By :PRARTHANA HAZARIKA, SENIOR SPORTS JOURNALIST, INDIA
MEMBER OF AIPS

I received an invitation on the first week of November 2025 from a dear colleague and an amazing sports journalist, Vice President OF AIPS from Hungary Dr Zsuzsa Csisztu (on behalf of the Hungary Sports Journalist Association) to be an expert for panel discussions to be held during the Sport Forum Hungary 2025 International Sports Industry Conference. This is the fourth year of the conference. The conference was a two-day event 19 November and 20 November 2025 and it was held in the Groupama Arena, Budapest. The event saw the participation of seven sports journalists from four continents like Taiwan, Algeria, Ajerbaizan, Colombia, Panama, Slovakia besides India. On its fourth edition, the two-day conference brought together more than 1,800 participants, including professionals from sports governance, coaching, clubs, federations, media, education, innovation, and business.
Women Sports journalists from Slovakia, Algeria, Panama, Colombia, Azerbaijan, Taiwan and India were invited for the prestigious event to take part in panel discussions to share and voice their concerns over important global issues like Women Sports in the Media: Visibility= Value,

From Underrated to Inevitable: Making Women’s Sports Seen and Sold,
Women’s Role and Representation in the Global Sports Media Industry-Leadership and Participation Across the Continents. The women sports journalists laid emphasis for more and participation of women sports journalists to bring out incredible stories of women athletes.
The forum also discussed on adapting to new media and role of it and challenges faced by the traditional media in today’s world.
The sporting culture of Hungary is an example for every nation. The craze, the legacy of legend FERENC PUSKAS can only be understood by a football fan or a football crazy nation. My visit to the PUSKAS arena left me awestruck , the beauty of the arena lies in the puskas museum make you feel as if the legend is still among us with all his memories, memorabilias and useful items including a typewriter in display . The arena is large and has every possible facilities for football fans. The arena is getting ready for the Champions League final to be held in May 2026.
My visits to National Olympic Committee headquarters and University of Sports Science were very enriching for me as a sports journalists. the official visits to these places made me realise how much the Hungarians loves their sport and respect their legends. This is something which I am taking back home. A visit to Hungary will make you understand what sports means to the Hungarian’s.
The conference gave me an insight of how sports played in these different countries can bring in change in the eco system of global sporting world. For me the greatest learning from this trip to Budapest, Hungary was that sports knows no boundary and it knows the language of friendship, camaraderie and sporting spirit. Women Sports Journalists are looking for change in the industry. More sports stories of women athletes should be published/broadcasted in media. Olympics saw the participation of 50-50 men and women athlete so why not in the media industry? There is a need for more women sports journalists in power in decision making capacity. My fellow collegues from Algeria, Taiwan, Azarbaizan, Panama, Colombia and Slovakia opined the need for more such conferences to bulid on sporting cultures. India is gearing up to host Summer Games in 2036 and its Olympians are looking forward to this event be a catalyst for change. Let sports bring in world peace.
Next time if you are planning to visit Hungary do take a look around the University of Sports Science where future champions are in a taking shape.