Adrian Socaciu

Adrian is a visionary and sports entrepreneur with an unrelenting passion to help each person discover the champion within themselves.

He is a graduate of the Polytechnic University Timișoara with a degree in construction engineering. For 17 years, he has been dedicated to building a sports ecosystem designed to promote performance and access to sports for everybody.

During his university years, he served as vice chairman of the National Alliance of Romanian Student Organizations (ANOSR).

Between 2011 and 2015, he created a university sports system including sixty eight higher education institutions and actively involving 10,000 athletes.

In 2015, he generated the „Summer Universiade 2021”  concept and advocated internationally for Romania as the host country. The concept was recognized and announced officially by the Romanian presidency as a national flagship project.

In 2016, he was recognized by Forbes with the „30 under 30” award.

One year later, he founded the Romanian Sports Institute (ISR), a non-profit organization serving as a hub and resource for stakeholders in the development of sports policy.

He served in senior advisory positions for the minister of sports and for the committee of sports and youth of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies.

Adrian spearheaded and advocated for a bill aimed at recognizing e-sports as a sport and contributed to the effort of including e-sports under the olympic umbrella. He was instrumental in bringing the World Esports Championship to the city of Iași, in Romania (2023), from his capacity as advisor of the International Esports Federation (IESF).

In cooperation with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) and the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee (COSR), he took action to promote awareness and generate policy initiatives in the field of sports diplomacy.