Former Arsenal Chairman, David Dein will join a number of distinguished speakers for the week-long block of the CAF Executive Programme at the University of Cape Town (“UCT”) next week.
The CAF Executive Programme will be launched on Sunday afternoon by CAF Leadership, City of Cape Town senior officials and University of Cape Town management.
General Secretaries of CAF’s various Member Associations, who are beneficiaries of the CAF Executive Programme, are arriving in Cape Town.
This follows the successful conclusion of the first phase of the programme that was held virtually between 19 – 22 August.
The CAF Executive Programme, which underscores the governing body of African football’s commitment to partnering with its Member Associations in growing African football marks yet another giant step taken by CAF towards achieving CAF President, Dr Patrice Motsepe’s vision of making African football global competitive and self-sustaining.
A collaboration between CAF and UCT – Africa’s highest ranked education institution, the uniquely designed programme will see all 30 General Secretaries graduating with advanced skills and knowledge in the fields of Strategic Planning, Marketing, Sponsorship, Legal & Governance as well as Finance amongst other key modules.
Ahead of the start of the programme, Dr Motsepe will officially open the programme on Sunday, 01 September at the University of Cape Town where the Vice Chancellor as well as other senior University stakeholders will be present.
The CAF Executive Programme will be rendered by internationally acclaimed and seasoned sport and academic experts from various occupations as follows:
| FASCILITATOR | PROFILE |
| David Dein | Vice Chairman of Arsenal Football Club and a founding member of the Premier League. He played a pivotal role in transforming English football and was instrumental in the appointment of Arsène Wenger as Arsenal’s manager. |
| Imtiaz Patel | Former Chairman of MultiChoice Group, a proudly pan-African video entertainment business. Among other things, he played a leading role in the successful listing of the MultiChoice Group as a Top 40 JSE company, after its unbundling from the Naspers Group in February 2019 |
| Robyn Cox | Managing Director of IMG South Africa, with experience in Media Rights and Acquisitions, Media Relations and Athlete Management |
| Emy Casaletti-Bwalya | CEO of Optimize Strategy Agency and among her other roles, she is Board Member of Brand South Africa and Director Marketing Communications for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Seychelles 2025 |
| Lyrique Du Plessis | Director at BDP Attorneys, where he focuses on all areas of general commercial, contractual, governance and regulatory disputes with a specific focus on acting for clients before entities such as anti-doping and anti-corruption tribunals, national and international specialised sports tribunals, including FIFA’s Football Tribunal, and arbitration before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Rob Skinner | Based in New York, he has a strong background in global communications and partnerships, with extensive experience in managing UN initiatives and fostering international collaborations. He is the former Director of the United Nations Information Centre. |
| Clifford Martinus | Founder of Oasis Place, an initiative that uses football to support the social inclusion and development of homeless people and vulnerable youth. He regularly organizes events and participation in the Homeless Football World Cup. |
| Dr Kamilla Swart-Arries | Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Science programme in Sport and Entertainment Management at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar |
| Dr Kurt April | Allan Gray Chair and Director of the Allan Gray Centre for Values-Based Leadership, specialising in Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. He is also an Adjunct Faculty at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and Faculty member of Duke Corporate Education, Duke University. |
| Dr Lyndon Bouah | Chief Director for Sport and Recreation in the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. He has contributed to the writing of the National Sport and Recreation Plan in South Africa. |
| Dr Michael Linley | Senior Research Fellow in Sport Strategy, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University in Australia. |
| Frank Hendrickx | Has almost 20 years’ experience in finance positions in multinational companies including BASF, Bayer, and PepsiCo, in diverse countries. He is currently combining his work at Podoactiva, a company specialized in sports biomechanics and injury prevention of elite athletes, with his educational role as a faculty member at different European business schools in Sports Management programs. |
| Marion Keim | UNESCO Chair of Sport, Development and Peace and Olympic Education at the University of the Western Cape. Among her other roles, she chairs the Foundation for Sport, Development and Peace and is Secretary-General of the Association of National Pierre de Coubertin Committees in Africa. |
| Natasha Petersen | Events and logistics manager, who has played prominent roles in organising major tournaments such as the FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cups and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup |
| Prof Blessing Mudavanhu | Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. He is the founder and president of Dura Capital Limited since 2006, and he has also been the Group CEO of CBZ Holdings, as well as a non-executive director at both the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and African Banking Corporation (BancABC Zimbabwe). |
| Prof Brendon Knott | Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Sport Business and Technology Research in the Sport Management Department at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, South Africa. He has been active in practice, inter alia, as a member of the Technical Committee of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Cape Town |
| Prof Hamieda Parker | Professor of Operations Management at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. |
| Prof Latif Alhassan | Professor of Development Finance and Programme Director, Master of Commerce in Development Finance at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business |
| Prof Linda Ronnie | Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning Professor as well as Professor Emerita: Organisational Behaviour and People Management at the University of Cape Town. |
| Prof Ralph Hamann | Deputy Director: Faculty and Research and Professor of Strategy, Sustainability, and Social Innovation at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business |
| Verity Price | First speaker from Africa and 6th woman in history to ever win the World Championship of Public Speaking. From being a professional singer to becoming a professional speaker and facilitator, Verity has over 15 years of experience inspiring audiences around the world. CAF |