to support the growth of football becoming the first ever female board member of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation in 2019.In 2022, in addition to her role as Deputy Minister of Strategic Planning & Investment, she was appointed as Assistant Minister of Sport Affairs. In this role, she oversees and delivers on all international events, stadia, sport & youth affairs and MOS branches around the kingdom. In addition to delivery of high-profile special projects, Adwa has also grown the Department of Strategic Planning, enabling delivery of the National Sport Strategy.

Is a Nobel Peace Laureate, Olympic Laurel awardee, Bangladeshi economist, and founder of the Grameen Bank, the world’s first dedicated microcredit institution. He is one of seven individuals to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom and the United States Congressional Gold Medal. He is also known as the “father of social business” and as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.

Lamia Bahaian is the first female Vice President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF). A pioneer of Saudi women’s football who has been involved in the game for over 15 years, she also supervises the SAFF Women’s Football Department.Lamia has been a board member at SAFF since 2021, and also sits on the Saudi Pro League (SPL) board.

She is Head of the West Asian Football Federation’s (WAFF) Women’s Committee and a member of its Executive Committee. In addition, she is a member of the Women’s Football Committee at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). A former practicing lawyer, Lamia holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from Prince Sultan University, and a Master’s in Commercial Law from California’s Chapman University.

Widely recognised as an outstanding football administrator, Datuk Seri Windsor John has been the driving force behind the AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa’s all-encompassing vision to propel Asian football to greater heights.

Legal background and truly international experience within the global sports industry, having worked for football clubs, leading law firms, and sports institutions in five different countries.

Broad understanding of the football industry from different perspectives and cultures. In-depth knowledge of the governance and the commercial models of professional football. Experienced with complex stakeholders management and engagement.

Strong strategic planning skills. Creative, forward-thinking and high performance mindset.

Fluent in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.

Postgraduate Education:
– MBA in Sports Management (Real Madrid Escuela Universitaria),
– Negotiation and Leadership Programme (Harvard Law School, Boston),
– UEFA Women’s Leadership Programme (UEFA, IMD Business School)
– LL.M in International Sports Law (Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía, Madrid)

Lecturer at several academic courses in Sports Management and Sports Law.
Speaker at international conferences.
Member of the Advisory Board of the World Football Summit.
Co-Director of the FIFA Diploma in Club Management
Passionate about quantum physics, neuroscience and meditation

Tony Douglas joined Riyadh Air as Chief Executive Officer in late 2022 to help establish Saudi Arabia’s new world-class airline.

Tony will oversee Riyadh Air’s mission, vision, and strategy – leading on all business and operational activities and objectives with the airline’s leadership team and Board of Directors.

Further to driving Riyadh Air’s growth and development in line with the Kingdom’s ambitious goals, Tony will lead the airline’s strategic relationships with stakeholders and government entities.

Miguel Ángel Gil Marín (Madrid, 1963) has been developing his professional career at Atlético de Madrid for over 30 years since his arrival in April 1993 as General Manager. Currently, he holds the position of CEO, which he assumed in February 2002. He is also the first shareholder of the club, alongside Enrique Cerezo, Ares Management Group, and Quantum Pacific Group, who are the other main shareholders.

Since his arrival in 1993, the club has won twelve titles: three Spanish LaLiga trophies (1995/96, 2013/14, and 2020/21), three UEFA Europa Leagues (2009/10, 2011/12, and 2017/18), two Copa del Rey (1995/96 and 2012/13), three UEFA Super Cups (2010, 2012, and 2018), and one Spanish Super Cup (2014).

During his management, he led the construction project of the Cívitas Metropolitano stadium, inaugurated in 2017, with a capacity for 70,000 spectators. It hosted the Champions League final in 2019 and will be one of the venues for the 2030 World Cup.

Miguel Ángel Gil is involved in the governing bodies of various national and international football organizations. Since February 2020, he has held the position of vice president of LaLiga. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the European Club Association (ECA) and, on August 10, he was unanimously elected by said committee as one of its two representatives on the UEFA Executive Committee.

Michael Emenalo currently serves as the Chief Football Executive of the Saudi Pro League and head of the Player Acquisition Center of Excellence (PACE). He is celebrated for his pivotal roles as the director of football at Chelsea FC and AS Monaco, where his strategic acumen and leadership significantly contributed to their successes.

