The opening of the offices of the FIFA in Coral Gables last August to closely manage the 2026 World Cup opens a series of opportunities and the Miami Dade College He took the floor with an ambitious initiative.
On Monday, April 29, the governing body of the soccer world, which brings together more than 210 countries around the planet, and Miami Dade College, with more than 100,000 students from 167 nations and 63 languages, announced a joint collaboration that for now includes three objectives.
1.- FIFA will lend the valuable collection of its Football Museum to be exhibited in Miami starting in July 2025 in the Freedom Tower, which will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its construction on that date. It is the first time that the FIFA collection will leave its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
2.- This partnership will allow MDC students to do internships at the FIFA offices in Miami, where more than 100 officials from said federation now work in a multicultural environment, and even FIFA president Gianni Infantino himself has moved to Miami to conduct the entire operation.
3.- Some of the most notable FIFA executives and special guests will give lectures to MDC students about the secrets in football administration at the highest level.
“This alliance is a great goal! Soccer and education unite and create hope, FIFA and MDC have a similar vision,” said Miami Dade College President Madeline Pumariega. “Together we will be able to share these goals with many people in South Florida.”
Among the multiple benefits that this collaboration will leave, Pumariega highlighted that the centenary of the Freedom Tower will be celebrated with universal importance; Internship programs at FIFA offices in Miami will give MDC students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience and establish contacts that can last a lifetime; and they will also attend conferences where they will learn from global football experts at a professional level.
Infantino also highlighted the scope of this alliance, which has been possible thanks to the initiative of the people of Miami and FIFA.
“A FIFA Museum exhibition about the history of football is also a story of opportunities,” said the manager. “All of this ties into the educational mission of an incredible institution like Miami Dade College. We are here in Miami to work together and we are going to enjoy it a lot.”
The FIFA president stressed that as an Italian immigrant in Switzerland he understands the role that the Freedom Tower played in welcoming with open arms more than half a million Cubans, who fled in the early 1960s. of the communist dictatorship of Fidel Castro.
Now the Freedom Tower, which was donated to the MDC so that it always remains a symbolic beacon of the greater good of being free, is being fully renovated to celebrate its centenary with proper maintenance and all the advances in technology.
FIFA decided to open offices in Miami because the United States will host two of its most important tournaments: the 2025 Club World Cup, which for the first time will be played with 32 teams; and the 2026 World Cup, which will also be played for the first time with 48 teams and in three countries, including Canada and Mexico.
Hard Rock Stadium will host seven matches of the 2026 World Cup, including the fight for third place.
Infantino said that Miami has become the world capital of soccer, since the best clubs and teams in the world have played here and the presence of Lionel Messi, who arrived at Inter Miami last July, has caused an impact only comparable to the arrival from Pelé to the New York Cosmos in the 1970s.
Miami is also the headquarters of CONCACAF, of the Argentine Football Association, here the Messi Experience tour has begun in 150 cities around the world and next July the final of the Copa América USA 2024 will be held at the Hard Rock Stadium .
The MDC takes advantage of this moment. Pumariega announced that she will return to the university soccer team after a 30-year hiatus and the women’s soccer team will be created for the first time.
Giuseppe DePalo was chosen as coach of the men’s team and MDC alumnus Ramiro Vengoechea will be in charge of the women’s team.
“These are all steps in the right direction,” said the legendary Teófilo “Nene” Cubillas, who was one of the special guests at this ceremony. “There is no better alliance than the one formed by two institutions with as much impact and prestige as FIFA and the MDC.”
Also attending the event were the mayor of Miami Dade County Daniella Levine Cava, the mayor of the City of Miami Francis Suárez, the owner of Inter Miami Jorge Mas and directors and professors of the MDC among other personalities.
