From FIMBA to FIFA to founding the ISC: Nigel Fletcher's career journey

Posted on: 19 August 2025 by Nigel Fletcher (FIMBA 2005) in Where are they now?

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From roles at FIFA to founding the International Sports Convention, Football Industries MBA (FIMBA) graduate Nigel Fletcher reflects on his career so far – exactly 20 years after his graduation.

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FIMBA Class of 2005

"In life you need a bit of luck, and I was lucky to join an excellent international FIMBA cohort in 2003 who worked and played hard. Testimony to that we are the only year group who still regularly meet together with our biennial gathering which has taken us to Zurich, New York, Amsterdam, Reykjavik, Oslo, Istanbul, Hamburg, Tokyo and Sunderland. Football is very much a people and networking business. 

Roles at FIFA

In 2005 I joined FIFA and had spells in both the marketing and member association department. This included visits to 88 football associations, plus venue operational roles in two world cups. One of my proudest experiences was leading FIFA’s South Africa legacy programme in conjunction with South African Football Association (SAFA) and the South African government. The legacy is still there with infrastructure projects and facilities.

During my time at FIFA, I spoke at many football conferences. Some at the time were broad business focused; others were subject-specific but there was not a global event which brought together the different facets of the business of sport. Like the famous Guinness slogan, good things come to those who wait.

It did take time, but 16 years later under the International Sports Convention (ISC) brand we brought together multiple aspects of sports business, and have extended the ISC brand to awards, education, media products and podcasts so our audience can be connected year-round. 

Founding the International Sports Convention

At the end of 2010, I founded what is now the International Sports Convention, one of the leading B2B (business-to-business) event and media brands in the business of sport.

With the International Sports Convention our clients are diverse, working with leading brands, rights holders, tech companies and agencies. Understanding the business of sport from sponsorship, digital to governance/integrity is important to ensure the International Sports Convention (ISC) is always at the cutting edge.

Advice for anyone looking to follow in Nigel's footsteps

I certainly recommend the Football Industries MBA – my piece of advice to anyone looking to pursue a career in the football industry would be to make connections and undertake an internship on top of your studies!"

Thanks so much to Nigel for sharing his career journey so far. Nigel also holds voluntary advisory roles with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and Cambridgeshire Football Association. You can connect with, and read more about Nigel’s education and career, on LinkedIn,

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Keywords: Where are they now?.