Hello and welcome to a special edition of Global Perspectives.

I'm David Dumke.

Late last year I had the opportunity to attend the Bosphorus Summit in Istanbul, Turkey.

The summit offers a platfor for leaders and decision makers from a wide variety of backgrounds to connect and collaborate with the goa of making a positive impact and global challenges in business, politics and culture.

In this three par series, we'll talk with several of the summit participants about the concerns they're addressing worldwide.

Let's start with Alan Cura, CEO of Guardians of the Ball.

Cura's vision is to reshape how soccer is experienced globally bringing it closer to its fans and enhancing user experience through cutting edge technology.

>>So tell us a little about Guardians of the Ball.

>>Yes.

So Guardians of the Ball is an organization that was created in 2023 to cover the niche, which is the intersectio between sports and technology.

And we've been focusing a lot, and we are desperate to provid virtual and digital experience for those fan who don't have the possibility to be physically present to cheer for their beloved teams.

So tell me a little about how this actually works in real time.

So people hear about technology and an increasing fan experience, which is all sound and good but what does that mean in real, real time?

>>Yeah.

So we are workin to improve the match experience so that especially with generations Alpha and Z, they are not consuming sports in a traditional way, they requir more sophisticated experience.

So we are working to create virtual stadiums that can enhance the match experience to drive a better experience before, during and after the match so you can gather with your friends, family members regardless of where you are physically present in order to live, you know whether you normally live in the in the pitch so you can, you know, be happy, cheer for a friend, for a good kick, or be mad.

All those reactions that we experience because at the end of the day, leaving football or any sports, it is social thing.

We're bringing it digitally lived.

>>So to tell u who is using this, the product.

>>Yeah.

So, we are partnering with more than 120 football clubs, national teams, federation competitions from all over the world.

So far our niche is, just football, soccer in North America and among the top ten IP brands.

We were with the Argentina national team, the world champions.

They are also very popular here in the US, have recently opened an AFA academy and have been playing many friendly matches now and getting ready for the World Cup next year, among others.

Now we work with the domestic league in Argentina, which includes the top 30 teams of that country, more than 45 million fans from all over the world.

And then, differen teams in Europe, Southeast Asia, and so I'd say 100% global scope.

>>I understand you recently opened a office in Orlando.

>>Yeah, we did it.

It was a good place.

Close to, where Disney, ESPN are based.

Many, virtual reality companies are staying there.

So, the plan is to get read for, what's happening in North America next year in the context of the FIFA World Cup, where many people would be, you know, traveling there and and also a lot many people woul be not able to, to travel there.

So we are there to bring a bit to what's happening in North America to, every corner of the world.

>>So how fast is your is your business growing?

You're starting with obviously an idea and a concept you have to sell, but then you start getting involved in these different leagues.

>>Yeah.

So it's a good question.

We started with this in 2021, even prior to, to the switch, from Facebook to Meta, basically doing focus groups and understanding the consuming behavior when it comes to sports i the niche of football in Europe.

We are consulting advic on advisory, many competitions.

In the case of UEFA, UEFA but also in the last 2 or 3 years we raised from ten teams to more than 120.

So it's exponentially growing.

>>You mentioned that you'r focused primarily in soccer, but is this applicable for other sports as well and other entertainment?

>>Yeah, 100%.

And the niche of soccer is not it's not enough, right.

It's a big market.

That's why we continue.

There are also the network that we have been developing, allows us to continue growing there, however, what we are currently doing and it's also very applicable to NFL.

We have seen cases, Disney recreating a, an NFL match using Toy Story characters.

Also in NBA.

Right.

Leader companies, that are handling data, improving a lot and muc experience when it comes to NBA applicabl to any vertical of the business.

Even betting, sport bets.

And, and we've been advising other sports like cricket, for instance, which is very popula in Southeast Asia, middle East, and it is - it doesn't - it's not just football it's practically any, any other vertical as well as applicable, not only for sports but any other industry.

So, some of our customers belong to airlines, to, coffee shops, then and gas stations.

So we're creating virtual experiences normally attached to, a virtual stadium.

But to be able to allow those companies to engage with their fan i a virtual environment as well.

>>So there's obviousl a lot of potential for growth.

And you already talked about the growth you've had and, you know, focusing on soccer.

But I can go into a lot of different directions.

How challenging is that though to make sure you stay on top of it technologically so your technology doesn't get dated and you continually improve the product.

>>It's a huge challenge.

But also because we are moving at the same time that the industry has been developed.

