DTM 6th batch Zohid Akramov from Uzbekistan interned at the Korea Tennis Association learning hands-on experience about sport governance from January to June 2020.
He was a winner of the Best Thesis Award in 2019 and one of the select few who were chosen to intern at a sport organization in Korea.
Akramov was a chief specialist at the Department of International Relations in the Uzbekistan Football Association before attending the Dream Together Master Program, but he yearned for more knowledge in relation to sports as he felt that he had “little theoretical knowledge about sport as a whole.”
During his studies at DTM, he was particularly interested in the modules of sport organization governance and sport policy taught by respective Professors Borja Garcia and Iain Lindsey that he chose to focus on governance in his thesis. His thesis that earned him his honor is titled “Challenges and Opportunities in International Sport Organizations: Investigation of Barriers Hindering the Asian Football Confederation from Better Governance.”
As an intern at the Korea Tennis Association(KTA), he was able to learn more about the governance structure of both the KTA and the International Tennis Federation. He also had an opportunity to see how different policies were made and implemented.
Akramov is currently preparing for his return to the Uzbekistan Football Association as he has already drafted a proposal on the importance of good governance and principles and plans to apply the model that he used in his thesis to improve the level of good governance in the sport organization.
“I am very confident that the skills acquired through both the DTM program and internship will be an important asset in contributing to Uzbekistan’s sport and policy development.”
