Michael Nybrandt

Title:

Organisation:

E-mail:

Website:

Curriculum Vitae:

International Coordinator, Tibetan National Football Association

The idea of a Tibetan National Team was fostered in the mind of Danish Michael Nybrandt. When camping with a friend in Tibet back in 1997 Michael Nybrandt woke up from a dream in which he had a vision of himself coaching the Tibetan National Team.

A few months later when he applied for entrance at ‘Kaospiloterne’ – an education focusing on creative processes, projects and business design – he put ‘Coach of the Tibetan National Team’ in the objective-box in the application form.

At first he wrote it because he had to write something and to show his fellow students that he had a good sense of humour but as time went by the idea slowly became more than just a dream.

Consequently, Michael Nybrandt began pursuing his vision by contacting the Tibetan refugee government who thought the idea was exciting. But Nybrandt did not just want to create a football team but a complete Tibetan National Football Association, which could continue the project and generate money for the clubs, educate coaches etc. – in others words a sustainable footballing development.

The government was convinced that Nybrandt was the perfect candidate for the job and therefore he was hired on the spot. Then the assembling of players began and during the following months Nybrandt created a very exciting and unique group of players who would feature in Tibet’s first international match ever.

China invaded Tibet in 1950 the year after the Chinese civil war ended and ever since China has refused to acknowledge Tibet as an independent country. As a result of these political tensions Michael Nybrandt has often been accused of having a political agenda but the fact is that all his work is done out of love for football.