So when it comes to virtual experiences, for instance, we are part of the Open Metaverse standard forums, which is in a ver you know, early stage in compare with other, technologies.

I like to explain is that in the adoption curve, we are just the beginning.

So the technology and the hardware needs to, to get more mature so that people can experienc this on a, on day to day basis.

>>So we're talking, in Istanbul at the Bosphorus summit.

So you're obviously have your min on, on many different markets.

And why does it make sense to be in Turkey today?

>>Yeah.

So, Turkey for us is is bit the bridge between, Western civilization and also Middle East and Southeast Asia.

We are, currently operating in the market, which is also it's very strong locally here in Turkey.

There are three, four clubs.

We have millions of supporters.

And they're crazy, many, Turkish fans who live abroad.

That's a good market for us.

But at the same time, we are establishing here, root connections and strong connections in order to reach, in a mature state.

What come next in the Middle East?

So there is big World Cup organized in, in 2034.

In Saudi Arabia.

They are building now.

The stadiums is again perfect opportunity for us to land in that market because also the people who are consuming our services are now growing.

Ten years from now, they will be the ones that will be basically much, assisting in the matches.

>>How is the best way to market this product?

Because obviously I would imagine seeing is believing.

So has it been word of mouth as well as traditional and traditional meetings and kind of kind of thing?

>>Yes, absolutely.

So, today, the main limitation to go, broadly speaking, is that people who are consuming Guardians of the Ball required to have a good gaming computer with GPU power.

However, we are now online to have November, heading to the FIFA World Cup next year.

The prospect, the opportunity for us, the possibility, to connect through mobile phones.

So we are a couple hundred thousand users now and, the expectation is we are able to reach more than 10 million users, active users, by the end of next year.

>>Well thank you for joining us today.

And thank you for explainin this very interesting product.

>>Thank you so much.

It's been a pleasure.

>>Our next guest is Faisal Al-Fayez, President of the Jordanian Senate and former prime minister.

His presentation of this summit addressed a very difficult question.

How can governments coordinate and collaborate toward the seemingly unattainable world peace?

>>So thank you for joining us today.

I appreciate you taking the time to talk.

Yesterday you talked abou some of the changes going on in global affairs and global policy and how you adjust to those.

Can you describe some of those changes and how it's affected Jordan in particular?

>>I think, if you talk in general, I think the major challenge now is world peace.

If you look at the world today, there are wars going on everywhere in Ukraine, in Gaza, Palestine, in, Sudan.

Many civil wars going on in many parts of the world.

And the problem is that, even the governments cannot control this unfortunately, maybe a lot of, there is no coordination between, the governments.

I mean, to stop, these wars or I think, also the role of the United Nations, for example, if you look at The League of Nations at the beginning of the last century it was formed to prevent wars, but it was not successful i preventing the Second World War.

The United Nations was established in 1945 to support us.

You know, after that, the Second World War.

But unfortunately, it could not, it was not successful in keeping world peace.

So the major challenge now is world peace.

But why do we have wars?

This is the question we have to ask.

Wars are always carried out because of, competition over territories, over water resources.

The major the major problem, I mean, or the major reason, our territories, for example, in Ukraine, for example, now they are occupying, parts of the Ukraine because Russia claims that these territories belong to Russia.

If you look at the Palestinian, problem, for example, on the Palestinian issue, it is also over territories, because if you loo at historical Palestine before, it was first under British Mandate, then Israel was established in 1948.

But if you look at, the situation today, in the area of historical Palestine, lives that is Gaza, West Bank, Israel proper, 7.2 million Palestinians and 7 million Israelis.

So without a state solution, how can you, make peace prevail?

Okay.

The Israelis, sa that they have historical rights in Palestine and Netanyahu says he has dream of greater Israel, but also the Arabs hav historical lives in Palestine, and we have a dream also to liberat it from the river Jordan until the sea.

So both have dreams.

But if you take, you know, in today's world, this is not a possible that, you can eliminate Israe or eliminate the Palestinians.

You have to find a solution.

So a two-state solution is the only, I think, solutio now for the Palestinian issue.

Now, 157 states have recognized the state of Palestine at the Genera Assembly of the United Nations.

So the European Union is a state solution.

The majority of the of the world or the countries in the world, they are with, this solution.

So you have two peoples living on the same land.

They have to come, to a middle ground.

And this is the only way out.

So the major challenge now is world peace.

And it's always over territories, over water resources, over, minerals.

It has always been like this for centuries.

