Antero Henrique, Sporting Director of the Qatar Stars League, Luís Vicente, President of Apex Capital, and Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director of UEFA, are the latest confirmations for the third edition of the Thinking Football Summit. The event will take place at the Super Bock Arena in Porto from September 12 to 14.

A prominent figure in both national and international sports, Antero Henrique is returning to the summit. With over 25 years of association with FC Porto, Henrique was a key figure in the club's successes in the 21st century, notably during a period of significant sporting and business reorganization.

The success of the Formation/Scouting/Sporting Success/Market model drew significant attention, leading Paris Saint-Germain to recruit him as Sporting Director in 2017. This period was marked by historic transfers and the start of a deep restructuring of the Youth Academy and Scouting pillars at the French club.

Over two fruitful years, Henrique strengthened his reputation with the PSG owners, who once again placed their trust in his vision for both sports and business, appointing him as the Sporting Director of the Qatar Stars League, the entity that oversees professional football in Qatar.

Luís Vicente, a sports executive with vast experience in the sector and a 30-year history of innovation, transformation, commercial expansion, and brand engagement in sports, is another returning name to the Thinking Football Summit stage.

Currently, Vicente is the president of Apex Capital, the largest investment platform for current and former athletes in Europe, and holds several non-executive roles and advisory positions across various sports organizations. Previously, he was CEO of the Eleven Sports Group, the world’s first digital sports operator, and a board member of the parent company Aser Ventures, an investment platform focused on sports that included ownership of Leeds United, a Premier League club.

Vicente was also a board member of FIFA and was the organization’s first Chief Transformation & Digital Innovation Officer, responsible for promoting new technologies, gaming, databases, and content creation strategies. He also served as CMO/CDO/CCO at Valencia CF, Sponsorship Director at Manchester City, and an advisor to the CEO and president of Real Madrid CF on transfers and commercial development in football. He has provided consulting services to Red Bull executives and owners in the fields of Football, Motorsport, and Sailing, to Ferrari and Lotus in Formula 1, and to A1GP.

He has also been a sports and commercial agent, managing some of the biggest football stars of the 1990s and 2000s, including Luís Figo, Ronaldo Nazário, Andriy Shevchenko, and Roberto Carlos.

Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director of UEFA Events S.A., which was established in 2009 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of UEFA to manage the organization's marketing and commercial interests, will make his debut at the Thinking Football Summit.

In 2002, Epstein joined UEFA as a TV and Sponsorship Manager and quickly rose to become the Head of Marketing Activities. In 2005, he created the Media Rights unit, responsible for the global sale of UEFA competition broadcast rights. Later, in 2010, he was appointed Marketing Director, overseeing all marketing and commercial activities across all UEFA competitions. This includes the management of all media and sponsorship rights, the television production of content (live broadcasts and additional programming), the management of all UEFA digital platforms, as well as traditional marketing activities such as branding, promotion, CRM, or market research.

These three names join an influential group of speakers that includes, among others, Deco, former Portuguese international and current Sporting Director of FC Barcelona; Ornella Desirée Bellia, Director of Professional Football Relations and Development at FIFA; Javier Tebas, President of LALIGA; Sol Campbell, former English professional footballer and tech entrepreneur; Claire Bloomfield, Director of Women's Football at the European Club Association; Nicolás Burdisso, former Argentine international; Francisco de Sá Fardilha, Technical Director of Women's Football at FC Bayern Munich; and Stefano Braghin, Director of Women's Football at Juventus.

Tickets for the Thinking Football Summit 2024 are now available for purchase HERE.