03 Dec 2012
?Tuesday, November 20, 2012, Zurich, Switzerland: The Qatar based, Aspire Academy showcased its philosophy and mission to the international world of football last week at the International Football Arena (IFA) conference in Zurich, Switzerland. A gathering of the leaders of world football were introduced to the sporting revolution that is sweeping Qatar, and the wider world of international football.
A key strategic sponsor partner of the IFA, the Aspire Academy showcased the work it is doing at the heart of Qatar’s sporting program. Ivan Bravo, Director General of the Aspire Academy, and Markus Egger, Director of Strategic Projects, presented the Aspire Academy in a dedicated session that captured the interest and imagination of the world’s football community.
The presentation demonstrated how the Academy is working to build human capacities at all levels in Qatar to create competitive international athletes via structured and sustainable development pathways, training programs and community engagement initiatives like Aspire ACTIVE; Aspire Multisport Skill Development Program; and Aspire Football Dreams. The presentation showed how the Academy program is benefiting other countries across the region with the development of international players in an inclusive program.
IFA Chairman, Marcel Schmid, said: “The Aspire Academy presentation has really opened the eyes of the world football community this week to what is being done in this very important country in world football. It is clear that the Academy is a key component of the growing and important leadership role that Qatar has established in such a short period of time. It is a tremendous initiative and really quite inspirational and exciting, not just for Qatar but also for the region and the opportunity it shows the rest of us in world football.”
Already the Aspire Academy has successfully graduated 153 athletes to Qatar’s junior and senior national teams since 2008.Ivan Bravo, Aspire Academy Director General, said: “This was an opportunity to share our projects and progress with a much wider football family. We are very passionate about what we are building but we also understand that it is going to take time.
The Academy is driven to become a world leader and we are already seeing promising signs of success. It is clear that our program is unique in world football and it is encouraging to have such positive endorsement and interest from the global football community and business.”
IFA is an invitation-only conference gathering the leaders of world football to discuss key issues around the sport. It was established for these leaders to meet and share their information and experience as part of a global football community.The Aspire conference session was scheduled alongside an address to the delegates from FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter.