With the enthusiasm of sports fans, and the interaction of Media students at the University of Sciences and Arts in Lebanon (USAL), the “Specialized Journalism” course, supervised by Dr. Hawraa Houmani, hosted sports journalist, and beIN Sports TV correspondent in Italy, Hussein Yassin, who shared his experience in the related domain with the students.

Based in Italy, Yassin met with the students and answered their questions about the sports journalism based on his long journey in this domain between Lebanon and abroad.

Uncovering the secret behind his success, Yassin said it is his passion about sports, specially football, that made him in the place he has finally reached, not to mention the continued self-development, atop of which is modesty and loving to make progress.

He also told them about the importance of objectivity and non-alignment in sports coverage, in addition to the field coverage that varies between what is already prepared and what happens on the ground.

When asked about the obstacles he had faced, and the ways he managed to overcome them while being abroad, Yassin told the students that getting involved in the media domain at an early age, and studying the Italian language in Lebanon for four years, paved the way for his ‘dream’ of covering the Italian League coming true. Yassin stressed that the efforts and fatigue spent in the way for fulfilling the dreams are essential, attributing this to switching from a fan who only wishes to watch football matches clearly on the TV screen at his home in Lebanon, to an international correspondent who closely covers the event.

With respect to building his network of contacts and sources in the football world, Yassin told the students about his personal relationship with Egyptian football player Mohammed Salah given the Arab background of both of them. Additionally, he didn’t conceal his first enthusiasm to meeting famous players for the first time such as Maradona and Ronaldo. Yassin explained that the correspondent shouldn’t be satisfied with the major and the first line’s most famous sources, but to rather consider every person a possible source for a serious correspondent.

The students, for their part, seized the opportunity to discuss the reality of the Italian football game and the reasons behind its weakness in the past years. They also asked the guest his opinion about the VAR technology and the necessity to make it more advanced.