New Moroccan football academy hopes to train future stars

19/05/2008

The first stone was laid last week in the building project of Morocco's new football training facility in Salé. The academy, funded through private contributions and a royal grant, will train aspiring footballers in the skills they need both on and off the pitch.

By Mawassi Lahcen for Magharebia in Casablanca – 19/05/08

[Mawassi Lahcen] Mohammed VI Football Academy Project Manager Nasser Larguet told Magharebia he searched "valleys and difficult neighbourhoods" for students to be sponsored to study and train at the academy.

King Mohammed VI laid the ceremonial foundation last week for a new Moroccan football academy to be built in his name in the city of Salé. The building project spans an 18-hectare site and will include living quarters for trainees and educational and academic facilities, in addition to sports fields and facilities.

Project Manager Nasser Larguet said the academy will be an integrated educational centre for children ranging from 12 to 18 years of age. He noted that the academy features a fully-equipped school to enable children to proceed with their studies up to the baccalaureate level according to a schedule that also accommodates the sports training programme.

"Since I took on the mission in July 2007, I started a tour across the different regions of Morocco," Larguet told Magharebia. "I went to valleys and difficult neighbourhoods in search of young talents who have the necessary qualifications to join the academy," he added.

The school, which will be able to receive up to 60 trainees, offers three academic levels. The first prepares 13 or 14-year olds for the physical and educational demands to come. After succeeding at this level, children pass on to the second and the third. They graduate and are eligible to play as professionals when they are 18 years old.

The academy will also feature a centre to train coaching staff. In addition, a recreational school in the field of football is to be constructed on 3 hectares adjacent to the main academy. It is geared towards younger children from 6 to 12 years.

Larguet, a Moroccan from Taza, was selected for the mission due to his 25 years of professional experience as a manager of French centres specialising in youth football training.

The cost of the project is estimated at 140 million dirhams. It will be completely financed through private sector contributions. The list of major contributors in this project includes Caisse de Dépôts et de Gestion (CDG), ONA Group, Othman Benjelloun Group, Anas Sefrioui Group, and Maroc Telecom. In addition, the Moroccan King dedicated an annual grant from his own money to support the academy.

The Mohammed VI Football Academy project is run by a non-profit organisation consisting of chairmen of the major economic and financial groups contributing to the project. Mohammed Mounir Majidi, special advisor to King Mohammed VI, has been appointed as the Academy's board chairman.

The academy aspires to be a centre that graduates Moroccan football heroes, and to be a model experiment to be copied in other cities across Morocco.