So this is the, the major challenge.

I mean there are many other challenges.

And also the major challeng is climate for climate change.

Now, you know, the climate change is affecting many countries.

It is leading even to poverty, which is affecting the water resources.

Rain.

Rain is very important for many countries.

They have to come to the realization that a two stat solution is the only solution.

If you don't want the two state solution, they don't want two state solution.

Now you have 7. million Palestinians living in and and in the area of historical Palestine.

Okay.

If you don't want the two state solution, give them their political rights.

But are they willing to do so?

No, no.

The present Israeli governmen is the most extreme government in the history of Israel.

And to be honest with you, the last historic leader was Yitzhak Rabin.

But unfortunately, he wa assassinated by his own people.

We didn't hav a historical leader since Sobhi.

So you need one.

You need now a historical leader who can take a decision to grant the Palestinians the legitimate rights.

Otherwise, there will never be peace.

You know, the Israelis will never enjoy peace unless there is a solution for the Palestinian problem.

Unless the Palestinian people will have the right to self-determination.

This is the only way out.

>>Jordan has of course, been expressing this to the United States and the world for some time.

King Abdullah has been very vocal on the nee for a natural solution to this.

This problem.

Jordan's committed to this discourse, but you're surrounded by conflict, and you have been now for since the Iraq war, if not before.

This Israeli-Palestinian conflict has gone on for generate for generations-- >>80 years now.

>>Right.

And you have Syria, you have Iraq, you you're surrounded by, you know, in a very tough neighborhood in Jordan.

You know, geopolitically speaking, Jordan is, in a very sensitive area, you know, because we have to deal with, chaos in many countries surrounding Jordan.

But, because we have and they've been leadership, it was leadership.

Hashemite - all the Hashemite Kings, you know, they were wise leaders also.

Now, King was in, in its conclusion, has always advocated for a peaceful solution.

His Majesty King Abdullah has always advocated for a peaceful solution.

But I think the major problem in the Arab world is the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

If this will be solved then I think peace will prevail.

Of course, we have to look also, to other countries, like for example, in Iraq in Syria, in Syria, for example.

Now, okay.

Now, the present regime is recognized by, the whole world now.

But I think he has many problems.

Okay.

Because the, the Syrian, society, hold that the structure of the Syrian society is, is, very complicated.

You know, you have, Shiites, you have Alawites, you have Sunnis, you have Muslims, you have Christians, you have Druze, you.

And so if, for example, the present regime will not be able to bring all these, factions under one umbrella it will be very difficult for, for any, Syrian president, to, to bring peace to Syria because in actual fact, you know, if you look at the Syrian security forces within the Syrian security forces, now, there are extremist elements who has committed atrocities in some parts of Syria.

So I think those have to be, those have to be controlled by by the regime.

I don't know how he's going to make it, but until now, you cannot, for example, make peace with the Druze.

You cannot make peace with the Alawites.

So it's very important for him to bring together all these, all of these segments of the of the Syrian society and, to, have only one, object objective is how to keep, peace in Syria.

But if you cannot do this, I think things will, turn even, more serious, and, it will turn into maybe, chaos, unfortunately.

>>So wha I wanted to ask on that point, you're talking about these conflicts in the region, and we're talking about some o the changes in global reality.

Do you feel that too much emphasis has been put on security in providing weapons systems, for example, specifically in the Middle East region, as opposed to money for economic developmen and other, humanitarian needs?

>>This is a world problem.

I mean, look at the European countries, you know, military expenditure that's coming up, even the United States has asked the Europeans, you know, because of the Ukraine crisis.

Of course.

Now, when you look at the military expenditure, it has reached $2.2 trillion.

And, you know, a fraction of this will be, for example, spent on tackling poverty, world poverty or, giving more economic aid to, underdeveloped countries or developing countries.

So the military expenditure i I mean, who is gaining from this becaus because this will create wars.

The more you you produce weapons, there will be more wars in the in the world.

So I mean, this is this is a major challenge, you know, how are you going to, tackle this problem if you have, wars going on in Ukraine, in Sudan?

But I mean, who is providing these weapons for these factions?

If you look at Sudan, who is providing weapons for both, the army, you know, and, and the, the opposition.

So this is the question.

This is a major question we have to ask ourselves.

Where are we going where it's going with, this is going to take us?

I mean, the military expenditure, the more you have to have military expenditure, the more wars you will have, the less then you will have less wars.

This is the equation I mean.

