03 Dec 2015
Leon, Spain, 3 December 2015. Aspire Zone Foundation today announced the completion of the takeover of Spanish football club Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa through the Aspire Academy. Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, which currently plays in the country's second division, becomes the latest professional football club to be backed by Qatar's national sports academy.
The development provides an opportunity for the Academy's players to gain professional experience playing abroad and exposure to European standards of football. A select few players from the Qatar Olympic national team already play professionally in Spain and also in Belgium, where Aspire owns and manages KAS Eupen which plays in the country's second division. Providing opportunities to players to develop their talents in new footballing environments is an important part of Aspire Academy's mission to become one of the world's best football development programmes.
Ivan Bravo, Aspire Academy Director General commented: "We have been looking into an opportunity to enter Spanish football for some time. The right venture presented itself in Cultural where the vision, the values, the infrastructure and the public support of, and around, the club aligned well with our ambitions towards professional football. It is our conviction that young players 18-23 who have the potential to represent different national teams at a World Cup need to consistently play professionally in the right environment to finish their development. Spain's second division in general and Cultural specifically represent the right fit for our philosophy".