Spanish football's governing body and the Chinese Football Association (CFA) have opened a Permanent Training Centre in Santo Domingo, Madrid, where CFA men's and women's teams will take part in football training, educational and cultural programmes.
30 November 2018.- LaLiga and the Chinese Football Association have officially unveiled the Permanent Training Centre that the two institutions, along with the collaboration of the Madrid Football Federation (RFFM), have launched in Santo Domingo, Madrid. The facility is set to host training programmes to be received by CFA youth-team players and coaches.
The key aspects of the project, which represents a landmark in the relationship between LaLiga and the Asian country, were presented during an opening ceremony attended by representatives from LaLiga, the CFA, the RFFM, España Global (Spain Global) and the Chinese amabassador to Spain.
In his address, LaLiga's director of international development, Oscar Mayo, commented, "We believe that football, besides the competitive element, involves a series of values that it's important we all share. That's why this project seeks to bring together on-field training with educational and cultural aspects, so that we're able to offer the young players an all-round education."
The first group of youngsters to participate in the initiative are China's Under-15s, who are competing in a league with RFFM member clubs as a part of their 10-month programme. The Chinese Under-15 women's team and the men's Under-17s are also involved in programmes run at the Permanent Training Centre, with their stays not exceeding a month in length.
Meanwhile, the deputy manager of LaLiga's China office, Zhang Le, declared, "This project represents a forward step and compliments the work being done in China through football camps, collaborations with institutions and other programmes aimed at supporting and promoting the development of youth football in the country."
LaLiga's committment to the Asian nation is nothing new, with several projects having been undertaken in recent years, including the link-up with the China Education Association for International Exchanges (CEAIE). This partnership has seen over 120 LaLiga coaches travel to China to impart their knowledge, whilst almost 500,000 youngsters have benefited from training programmes of varying lengths.
In addition, the summer camps run over the last two years in cities including Shenyang, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai and Qingdao have enabled LaLiga to work with players of all abilities and age groups as coaches introduced the LaLiga methodology and adapted it to the players' needs.
"We hope that all of the experience gained over the last few years in China allows us to develop programmes that are adapted to the profiles of the young Chinese children who train with us. We're confident that this Permanent Training Centre will prove to be a fine reflexion of all of our preliminary work", stated LaLiga's country manager for China, Sergi Torrents.
About LaLiga
Founded in 1984, LaLiga is a sports association comprising the 42 teams that make up the first and second divisions of professional football in Spain. LaLiga, based in Madrid, is responsible for the LaLiga Santander and LaLiga 1|2|3 leagues and the television production, which in the 2016/2017 season reached more than 2.5 billion people globally. The association also has an active foundation and is the world's first professional football league with a league for intellectually challenged footballers: LaLiga Genuine.