The two worlds of soccer, East and West, meet in Budapest at the Puskás Arena for the event titled Football Forum Hungary. The three-day international event attracted approximately 1,000 participants, with soccer professionals arriving from seventy countries. Running from Monday to Wednesday, the forum is one of the most important meeting places for business and professional figures in soccer, where global decision-makers and experts in the sport share their experience, build relationships, and shape the future of soccer.
Naturally, the University of Debrecen, DEAC, and DVSC were also represented at the event. László Balogh, director of the Institute for Sports Science Coordination (DESKI), UD, also appeared as a speaker at the professional event, where he spoke about talent scouting. Alongside him—also representing the institute—Csaba László was a guest at a roundtable discussion; the former head coach of the Ugandan national team shared his insights during a discussion on the rise of African soccer. Bence Bács, assistant professor at DE GTK, marketing manager, and managing director of DEAC Futball Kft., also spoke at the event; in his presentation, he reviewed Hungarian soccer businesses from the perspective of corporate valuation and analysis. In the exhibition area, the University of Debrecen, DEAC, and DVSC were present with a joint booth.
- The University of Debrecen has been partnering with the organizing agency, the path, for five years now, which we are particularly pleased about because it has allowed us to witness firsthand how this two-part event has evolved. Sport Forum Hungary is usually held in the fall and focuses on general sports science, while Football Forum Hungary centers on soccer. The conference itself—including the presentations, roundtable discussions, and workshops—took place on the second day, but the first and third days offered equally valuable experience, as they were all about networking. Just over 80 percent of the participants are from abroad, so this is an excellent opportunity for international networking and relationship-building- said László Balogh.
The director of DESKI emphasized that they were represented with their own booth, and their exhibition space attracted unprecedented interest.
- We created a new backdrop for the occasion that effectively showcases the sports ecosystem of the University of Debrecen. The University of Debrecen was featured in the center of the banner, with DVSC to the left and DEAC to the right; we also presented our academic programs and ongoing research. An unprecedented number of interested visitors stopped by our booth, mostly from abroad: management offices, agencies, sports clubs, and academies looking to collaborate with Hungarian universities and sports programs. The presentations, in which we were active participants, were held to a full house; I believe we can benefit greatly from these, and once again we succeeded in enhancing the reputation of the University of Debrecen. We were practically the only Hungarian higher education institution to play such a prominent role. It is a great advantage for us that we were able to present ourselves at a forum and conference that, while not strictly academic, is nonetheless grounded in scientific principles—as its name suggests—and especially that we did so in an international setting. We exchanged many business cards that hold enormous potential and opportunity; we must build a system that allows us to take advantage of these international opportunities, because there is a great need for them- said the university leader, noting that the work cannot stop and that the future is being built continuously.
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