EMEA

Matt Bailey is Head of Strategy at The Desert Vipers, the Avram Glazer owned cricket franchise playing in the DP World International League T20 in the UAE. Matt began his career at IMG, where he was involved with the creation of the Indian Premier League, and has since worked with various businesses in sport and technology, including a stint as Head of UK & Europe at Cameo. Matt oversees the commercial and sustainability functions at Desert Vipers, embedding social and environmental considerations at the heart of business operations.  

Laura Lahiff is Sustainability Lead at Munster Rugby, where she has spent five years working alongside leadership to embed sustainability into the culture, decisions and the story of one of European rugby’s most storied clubs.

In 2025, Munster’s Sustainability Report won the Sport Positive Award for Report of the Year, travelling from pitch to classrooms to international climate forums – cited in the updated UN Sport for Climate Action Framework. It still ripples because it was honest, took people on the journey, and borrowed the emotional arc of a sport season – the highs, lows, setbacks and comebacks – to make sustainability feel like something they already knew.

With a background spanning engineering, construction project management, and post-disaster recovery across New Zealand and England – alongside an MSc in Environmental Sustainability – Laura brings a technical and practical eye to sustainability. The balance she navigates: being honest about where things stand, while staying clear-eyed about where they could go.

Driven by curiosity and creativity, she is passionate about sport’s ability to drive change at scale, and believes this isn’t a stretch from sport’s identity, but a return to it. The work is translation: bringing sustainability into the language sport already speaks – resilience, performance, legacy, connection – and trusting that when those conversations come alive, something shifts.

Ann developed Golf Ireland’s Sustainability Action Plan for 2024-2027 and this was formally launched at Golf Ireland’s National AGM in March 2024.

Since then Ann, together with the Board, Senior managmenet the National Sustainability Committee at Golf Ireland have been leading, supporting and assisting both the organisation and its 379 affiliated clubs on their sustainability journeys.

Ann has over 30 years business experience and is a business and finalnce speicalist from Killarney, who brings a wealth of business and sustainability experience with her and was part of the first cohort of executives to complete a Masters in Sustainability Business Development at Trinity College. She has also qualified as a non-executive director with the Institute of Coporate Governances and gained a distinction in a diploma in Sustainable Finance from UCD/IOB.

Dr Jan Breitsohl is Associate Professor in Digital Marketing at the University of Glasgow, with 13+ years’ experience researching social media conflict, online harms, digital wellbeing, brand purpose, and values-led communication. He helps sport organisations understand how sustainability and social value messages are received online, why they sometimes trigger fan criticism or Fan-to-Fan conflict, and how to respond in ways that protect wellbeing, credibility, reputation, and commercial outcomes. Jan works with brands, charities, football clubs, and governing bodies to develop science-based tools for campaign pre-testing and backlash response. Using social media analysis and experimental methods, he measures real effects beyond likes and sentiment, helping organisations communicate their values with confidence and harmonise rather than polarise.

Ioannis is currently an FNS researcher at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland and has worked in research roles at the University of Innsbruck and ETH Zurich. He is, also, a sustainability advisor at Sportad, Founder of The Sports Footprint, a sustainability consultancy that has been awarded the Prince’s Trust Global Sustainability Award for Europe, having a notable and diverse list of clients from the sports industry. Ioannis is a Board Member at the European Association for Sport Management (EASM) responsible for safeguarding and sustainability and has also, developed several educational courses in sport and sustainability for organisations such as the Football Business Academy, the International Olympic Academy and the Athens University of Economics and Business. He has taught across sport management degrees in various universities and institutions across Europe.

Rishi’s current position as Director of Impact, sees him being responsible for leading his organisation’s approach to sustainability through the lens of equality, diversity and inclusion and environmental sustainability.

Having worked in football for over 20 years, he has an expert understanding of successfully integrating strategy into businesses and ensuring positive change. Rishi is responsible for The Red Way; Liverpool Football Club’s holistic strategy that encompasses the clubs plans across all areas of business operations and ensuring that sustainability is embedded throughout. Rishi is a driving force for change and successfully works with colleagues and business leaders to ensure progress.

In 2022, Rishi presented at the United Nations in New York City at the launch of the UN’s Game Plan: a document implementing a plan of action to counter hate speech through engagement with sport. He has continued to work in partnership with the United Nations and multiple international organisations to implement this work across the US, UK and beyond, as well as featuring at multiple COPs and New York Climate Week.

In 2023, Rishi was named on the Pride Power List, and has previously been named on the Global Diversity List as a Top 20 Diversity Professional. His work led has to wide-ranging recognition at the European Diversity Awards, North West Football Awards, Inclusive Companies Awards, Sport Industry Awards and most recently, from Front Office Sports. In 2024, his work has been recognised externally no less than six times with recognition from inside and outside of sport, including at the Global Sustainability and ESG Awards where The Red Way was named as ESG Programme of the Year. He has worked consistently to lead the organisations he’s worked for to be awarded with the Premier League Equality Standard Advanced Level on multiple occasions, and the internationally recognised ISO20121 standard.

Prior to joining his current role, Rishi has held roles at Manchester United, Kick It Out and The FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board, where he has worked throughout his career to make a positive impact across society.

Hannah Mansour is Director of ESG at Arsenal Football Club, where she leads the club’s environmental sustainability strategy and drives the integration of ESG across the organisation. She has played a key role in developing Arsenal’s sustainability programme, including achieving the world’s first Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)-validated net zero target for a football club and delivering initiatives that engage fans, staff and partners in climate action. With a background in sustainability, innovation and business transformation, Hannah is passionate about the power of sport to accelerate environmental progress and create lasting positive impact for our communities. 

James is responsible for driving forward the club’s environmental sustainability and the community strategies, making positive impact across the organisation and advancing action across our staff, players, fans and in our wider community. 

Bob Ramsak is the Head of Sustainability at World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field and long distance running, a journalist who has covered the sport globally for more than two decades and a long-time advocate for environmental, economic, and social justice.