Italy World Cup winner Gianluca Zambrotta will be the special guest of the Football Symposium which will be organised by the Malta FA between May 23 and 24.
The former Juventus and Milan fullback has enjoyed a distinguished playing career which reached it culmination in 2006 when he helped the Italian national team, coached by Marcello Lippi, to win the 2006 World Cup after defeating France in a penalty shoot-out in Berlin.
After spells at Como and Bari, Zambrotta entered the big stage in 1999 when he joined Juventus. With the Bianconeri, Zambrotta enjoyed a successful seven-year spell during which he won two Serie A titles as well as the Italian Super Cup.
In 2006 he left Turin and completed a dream move to Spanish giants Barcelona with whom he managed to win the Spanish Super Cup in his first season.
Two years later he returned to Italy where he moved to Milan and with the Rossoneri he added another Serie A title and the Italian Super Cup.
At the Football Symposium, Zambrotta will be involved in a Q&A about his career.
Zambrotta will not be the only high-profile guest present at the Football Symposium whose main theme is “Opportunities in the Digital World”.
The first day of the symposium will be held at the MFA Trophies Lounge in Ta’ Qali where the main focus will be the world of eFootball.
In fact, during this opening session, participants will discuss the prospects of a Malta eFootball League and afterwards an eFootball Exhibition match will be held.
On Friday, May 24 the Symposium will switch to the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta.
One of the highlights of the day is expected to be a talk by SkyItalia journalist Gianluca Di Marzio who will be discussing ‘Reporting Football: Trends in new media”.
This will be followed by a panel discussion on ‘Football Appeal – Eyeballs and Engagement’. The panel will be formed by Nina Tsimpuoli, UEFA Digital Strategy & Business Development, Malta national team player Rowen Muscat, Times of Malta Online Editor Bertrand Borg and entrepreneur Robert Micallef and TV presenter Ben Camille.
Gaming will dominate the second part of the symposium with Christian Volk, FIFA Director of eFootball & Gaming, to talk about eSports and he will be followed by a panel discussion that will look into the prospects of eFootball.
The panel will be formed by lawyer Dr Luke Dalli, Kersten Chircop, managing director at gamers.com.mt, Socios esports Tom Pickering and gamers Christian Spiteri and Kurt Fenech.
In the final session of the symposium, Roman Putsch, UEFA’s Head of Marketing Activities, will speak about the digital phenomenon of the Champions League.