The Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) was founded on 21 October 2009 under the Memorandum of Understanding between the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee, and the Russian Olympic Committee. The Chairman of the RIOU Board of Trustees is President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. The RIOU Expert Council is headed by President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), and Member of the IOC Executive Board, René Fasel.
RIOU is the world's first university offering a sport business education mixed with programmes built around Olympic values and experiences. In 2013, RIOU launched its ground-breaking Master of Sport Administration (MSA) course. The programme’s main objective is to produce first-class sport managers who are fully up-to-date with a fast growing, and ever-evolving, sports industry.
The MSA faculty is made up of 19 world-class experts from 11 countries, thus drawing from an exceptionally wide pool of specialisms and backgrounds. The faculty is also supported by guest lecturers. In the period from 2013 to 2016 the MSA course has hosted students from more than 30 countries.
In addition to the MSA course, RIOU offers a wide selection of short educational programmes and has just finalised the development of its very own “Master of Football Administration” course.
RIOU is officially endorsed by the IOC and its President Thomas Bach, and is the only university in the world granting a diploma with Olympic rings on it. RIOU is the official custodian of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games information archive which is available to students and researchers from all over the world. Since 2011, the university has also run its own publishing programme.
RIOU’s post-Sochi 2014 activities are focused on creating a Centre for Olympic Legacy that will provide an organisational platform for the university’s specialised Olympic legacy and sports law research.