‘LaLiga Playing a Key Role in the Growth of Football’
In a bid to promote the development of
football, both locally and globally, LaLiga oversees training
programmes, value-enhancing initiatives and has signed numerous
agreements with international organisations.
Speaking at an interactive session in
Lagos thursday, Managing Director LaLiga Nigeria, Javier Del Rio,
stressed that these efforts are all part of the institution’s quest to
ensure that the experience garnered throughout the history of the
Spanish league serves to assist the growth of the game and its values
across the globe
The LaLiga clubs are also heavily
involved in this mission, running various strategic projects and signing
international agreements, whilst also opening academies and sporting
schools throughout the world. The Barcelona Academy in Lagos with over
300 youth players is one of such,” he noted.
For almost three seasons now, LaLiga
entered into a partnership with the Nigerian Professional Football
League (NPFL) that allows both Nigerian clubs have insight into the
management of the successful Spanish club’s.
Nigeria’s U-15 youth team has also benefited from regular the partnership same as the women’s league, the NWFL.
Del Rio also stressed that Spanish
football’s governing body and its clubs aim to develop the local game
internationally, while working to become the second most popular
competition in each country, behind the respective domestic leagues.
“This operation is based around the
following four lines of action: institutional relations, the training of
players and coaches, protecting the integrity of the game and social
responsibility.
“In terms of institutional relations,
LaLiga has secured over 30 agreements with federations, leagues and
other institutions in countries including the United States, Argentina,
Portugal, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand and Japan.
“These partnerships enable the
organisation to explore potential cooperation schemes and projects
involving the sharing of knowledge and ideas,” he emphasised.
One area in which this knowledge sharing
is seen is in the second line of action: the training of players and
coaches. Through its network of expert coaches, LaLiga has rolled out
projects in more than 30 countries, where nearly 10,000 coaches and over
120,000 players have benefited from training on the LaLiga methodology,
which combines on-field work at all levels with instruction on respect
and the values of fair play.
The aforementioned values are also
evident in LaLiga’s day-to-day work, with the organisation’s foundation
leading projects including LaLiga Santander Genuine, Future Fans (Futura
Aficion) and the Fair Play Social scheme, all of which seek to repay
society for part of all that it has given LaLiga.
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