In September, the official children's academy of the famous French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will start operating in Astana. Kazakhstan has become the 24th country to join the international PSG Academy network, reports infohub.kz.
The academy's first training center will be located at the Air Arena sports complex in the capital. The indoor facility, featuring a full-size FIFA-standard pitch, will allow young athletes to train year-round regardless of weather conditions.
In its inaugural season, the academy plans to welcome around 300 boys and girls aged 6 to 14. Children will be divided into groups by age and skill level, with training conducted according to the official methodology of the Parisian club.
The founder of PSG Academy Kazakhstan is entrepreneur Almaz Alsenov. According to him, the main goal of the academy is to make world-class training accessible and to create conditions for children's athletic and personal development.
The project will also give a strong boost to youth football in Kazakhstan and enhance the qualifications of local coaches. All academy coaches will undergo special training under the PSG Academy program and will receive ongoing methodological support from PSG technical specialists in Paris.
"The main goal of the academy is to make a world-class training system accessible to children and to create conditions for their athletic and personal growth," said Almaz Alsenov, founder of PSG Academy Kazakhstan.
Astana is just the starting point: in the future, the franchise is planned to expand to other regions of Kazakhstan.
Founded in 2005, PSG Academy is now one of the largest football networks in the world. More than 200 training centers operate in 24 countries, where over 50,000 young footballers train annually.