The grand Professional Football fair already has 70 speakers confirmed

With the Thinking Football Summit 2022 just behind the corner, new areas of interest continue to be unveiled, this time, with the announcement of four new speakers, who will be present in the city of Porto, at the Super Bock Arena - Pavilhão Rosa Mota, between November 18 and 20.

Firstly, Meta confirmed its presence at the event. The tech giant will be represented by Kike Levy, the company's head of sports partnerships in Southern Europe. With over a decade of experience in the marketing and media business, his current role is to design, consult and implement the digital strategy of various partners in the region, including LaLiga, Serie A, MotoGP, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

Prior to Meta, Kike worked at Twitter and at the media rights and marketing agency Infront Sports and Media.

Francisco Spínola, General Director for EMEA - World Surf League (WSL), is also confirmed. Surfer and former professional athlete, the Portuguese is widely credited with the boom in popularity that surfing has seen both in Portugal and across the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.

Francisco brought the elite division of professional surfing back to Portugal in 2009, following a 13-year hiatus. Since then, Francisco has made Portugal the single country with most WSL events and pushed lesser-known spots in the EMEA region into global surfing’s limelight.

João Capela, former football referee and current Member of the Refereeing Committee of the Greek Football Federation, is also joining the panel of speakers. Born in Lisbon in 1974, he started his refereeing career in 1997. In 2011 he became an international referee, ending his career in 2019.

In June 2020, he became a member of the Refereeing Committee of the Greek Football Federation, responsible for the VAR (Video Referee) project in Professional Football and UEFA matches of the Greek National Team. In June 2022, he joined FIFA as a VAR Instructor.

Last but not least, Franco Impellizzeri is a Professor in Sport and Exercise Science and Medicine since 2018 at the faculty of Health of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) where he teaches research methods.

Author of nearly 200 publications related to sports science and orthopaedics, Impellizzeri is a member of the editorial boards of various scientific journals, including being editor-in-chief of the journal Science and Medicine in Football.

Throughout his career, the Italian researcher also collaborated with several professional clubs and sports federations and was involved in the physical preparation of Olympic athletes as a strength and conditioning coach.

The Thinking Football Summit 2022 will take place between the 18th and 20th of November, at the Super Bock Arena - Pavilhão Rosa Mota, in the city of Porto. Tickets for the three days of the event are already on sale! Don't waste any more time and book your place at the grand Professional Football fair by clicking HERE. In addition, subscribe to the event's newsletter and stay up to date with all the news!