CESEDEN and LALIGA Sign Agreement to Promote Sport as a Tool for Diplomacy and Soft Power

This collaboration represents a further step in promoting a culture of defence, highlighting the capacity of sport to strengthen Spain’s international projection, values and influence

The Spanish Ministry of Defence, through the Spanish National Defence College (CESEDEN), which includes the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies (IEEE), and LALIGA, through its educational division LALIGA Business School, have signed an educational cooperation agreement aimed at promoting knowledge exchange and joint reflection in key areas such as national and international security, diplomacy, soft power and international partnerships.

For CESEDEN, this collaboration represents another step forward in strengthening the culture of defence. In a complex and increasingly multifaceted strategic environment, a wide range of approaches is required. Lieutenant General Miguel Ballenilla y García de Gamarra, Director of CESEDEN, emphasized that: “Sport constitutes a first-order vector of soft power, capable of strengthening Spain’s international projection, its values and its capacity for influence at the global level.”

This agreement also reinforces LALIGA’s commitment to the development of strategic knowledge and to the role of sport as a tool for positive influence in the global context, contributing to Spain’s international projection and strengthening its reputation and leadership abroad.

LALIGA President Javier Tebas stated: “Sport has consolidated itself as a key instrument of diplomacy, reputation and positive influence in the international arena. Through education and strategic thinking, we can structure that potential and place it at the service of Spain’s global positioning. This agreement with CESEDEN reinforces LALIGA’s commitment to knowledge and to the role of sport in addressing major national and international challenges.”

First Seminar on Diplomacy and Sport

The first initiative resulting from this agreement will be the seminar “Diplomacy and Sport: Soft Power in Spain’s International Projection”, which will take place on 20 April at CESEDEN headquarters in Madrid.

The seminar will examine the role of sport as an element of soft power, cultural diplomacy and international reputation, as well as its contribution to Spain’s strategic objectives in a global context marked by growing geopolitical challenges.

According Javier Tebas: “LALIGA’s international experience demonstrates that sport can be a key lever for building partnerships, generating trust and projecting a country’s values. This seminar represents the first step in a collaboration that aims to consolidate over time and generate high-value knowledge.”

The event will be structured around two panel discussions.The first will address sports diplomacy in contemporary geopolitics, including the relationship between hard power and soft power, as well as the role of leagues and federations as actors of public diplomacy. The second panel will focus on the 2030 FIFA World Cup as a project of international cooperation and multilateral diplomacy, and will analyse its impact on Spain’s national brand, security considerations, and the geopolitical and social legacy of major sporting events.

The event will bring together institutional representatives and experts from the fields of sport, diplomacy and strategic studies, and will conclude with an executive summary of the seminar and the presentation of a future proposal for an Executive Course in Diplomacy and Sport, to be developed within the framework of the agreement between LALIGA and CESEDEN.