Governor Biography
Shahzeb is President of World Group Pakistan who operate in 203 countries worldwide. His vision for 6 a side football saw Leisure Leagues expand in Pakistan. Launching with the “Ronaldinho And Friends” games that drew the biggest crowds in the history of 6 a side football. He has since gone on to preside over a rapid expansion into over 80 cities as Leisure Leagues received awards from the UN for their humanitarian work.
Governor Biography
Tim heads up the legal side for ISF and is responsible for all contracts, insurance and legal aspects of all events run by the ISF. Tim is an incredibly respected international sports lawyer who was educated at Cambridge University in the UK and has been a Director of numerous law firms as well as an Executive on many of the biggest global sports bodies.
Governor Biography
Thanos leads the administrative team of the ISF with primary responsibility for the organisation and operation of all our events around the world. Thanos’ professional background is in marketing and he also owns one of the largest Sports Marketing Agencies in Greece.
Governor Biography
Tom has over a decade of experience operating hundreds of small-sided leagues and competitions across the UK and is highly experienced in the production of sports events and their implementation. As well as being a Director of Leisure Leagues, Tom has been the lead Director for the UK national finals, the biggest tournament ever staged in the UK.
Governor Biography
Sergio is the President of the Mexican 6 a side Federation and heads up Leisure Leagues Mexico. His extensive business interests include being the CEO in one of the largest construction firms in his homeland. His encyclopedic knowledge of – and passion for – football make him perfect as the ISF expands into South America.
Governor Biography
Christoph is a sponsorship expert and has decades of experience in procuring sponsorship across the world on behalf of sports organisations. Educated in England, where he developed a passion for Liverpool FC, he has been involved in 6 a side football for many years, running a network of 6 a side football leagues in his native Germany.
Governor Biography
Commonly regarded as the finest match official in the world, Mark is one of our Referee Ambassadors. The youngest referee to appear in the English football league, he has blown the whistle in the Champions League final, refereed the FA Cup final and a host of other high-profile games. After giving up his career in England to pursue new challenges in the Middle East, he now works in China. Mark took up his position with the ISF in 2018 and was referee in the first World Cup Final in Lisbon, also appearing in Crete.
Governor Biography
Tibor has been involved in 6 a side football for more than 15 years. The development of this sport has always been a primiary motivation for him and his business plans. He holds degrees in both sports management and ecomomics, and hopes to use these to help achieve the enormous potential of 6 a side football in Hungary.
Governor Biography
Amr, who holds a degree in economics from Oxford University, comes with a very succesful business pedigree, holding executive postions for numerous companies in both Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia. He is now fronting the Leisure Leagues product in Egypt.
Governor Biography
Kestutis is one of the biggest names in small sided football in Europe, thanks to not only his many years working in the industry in Lithuania, but also due to his arrangement of the highly successful Baltic Cup tournament, which sees Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia face off each year.
Governor Biography
Martin was one of the first professional match officials in top-flight football in the UK. Since retiring, he has been heavily involved in UK sponsorship and has contacts with major worldwide sports brands. Martin is the lead point of contact for all international ISF match officials and is developing our world class dedicated training programme for 6 a side referees.
Governor Biography
Stephanie has over 20 years’ experience in organising and managing hundreds of leagues across the UK, America and Asia. She masterminded Leisure Leagues rise to be the biggest sports league provider in the World. She is the most revered operator and organiser of small-sided leagues and a fountain of knowledge. Stephanie has been in a number of leading positions within the small-sided industry in the UK including CEO, COO and Directorships across multiple leisure sectors.
Governor Biography
As Tournament Director, Julia is responsible for implementing the rules, regulations and overseeing the smooth operation of ISF tournaments. Julia is experienced in managing key events and ensures that, at tournament level, everything operates to world class standards.
Governor Biography
With years of experience in a wide range of roles across the small-sided football industry, Sam is responsible for introducing 6 a side to new countries and representative members through our Master License Opportunities. Skilled in communications and partnerships, Sam holds a journalism degree and a real passion for growing our sport across the world.
