Dr Lingling Liu is a sports business consultant and communication strategist with a vision to help sports projects and personalities embrace blockchain technology and strategy.
Having come from an 8-year television experience with China Central Television Sports Channel (CCTV 5), she’s been actively involved in reporting, bidding and playing various operations roles for mega events such as the Olympics and FIFA World Cups.
She became the first FIFA Media Officer from Asia appointed by FIFA and served the FIFA World Cup from 2002 to 2018. In 2010, Lingling acted as the FIFA Spokesperson for the 2010 Coca-Cola FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour and travelled with the World Cup Trophy across 11 Eurasian countries. From January 2017 to June 2018, Lingling served as the senior sales manager at FIFA Marketing, contributing to developing Chinese sponsors for FIFA, including FIFA World Cup sponsor VIVO and the sales of the Asian Regional Package.
In early 2021, she worked as a consultant by advising Binance leadership, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchange platforms, for its sponsorship strategy and negotiations with FIFA and CAF. She helped Binance become the official sponsor of the African Cup 2021.
Lingling also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Eurasian Sports Industry Center (CESI) of the Em-Lyon Business School in France, and also a member of the steering committee for the Leaders Sports Awards UK 2019 and the jury member of 2021 Influential Women in Sports by iSportConnect.
She also contributed to the book The Business of FIFA World Cup, published by Routledge in 2022 and The Geopolitical Economy of Sport by Routledge in 2023.
Lingling received her Doctoral degree in 2015 in sports celebrity endorsement on luxury brands with Professor Simon Chadwick at Coventry University. She also has an MBA in Football Industries from Liverpool University in 2001 and dual degrees in Journalism and English from the China School of Journalism.
She has a Certificate in Blockchain Strategy from Said Business School of Oxford University.
In January 2023, Lingling joined NMKR as Head of the Sports Partnership. NMKR is a technical service provider within the Cardano ecosystem.
Lingling has been a columnist for Sport Business International and a frequent speaker and panellist at various sports business forums since 2002.