Who is Thierry Weil?

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Guy Oldenkotte, donderdag 26 april 2018

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The Internationale Hockey Federation (FIH) has appointed Thierry Weil as their new CEO. Who is this new CEO and what does he bring to the FIH?
Author: Guy Oldenkotte

The FIH announced late March that it had appointed Frenchman Thierry Weil as their new CEO. The position had officially been vacant since late 2017 when former CEO Jason McCracken fom New Zealand decided to hand in his resignation. At the time McCracken had been in the position for only 10 months. He cited personal reasons for his resignation but rumours soon started to surface that the FIH was unhappy with McCracken’s inability to secure new sponsors the FIH needed to roll out its ambitions. Particularly his inability to secure a title-sponsor for the Hockey Pro League seems to have been considered as a serious failure. From January 2019 the Hockey Pro League will replace the Champions Trophy tournament. The competition, also serves as a qualifier for the Hockey World Cup (men and women's) and the Olympic Games. Nine men's and women's teams will compete in a round-robin tournament with home and away matches, played from January to June, with the top four teams advancing to the grand final at a pre-determined location. The commercial implications of this event mean serious business. One of the main tasks for Thierry Wiel will be to ensure that the event (commercially) succeeds.

How is Weil perceived?
Thierry Weil is a French national but is hailed for his ability to speak French, German and English fluently. He is also described as somebody who is very patient and diligent but who will never lose track of his responsibilities. His main motto appears to be that ‘dedication and committed are essential to succeed’. In the press release the FIH issued to announce the appointment, Weil was described as a multi-cultural, multi-national and multi-lingual who has cemented a strong international reputation in the highest echelons of the sports industry. These skills will come in handy as he will closely work together FIH President Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra from India. ‘The FIH Executive Board and myself are absolutely delighted that Thierry will be joining the FIH. He has an impressive and varied skillset which combines a strong, successful commercial background with the know-how that comes from a decade of working at the largest international sporting federation in the world. We were left in no doubt that he was the stand-out candidate for this crucial leadership position.’ Speaking about his appointment, Mr Weil said: ‘I am honoured to have the trust of the FIH President and the Executive Board for the CEO position. My mission, together with our team in Lausanne, will be to inspire the next generation and make the Hockey Revolution happen.’ Dr Batra added: 'Thierry’s vast experience and knowledge will prove invaluable to the FIH as an organisation and also to the Hockey Revolution, as we enter the next phase of our ambition to become ‘a global game that inspires the next generation.’

What will Thierry Weil contribute?
Based on statements made in the past, it becomes immediately clear what it is that Thierry Weil is expected to deliver. When Jason McCracken took charge he said: ‘FIH plans to generate USD$150 million in four years from the Pro League. We also expect the League to catch the fancy of fans around the world.’ If generating such amount of money is really FIH’s ambition, it definitely did well by appointing Thierry Weil as CEO. Prior to joining the FIH, Weil held the position of Marketing Director at the International Football Federation (FIFA) for almost 10 years. Despite the various scandals that have hit FIFA in the past few years, the FIFA brand has grown significantly over the last decade. Projected revenues from the 2015-18 cycle are USD$ 5.65 billion for the period 2015 – 2018.
Some of the successes attributed to Weil at FIFA including signing up and closely working together with partners like Adidas, Coca-Cola, Sony and Visa. He also led the recent overhaul of the organisation’s commercial model, replacing the national supporter level sponsorships with regional categories at future world cups. The overhaul of its model has seen FIFA generating millions of dollars extra. Weil’s successes are undisputed but soon after the installation of the new FIFA President Gianni Infantino, it became evident that Weil was not part of Infantino's vision for the future of the football’s governing body.
Prior to joining FIFA in 2007, Weil had held various marketing positions at Adidas. He joined the German manufacturer of sports clothing in 1981, heading up Product Development for Europe at Adidas France. In 2003, he became their Head of Global Football Sports Marketing and went on to become President of Global Football Sports Marketing 3 years later only to move on to FIFA one year later.

What can we expect?
Money rules, and that certainly seems to be the case at the FIH as the International Hockey Federation is determined to grow its brand and popularity of the sport in the next decade. The FIH is pushing hard to increase membership numbers internationally as it is pursuing an ambitions plan to roll out more good quality artificial grass pitches. This includes the installation of artificial grass hockey pitches in areas or countries that do not necessarily have the financial means hence the need for new or additional sponsorship agreements. These agreements are also important to contribute to the growing expenses the FIH experiences by participating in the Summer Olympics. Hockey is considered as being one of most expensive game to host at the Summer Olympics. Yet hosting cities often fail to attract sufficient spectators to recoup the investments made to host the spectacle. By adding Thierry Weil to its management team, the FIH strives to have this changed.
With his first month gone by already, FIH hasn’t made Weil’s intentions and plans public hence it is difficult to predict how he will approach his responsibilities. However, in one of the few interviews he ever did, he did say the following: ‘I would say that you first must love the job you do and always be a hard worker. It is also important to have a lot of respect for your work and for the people you are working with. In the end a lot comes down to having respect. And then the rest is all up to working hard. If you enjoy every day the job you do, like I do, nothing better can happen to you. And if you work in the sport you like and you have a lot of people around you that you enjoy working in the same environment, just remember to keep working hard. A lot of people are in too much of a hurry to move up too quickly. Give yourself time and respect everything that you do and all those you work with, and if you do, you will see the results later down the road.’ It remains to be seen how much time Thierry Weil will really get. January 2019 is only 7 months away.

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