French football club Paris Saint-Germain has announced the launch of a PSG Academy in Kazakhstan. The first training center will open in the capital in September 2026 and will be able to accommodate about 300 young footballers in its debut season. Kazakhstan will become the 24th country to host the Parisian club's international academy network, according to infohub.kz.
Training sessions will be held at the indoor sports complex Air Arena, which features a football pitch meeting FIFA standards. This will allow year-round training regardless of weather conditions.
The program is designed for boys and girls aged 6 to 14. Players will be divided into groups based on age and skill level. All sessions will follow the official PSG Academy methodology, which is based on the French club's youth system approaches. The focus is on technique, game understanding, and decision-making. Kazakh coaches will undergo special training and receive ongoing methodological support from PSG technical specialists in Paris.
The founder of PSG Academy Kazakhstan is entrepreneur Almaz Alsenov. According to him, the project aims to boost youth football development in the country. "We are proud to open PSG Academy in Kazakhstan and provide young players with access to a world-class training methodology and football philosophy. Through this partnership, we want to contribute to the long-term development of youth football in Kazakhstan by creating an environment where children can grow as athletes and individuals," Alsenov said.
Astana will be the first city for the project, but PSG has already announced plans to expand the academy network to other regions of Kazakhstan. The goal is to make the program more accessible to a larger number of young footballers. PSG's Director of Diversification and Head of the Chief Commercial Officer's Office, Nadia Benmokhtar, noted that the academy's arrival in Kazakhstan is part of the French club's international strategy. "The opening of PSG Academy in Kazakhstan reflects the club's commitment to spreading its knowledge and values far beyond Paris. The new academy in Astana is another important step in creating a global network that will allow thousands of young players worldwide to learn football to PSG's high standards," Benmokhtar said.
PSG Academy was founded in 2005. The international network now includes over 200 training centers in 24 countries, with more than 50,000 young footballers training annually.