>>Well, you're talking again about, you know, this there needs to b international consensus on this.

And we started the interview by you talking about the United Nations, what can be done to strengthen United Nations and this-- >>Reform it.

I mean, for example, the veto power.

I think the veto power should be, you know, eliminated, you know, a no, no, no countr can have veto power because if, for example, or the resolution regarding Gaza, the Americans use the veto power, to, to stop any, any, resolution passing through the Unite Nations, the Security Council, you know, today, for example, the Indian ambassador to Turkey, he was saying that the population of, of India is now 1.4 billion.

Okay.

And it is a major power now in the world economy.

It's the fourth largest economy in the world.

And they don't have a seat on the Security Council.

So how can you you know, you imagine this.

You know, because, the United Nations was created in 1945 and many changes are taking place now.

So I think they have to, reform the United Nations to adapt to day to day today's and to to adapt to that, to today's, I mean, what's going on in the world today?

Okay.

>>Jordan, of course, has been a close ally of the United States.

But a lot of what we're talking abou has to do with American policy.

And, of course, as, as we mentioned, King Abdullah has talked to not just President Trump, but he talked to President Biden, President Obama, Presiden Bush before about what's needed in the Middle East.

Is there a frustration in the Middle East region with the Americans not listening to the reality of what's going on?

Of course the other people, for example, you know, because, you know, hatred, always leads to hatred, you know, breeds hatred and violence breeds violence.

So the United State stand strong, stand with Israel is, making the the the other Arabs, you know, I mean, I mean, they don't consider the United States to be their enemy, but, enmity is there, enmity is there.

I don't mean, you know, I don't mean the governments, but I mean the Arab population as a whole.

If, for example, the United States will change its position vis-a-vis Israel, I think maybe the Arabs, we have nothing against the American people, to be honest with you.

You know, the Arab people they love the American people.

The American people are, you know, friendly people.

I've been to the United States, I have met many Americans.

They are, very friendly.

Even not.

But now, I think there is a shift in in in American public opinion.

Now, there is more support for, the Palestinian, I mean, issue.

For example, if you look at the demonstrations, which were carried out in many, America cities in American universities, so even even within the two major parties, Republican and Democratic forces-- >>And the polls show this as well.

So we hope that this will, I think, influence the American administration.

Okay.

To take a more positive steps toward the Palestinians than towards the Israelis.

This is the only way out.

But I mean, you know, I want to to to make sure I know that I sure that you that we don't have anything against the American people.

But, I mean, I mean, again American government against the, the major parties who are supporting Israel.

But there is a shift now, and I hope this will lead to, the, the Arab population to be more friendly towards the United States in the future if they will change their attitud towards the Palestinian issue.

>>If we actually had peace in this region, and Jordan didn' have to be in the neighborhood where there's conflict surrounding it all the time, what would that do for economic and development of, and the human level?

>>You know, our economy has been affected very much by the, instability in the region starting from 2003 with the occupation of Ira by the United States of America.

Then we had the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

And then in 2008, the financial crisis and then the Arab Spring.

I wouldn't call it spring because it's just that, you know, chaos in the Arab world unfortunately.

And then we had, Covid, then we had Ukraine, then we had Gaza.

So, you know, this has very much affecte the economic growth in Jordan.

For example, in in 2003, when I was prime minister, the economic growth was 8.5%, and it was maintained, this percentage until 20, to 2006.

After 2006, then we had a decline.

And now, for example, in Jordan, this year.

But the Jordanian economy is still strong, you know, we have an economic growth of 2.7% taking the, you know, what's going on around us.

This is a very good, I mean, rate what we need to create jobs.

You need over 77%.

So we hope that peace will prevail.

Investments will come in.

And I think the only way out is to create more jobs, is to bring more investment.

But if you look at, you know the the people or the investors, they don't look at, Jorda as a stable and secure country.

They look at the area as a whole.

The two countries who are affected by civil wars, Libya and Sudan.

Okay.

So I think, what we need, is for peace to prevail, to achieve more economic growth.

That's what we need.

But we have been been suffering, you know, since 2003.

>>Right.

>>Yeah.

>>It's been a long ride.

>>Yes, yes.

>>Well, thank yo for taking time to talk to us.

And, your long service, to Jordan.

It's it's a real honor.

>>Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Sir.

>>Join us next week for part two of my discussions from Istanbul, when we'll sit down with the founder and chairman of the Bosphorus Summit, Cengiz Ozgencil.

Until then, thank you for joining us here on Global Perspectives.