Emenalo’s illustrious career in football also includes a notable stint as a professional footballer, playing for Notts County in England and the San Jose Clash in the United States. His international career was marked by representing Nigeria, earning 14 caps, and playing for his country at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Monika Staab took on the role of Women’s Football Technical Director at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) after 1.5 years as the women’s national team first-ever head coach. She is responsible for overseeing the transformative development of Saudi women’s football – from regional training centres and talent discovery programs to national teams and domestic competitions.

A former professional player, her biggest accomplishments at the helm of the national team include winning the 2023 International Friendly Tournament and leading the team towards entering the official FIFA Rankings for the first time. One of the world’s leading pioneers and advocates of women’s football, she visited over 90 countries over the past 14 years promoting the development of the women’s game. She is also currently a UEFA women’s football expert and technical observer

Ralf grew up as a native gamer with a passion for competition in the physical world as much as the digital. In the late 90s he founded SK Gaming with his brothers Tim and Benjamin as one of the first esports teams and competed at the highest level, which subsequently made him fall in love with the industry.

Excited to build this industry, Ralf and team co-founded ESL on its quest to build the largest stages for the new sport that turn players into stars worldwide. What was intended to be a quick win evolved into a lifelong journey. ESL has since become the largest esports brand and company culminating in a billion dollar transaction in 2022 to form ESL Faceit Group – EFG. which he served as Chairman at EFG on the mission to create worlds beyond gameplay where esports and gaming collide.

In October 2023, Ralf took on the role of CEO at the Esports World Cup Foundation with a mandate to elevate esports to one of the world’s premier sports while expanding the foundation as a driving force in its development.

Nadia Nadim was born in Herat Afghanistan. She came to Denmark at the age of twelve and has then established herself as one of the most powerful and influential female football players in modern times.

She has played for clubs such as Manchester City, and Paris Saint-German and has over 100+ caps for the Danish National Team.

She’s a medical doctor, with an exam from Aarhus University in Denmark, and she’s fluent in 10 languages.

Hammad Albalawi is an integral part of Saudi Arabia’s newly-formed 2034 FIFA World Cup bid team. He works alongside a squad at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation set out to achieve the nation’s dreams of hosting fans from across the world for the greatest celebration of football. Albalawi previously held the role of Assistant Deputy Minister for Strategic Planning and investment at the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sport. He works closely with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and Saudi Pro League leadership to develop the National Football Strategy, a long-term transformative approach to all areas of Saudi football.

Hammad was the General Manager of Tourism Investment at the Ministry of Tourism responsible for the development of the National Tourism Strategy to open up Saudi Arabia to the world. He was also formerly the Director of Business Development at the General Entertainment Authority. A former management consultant, he is a Finance graduate from George Washington University.

One of the most talented and complete attacking midfielders in football history, Clarence Seedorf has delighted generations of fans with his great technique, powerful and precise shot, and extraordinary leadership on and off the pitch.He is the only footballer in football history to have won the Champions League with three different clubs (Ajax 1994-95, Real Madrid 1997-98, AC Milan 2002-03

Ibrahim Mohtaseb is a Senior Vice President at Sela, driving the technical and commercial development of Sela’s activites in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region.  Ibrahim supports Sela’s business units by contributing to concept development, strategic planning, proposals management, and partner relationship management.

Ibrahim holds a FIFA master’s degree in international management, Law, and Humanities of Sport from Switzerland. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with concentrations in Marketing and Management from the American University of Sharjah, UAE.

Chief Operating Officer at the Saudi Pro League tasked with implementing SPL’s transformation strategy designed to elevate the league to become one of the top-10 leagues in the world based on quantity of highest-ranking players in the world playing in the league, monetization of broadcast rights revenue and viewership, maximization of stadia capacity utilization. Carlo oversees competitions, operations, commercial, marketing, communications and content capabilities of the SPL. Prior to joining the SPL Carlo was contracted to Deloitte’s Sport Group to support the formulation of SPL’s transformation strategy.
Carlo served as VP General Manager for WWE in Asia Pacific (2020-2021) and earlier in the Middle East (2014-2020) where he was responsible for making the company and its products regionally relevant and culturally acceptable by establishing a multi-pronged strategy that localizes and customizes the brand for broader general appeal and greater accessibility to its fans.
Prior to joining WWE Carlo was Chief Executive Officer of Al Jazira Football Club, Al Ain Football Club and the new defunct UAE Football League. He previously served as Assistant General Secretary, Director Competitions at the Asian Football Confederation and VP for Corporate Strategy at the World Sport Group.

Former CEO of AS Roma and currently CEO of Al Nassr FC