Madrid, Sep 19 (EFE).- Atletico de Madrid signed an agreement on Thursday to open a soccer academy in Kazakhstan, specifically in Talgar (Almaty), in the fall of 2025 and to provide “strategic support and advanced methods of soccer training” for at least ten years.

Present at the signing were Atlético's CEO, Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, the Kazakh Ambassador to Spain, Danat Mussayev, and representatives of the two Kazakh entities involved in the agreement, Doscar Group and Sport Asset Management.

SHOT LIST: SOUND BITES OF KAZAKH AMBASSADOR TO SPAIN DANAT MUSSAYEV AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE ATLÉTICO DE MADRID ACADEMY, EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ.

FOOTAGE OF THE THE KAZAKH DELEGATION AT THE ATLETICO DE MADRID HEAD OFFICE.

Danat Mussayev “Almost a year ago this project started with great enthusiasm from Kazakh society towards Spanish soccer and as there was a big demand and a private initiative of Kazakh companies that were interested in the academy. We were able to contact Club Atlético Madrid to address the issue of opening an academy of Atlético de Madrid in Kazakhstan. And today we were able to sign the contract for the opening.”

Danat Mussayev “Everyone, both from the Spanish and Kazakh sides, is looking forward to this as soon as possible. We have already talked recently about the plans, about the construction plans, because the plans are very ambitious and surely this academy is going to be an important center not only for our country, but also for Central Asia, but also not only for Central Asia, we hope that it will be an attractive center for the whole Eurasian region.”

Danat Mussayev “We hope to get the methodology, all the advanced technologies, if you could say like that, in the field of soccer, which could, of course, help the development not only of an academy itself, but also for all of soccer in our country.”

Emilio Gutiérrez “We at the academy, beyond training players and working in a process of developing players to reach professional soccer and the first team, we also have an aspect that through the academy we try to introduce our brand in many other countries. When we use our brand to enter another country, we are very aware that our resources are limited and that we have to look for the best possible place to develop.”

Emilio Gutiérrez “And here in Kazakhstan, through the Kazakh ambassador to in Spain, Danat (Mussayev), presented us with the opportunity to link up with a strategic partner and with a country. In the end we have had a strategic consultancy agreement for the country to try to transform the soccer model within the country and this is going to lead to a series of actions, among them that young people from Kazakhstan will be able to train with us, and young people from here will also be able to live the experience of Kazakhstan.”

Emilio Gutiérrez “The idea is to replicate something similar to what we have in the sports city of Alcalá de Henares. In fact, it will have more or less a similar number of fields and I think we can have more than 1,000 children linked to training in that place. Where we have a presence through soccer, the number of followers through the club's social networks increases quite a lot, as they are linked to us. Coincidentally, those countries where we develop this brand are where we have more followers in social networks.”