Ornella Desirée Bellia

Ornella Desirée Bellia is a football executive and lawyer, international speaker, and advocate for a more sustainable and conscious vision of success. She currently serves as Director of Professional Football Relations & Development at FIFA. Throughout her career, she has worked at the intersection of sports governance, professional football development and institutional relations on a global scale, collaborating with clubs, leagues, players and industry leaders around the world.

After graduating in Law with top honours, she went on to complete an MBA in Sports Management, a Master’s degree in International Sports Law, as well as executive programmes in leadership and negotiation at Harvard Law School, among others. She speaks several languages and has built her professional career across different countries and cultures, always guided by a deep passion for football and for the people who make the game possible.

Yet behind the professional career, there was also a much deeper and quieter journey unfolding. After facing a serious illness and one of the most challenging periods of her life, Ornella began a profound personal transformation that would completely change the way she understood success, health, leadership and life itself.

Today, her vision seeks to build a bridge between high performance and a more human and conscious way of living and leading. Through her work, talks and projects, she promotes a new paradigm in football and in society, one where purpose and empathy are not seen as weaknesses, and where physical and mental well-being are recognised as the true foundation of sustainable success.

The Game of Life emerges precisely from that perspective. A deeply human and inspiring book where football becomes a metaphor for life, and where every challenge, fall and transformation forms part of a much greater game: learning how to live with consciousness, authenticity and purpose.