Aspire Academy welcomes Iranian, Greek and Serbian football association presidents

Aspire Academy recently welcomed the presidents of the Hellenic FootballFederation (HFF), Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI),and the Football Association of Serbia at its facilities last week.Evangelos Grammenos of HFF, Mehdi Taj of FFIRI and Slavisa Kokeza ofFootball Association of Serbia were all praise for the facility.Aspire Academy director general Ivan Bravo, Director of FootballPerformance and Science, Valter Di Salvo, and Director of Sport andStrategy, Markus Egger, welcomed each delegation and accompanied them onguided tours of Aspire Academy’s facilities, including a sneak peek ofthe Academy’s new Football Performance building, which is still underconstruction. The FFIRI president was also accompanied by hispredecessor Ali Kafashian.“I have been very impressed by what is going on at this marvelloussports development institution. The possibilities that Aspire offers tothe current and future generation of Qatari athletes is excellent. Theseworld class facilities, combined with the right vision for theeducation and nurturing of sports talent in the country, will leave alasting legacy for Qatar. Qatar should indeed be proud of AspireAcademy,” Taj said.Speaking about the Academy’s philosophy and how it all works inconjunction with the Qatari national sports federations andassociations, Grammenos said, “It is quite evident that this country hasa vision and well-thought-out plans about sport development. l firmlybelieve that it will reach its objectives in the years to come. AspireAcademy is really impressive and has embarked on a good sportsdevelopment philosophy which is backed up by world class facilities.Sport in Qatar, particularly football, has a bright future ahead andAspire Academy has a major role to play to help the country achieve itssporting ambitions.”Grammenos also visited Aspetar, the world’s leading specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital in Qatar.Kokeza, who was accompanied by the Football Association of Serbia’sSport Director, Goran Bunjevcevic, added: “Aspire Academy and itsoperations are a benchmark for anyone who wants to develop sport. Wehope that Serbia and Qatar continue to work together for the mutualbenefit of sports development in both countries.“We can exchange notes on youth coaching and development methods aswe’ve both scored some successes in this area, given that our U-20national team were winners of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in NewZealand and Qatar’s won the 2014 AFC U-19 Championships. I am sure evenour coaching programmes can build on each other’s experiences andstrengths. Judging from the efforts that l see here at Aspire Academy, Iam sure that Qatar will put together a competitive team in 2022, onethat will represent the country well at the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.”