President Joan Laporta reinforces the global strategy of the FCB Academy with his visit to Azerbaijan and advances talks for a future academy in the country
On March 1, the president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, traveled to Azerbaijan to advance talks for the creation of a future FCB Academy in the country.
Although the final agreement has not yet been signed, it is expected to be formalized in the coming weeks. This initiative is part of the sustained growth strategy of the Barça Academy project, which in the last four years has experienced significant recovery and expansion after the pandemic.
A consolidated expansion strategy
Currently, FC Barcelona has 30 international academies and develops more than 200 campuses and 100 clinics per season, in addition to three international tournaments per year. In recent years, around twenty new countries have joined the project, bringing the FCB Academy to 54 countries.
Key regions such as North America, Europe, the Middle East and East Asia have been the epicenter of this expansion, consolidating successful academies such as New York, Miami, Zurich, Istanbul, Fukuoka and Singapore, the latter the largest with almost 1500 players.
The election of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan has been selected for its growing commitment to sport as a national development strategy. In recent years, the country has organized large scale sporting events and has boosted the growth of soccer. The future opening of the Barça Academy Azerbaijan will aim to implement the club's methodology and contribute to the development of grassroots football in the country, once the final agreements are closed.
During her visit, Joan Laporta met with the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, who reaffirmed the government's support for the country's sports development. At the meeting, the importance of this collaboration was highlighted to promote the training of young soccer players and to consolidate Azerbaijan as a leading sports center in the region.
A training model adapted to the territory
The methodology of the FCB Academy Azerbaijan will follow the principles of Barça: a style of play based on proactivity, responsibility, commitment, collectivity and resilience. The objective is to transmit the club's core values: humility, effort, ambition, respect and teamwork.
The project will have a local project manager sent by FC Barcelona, who will train local coaches to ensure the correct application of the club's methodology. The integration of the country's coaches into Barça's training model will contribute to the development of grassroots football and the improvement of the local sports structure.
Players trained at the FCB Academy who have made the leap to professional football
There are currently more than 70 players who have been part of the project and who are currently professionals in the first or second division around the world.
In addition, more than 130 former players have been international with their respective teams, 17 of which with the senior national teams.
Objectives and prospects for the future
The main objective of the new FCB Academy in Azerbaijan is to contribute to the growth of local football, offering young players a high-level training model and encouraging their sporting and personal development. In the short term, the priority will be to attract and develop local talent, while in the long term, work will be done to create opportunities for sports growth for academically trained players.
