Mr Ian Stafford, a multiple award-winning British sportswriter, journalist, and broadcaster, has published 23 books, with his works widely circulated not only in the UK but also in countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. Throughout his career as a journalist, he has covered every major global sporting event in the past 40 years. He is also a sought-after speaker, event host, and interviewer of stars, and serves as an adviser for several media outlets. In addition to hosting many major events, Ian is frequently invited to host events for major corporate companies worldwide featuring guests such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Dan Carter, Usain Bolt, and England football manager Gareth Southgate.

He founded the UK’s first internet sports magazine, Sportsvibe, and also established The Sporting Club, a private business networking club that leverages the power of sports for sports-loving corporations. Currently, the club operates 11 branches across seven cities in the UK and is about to expand globally into many international territories. It has raised over £2 million for charitable causes.

Ian views promoting world peace and human well-being through people-to-people exchanges as his mission.

His travels have taken him across five continents and numerous countries. He has visited China three times – first for the inaugural Chinese F1 Grand Prix in Shanghai, again for the Laureus Sports Awards, also in Shanghai, and finally for the Beijing Olympics, where he spent three weeks in the capital and visited the Great Wall. Through his involvement with the Global China Academy and the Global China Dialogue series forum, Ian hopes to engage with various sectors in China and foster greater mutual understanding between China and the rest of the world.

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