Real Madrid and FC Barcelona build football schools in Morocco

22/01/2009

Prestigious Spanish football clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid opened two new football schools in Morocco, with more planned for the future.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 22/01/09

[Getty Images] FC Barcelona President Juan Laporta opened a new football school in Tangier last week.

Spain's Real Madrid and FC Barcelona opened two sports centres in Morocco last week as a way for sports to integrate poor neighbourhood youths and keep them away from delinquency.

On Friday (January 16th), FC Barcelona President Juan Laporta inaugurated the Solidarity Centre for Education and Sports. Several organisations worked together to establish the Centre, such as the Catalan Association of Co-operation for Development, the Iberostar Foundation, the Spanish Aid Agency, as well as locals from the Beni Makada neighbourhood in Tangier. The Moroccan Ministry of Education donated the land on which the complex was built.

The Centre, which is affiliated with the Barca Foundation, aims at providing sports training and school support for 300 children from six schools in the area. The Centre will host poor students from the neighbourhood between 8 and 16 years of age. The Centre includes a 2,000 square-metre multi-disciplinary sports area, two classrooms, a computer room, workshop areas, and a theatre room. The building also houses locker rooms and restroom accommodations.

"In addition to its social activities," Laporta said during the opening ceremony, "the Centre aims at disseminating civil values, tolerance and social cohesion."

Laporta also undertook to establish another centre in the city of Tetouan, near Tangier.

Another famed Spanish football team, Real Madrid, opened the Moroccan-Spanish Sports School for Social Integration in Rabat last Wednesday (January 14th). The school, located in the Yacoub El Mansour neighbourhood, was built thanks to co-operation between the Real Madrid Foundation and the Spanish Society for Social Action for Rabat and Kenitra.

The school began operations immediately, opening its doors free of charge for children aged 9 to 15 years. The pupils will be trained by a team of three Moroccan trainers, and will have access to a doctor and a social worker.

The Real Madrid Foundation will regularly provide sports and media tools, and will place teachers at the disposal of the school for the learning of the Spanish language.

"This first-of-its-type step is part of the national initiative for human development," school director Salah Edine Ayoubi stated to the press. "The main goal of the school is to provide poor neighbourhood children with a space to practice sports, and thus give them an opportunity for integration in their social setting."

Officials from the Moroccan-Spanish Sports School for Social Integration admitted 60 boys and 24 girls. Their search for talented children among the different schools of the Yacoub El Mansour neighbourhood began in October 2008. Officials plan to increase the number of beneficiaries to 300 students this year.

Teresa Mogin Barquin, President of the Real Madrid Foundation, said, "This project came to light following major co-operation by the Moroccan Sports and Youth Minister who provided the necessary infrastructure. It was also done through financial support from the Spanish Agency for International Co-operation."

"In addition to its technical and educational support for the school, the Foundation will organise trips to Spain for the students to visit the sports infrastructure there and to meet with the players of the Spanish capital team," she added. Barquin also said that her Foundation would later build a similar school in the city of Tangier.

The sports training in the Real Madrid School will start with football, but other sports, such as basketball and athletics, will soon be added.

Youssef, a child from Tangier who hopes to join the Barcelona Centre, told Magharebia, "I would like to join the Centre because I don't have the financial means. Although I'm a fan of Barcelona, I would love to join these Centres, even if they are affiliated with Real Madrid."