Dr Akindes brings a wealth of experience, having served as an athlete, coach, manager of a sportswear company, scholar, and researcher. His athletic journey includes captaining the hashtag#Benin national basketball team and playing semi-professional basketball. He also coached the Belgian team Union-Féminin Quaregnon, mentored youth basketball, and served as an assistant coach with the men’s professional team, Union Mons-Hainaut ????.

His managerial skills were honed during his four-year tenure as assistant manager at the Sportswear company Forcing SPRL in Mons, Belgium. For six years, Akindes was senior insight and research manager for the Josoor Institute, a legacy program of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Dr. Akindes earned a Master’s in Sports Administration and a Ph.D. in Sports Media Studies at Ohio University, where he taught Sports Management at the College of Business. His research focuses on international sports management, the economy of sports, television broadcasting, and athlete migration.

He has co-edited two books, “Identity and Nation in African Football: Fans, Communities and Clubs” and “Sports in Africa, Past and Present. ” He has also published journal articles and given numerous presentations at learned conferences. He has also co-created an annual conference on sports in Africa (the 16th was held at the University of Florida in April 2023).

Dr Akindes is an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University, Qatar, New York University, New York, and Chengdu Sport University, China. He is an independent researcher and sports management consultant for governing bodies.