Governor Biography
Andy is an experienced journalist with a first class honours degree in Sports Journalism. He has been a writer for almost 20 years, providing articles for national magazines and local newspapers. As well as working in the small sided football industry for almost 15 years, Andy is a respected music journalist. He is responsible for the content of the ISF website.
Governor Biography
One of the finest up and coming referees in Germany, Florian has shown his cool head and clear decision making abilities in numerous high-profile leagues and tournaments around the world. Promoted to a senior role after his showing in the 2018 Socca World Cup, Florian played an integral role in the Crete World Cup in 2019 and will continue to do so in the future tournaments.
Governor Biography
One of the best, most experienced, and flamboyant football managers around, Ron Atkinson rose to prominence by leading Cambridge United to the football league. He then moved to West Brom – where his team became synonymous with some of the finest attacking football of the 70s and 80s. He was tempted to the glamour of Manchester United, where he won the FA Cup twice before trophy laden spells at Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday. His knowledge of football is second to none and he was brought back into the sport by the ISF in December 2018.
Governor Biography
Commonly regarded as the finest match official in the world, Mark is one of our Referee Ambassadors. The youngest referee to appear in the English football league, he has blown the whistle in the Champions League final, refereed the FA Cup final and a host of other high-profile games. After giving up his career in England to pursue new challenges in the Middle East, he now works in China. Mark took up his position with the ISF in 2018 and was referee in the first World Cup Final in Lisbon, also appearing in Crete.
Governor Biography
As well as his work with ISF, Richard holds the role of the Clinical Director and Senior Surgeon at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend. Alongside his hospital experience, Richard has worked for sports teams such as Crusaders RLFC, Wales RL, South Wales Scorpions RLFC, Cook Islands RL, Bridgend Ravens, Fiji National Team and Newport Gwent Dragons. He holds the ICIS level 3 accreditation for medical professionals working within professional sport.
Governor Biography
John Gwynne is a well-known British sports commentator and reporter. As well as providing colour to two world cups, he is now known to millions as “the voice of darts”. Before that he was particularly famed for his work on Sky Sports’ flagship weekly football programme, Soccer Saturday. A huge cricket fan, he has covered the sport too and can often be found at Lancashire Cricket Club watching the team. His son, Andrew, is an MP.
Governor Biography
Howard Bentham is a renowned stadium announcer, presenter, reporter, and voiceover artist in the UK. He has acted as stadium announcer at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games as well as the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup and 2002 Commonwealth Games. He is the lead announcer for a range of sports in the UK including hockey, rugby, badminton, cricket and rowing. Bentham has also won a number of awards for his radio work.
Governor Biography
Nick Irvine is a UK sports commentator, well known for his coverage of major field hockey tournaments featured on channels including Eurosport, BBC, BSkyB, BT Sport and Setanta. Nick has been the commentator for hockey at the Olympic Games in London, Sydney and Athens, and is widely regarded for his knowledge, opinion and passion on sport.
Governor Biography
A fine photographer and videographer, Laurence was our roving lensman in Lisbon and Crete, heading up our dedicated team of cameramen. His wonderful eye for composition and his eye for the innovative angle, means his work compels. He went to Crete for two weeks before the World Cup in order to get a real flavour for the event and to watch the stadium being built, really being able to tell the story of the tournament.
Governor Biography
Regarded as one of the best sports photographers in the UK, he began working with the England 6 a side team in 2018, but quickly progressed to the photography division within the ISF. His action shots in Crete set the bar for the sport of 6 a side football and are seen as perhaps the best ever taken during small sided games.
Governor Biography
Ian is a Commercial Photographer, with over ten years in a wide range of projects covering a wide range of disciplines. Ian has been published in Several online and print magazines Ian’s work has featured across the world. He joined the team at ISF with a special responsibility for taking photos of the final stages.