Robert Jozef Louis Maes

Robert,( Jozef Louis ) Maes, Born, Belgium May 11th 1959 - age 57, is a sports marketing and management expert, and the founder of Yokohama FC football team, in 1997, currently playing in the Japanese J league II.
He was also the first non-Japanese sports marketing expert to be full time employed in Japan as a sports marketing agent.
EARLY LIFE EDUCATION
Robert Maes was born as the son of Walter Maes and Simone De Winter, his father a businessman, his mother housewife, his younger sister Ria Maes, 6 years his junior, is a published writer with some success in her home country, Belgium. Robert Maes studied social and political sciences at the KUL University in Belgium but graduated as journalist from the Erasmus Institute in Antwerp Belgium. He would only briefly work as a journalist, to quickly enroll in a career as sports agent and manager.
BUSINESS CAREER
Robert Maes entered the sports management field as an agent for Belgian track and field athletes and quickly established a name for himself, representing athletes such as Ronald Desruelles, Marleen Renders, Lieve Sleghers and many others to become an agent of global notoriety and representing other world class athletes such as Tegla Lorupe, Vincent Rousseau, Eddy Hellebuyck. He also become co-organiser of the Night of Athletics, an internationally renowned Track and Field event, in 1988 and become Business Development Manager for AVT ( atletiek Vereniging Toekomst ). Under the guidance of his life long, mentor, Paul Eerdekens, Robert Maes developed AVT in a top 5 European track and field team and by signing Upjohn as main sponsors, among 9 other sponsorships, made it one of the best funded and professionally run atletic teams in Europe.
From the early 1990's Robert Maes managed to place his marathon athletes in Japans top marathons and won with them, nearly all major Japanese marathons, among them Tokyo Marathon, Tokyo City Half Marathon, Osaka Womens Marathon, Lake Biwa Marathon as well as cross country raced. It was in 1997 that IMG ( International Management Group ) hired him to join the Tokyo Office in the double function of establishing a Football Division in Japan and selling all IMG international properties in Japan.( 1996-97).
In 1997-98 Robert Maes established, what has become one of the most popular and successful sports marketing projects in Japan, the creation of Yokohama FC. After the 1996-97 season a Yokohama Team, called Yokohama Flugels went into bankruptcy. Robert Maes contacted the fan club of the team and proposed to create a new team, a revolutionary team, not owned ( as all other teams at the time in Japan) by a major corporation, but by 10 individuals. He managed to secure Citibank as the main sponsor, and by appointing Pierre Littbarski, ( world champion football 1990 , German )as coach, also Bosch KK as secondary sponsor. The team was allowed, after much discussion and deliberation by JFA, to start in JFL, the first amateur league in Japan. The team played in the first season 22 matches and won 20 and drew 2. However, JFA did not allow the team to promote even though it was the most popular sports team in Japan at the time. In its 2nd season Yokohama FC, played 22 games and won all 22 and promoted to J League II, the 2nd professional league, where they play today. ( 8th placed in 2016 ranking on Oct 30th 2016 ).
Robert Maes went on to create his own company, Desert Fish KK, in japan and exclusively represented several of the Finalist teams participating in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. After the World Cup, he left Japan to gather experience in the entire Asian and Middle Eastern regions, as he wanted to experience each and every of the markets before settling down again in Japan. He consequently lived and worked in Taiwan, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, New Zealand, China ( Shanghai ), before returning from 2012 till 2015 to Europe reconnecting with his network there. He finally returned to Japan in July 2015 to dedicate himself to work on the IRB Rugby World Cup 2019 and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He is currently appointed as sponsorship Sourcing Manager to The Asian Rugby Confederation.
HONOURS
winner of the Johnny Walker Throphee in Belgium IN 1994, A multi obstacle 2 day event
Honored by Yokohama city for the creation of Yokohama FC with a special citation
winner with AVT of bronze medal in the European Track and Field Championships in Schwechat, Vienna 1993
winner with AVT of 6 national club championships in Belgium in Track and Field between 1988 and 1994
Appointed exclusive representative by National Federations such as the Belgian National Football Federation, The Italian Rugby Federation.
REFERENCES
www.yokohamafc.com
EXTERNAL LINKS
www.sportizen.co.kr

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