Area: Sports Alliance

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Sevilla FC welcomes Fernando Valera, coach of Bengaluru United

The partnership between Sevilla FC and Bengaluru United continues to thrive following an agreement signed between the two clubs in 2021. Last week, the Indian club’s coach, Fernando Varela, visited the city to learn about the structure and philosophy at Sevilla Fútbol Club, in accordance with the agreement signed three years ago by both clubs. 

Varela, an Argentine coach with extensive experience in Indian football, held several meetings to learn about the club’s sporting approach, from the first team to the youth academy. Accompanied by the club’s head of Research and Development, José María Cruz Gallardo, and his team, the Bengaluru United coach received in-depth and specialist training during his visit. 

In addition, Varela was invited to attend various training sessions of the men’s and women’s first teams, where he was able to exchange thoughts with head coaches Quique Sánchez Flores and Cristian Toro, as well as with the captains, Jesús Navas and Sergio Ramos, and the director of women’s football, Amparo Gutiérrez. He also had the opportunity to learn about the work of the youth teams, enjoying a meeting with Jesús Galván, head coach of Sevilla Atlético. 

Varela was very satisfied with what he viewed as a fruitful exchange of knowledge during this visit: “Many things have influenced me as a coach. I pay a lot of attention to the personality of people, that’s what makes the difference when it comes to the evolution of a club. It’s not just a badge on a shirt, it’s the people behind the club who allow progress to take place. I’m very grateful to have been able to attend the first team training sessions and meet everyone. They’ve treated me very well. Conversations with Quique Sánchez Flores and players like Sergio Ramos and Marcos Acuña were fascinating.”

The Bengaluru United coach also took the opportunity to explain a little more about his club: “Five years ago we embarked on our mission to try to reach the Super League. We are at the top of the table and we are firmly focused on that goal. For us, this partnership shows a commitment to transmit what Sevilla Fútbol Club means worldwide.”

For his part, Varela also highlighted the reputation of Sevilla FC in India, a key strategic market in the club’s process of international expansion.

“It’s been a couple of seasons since the creation of this relationship between Bengaluru and Sevilla. For us it demonstrates what Sevilla means worldwide. It helps us have a stronger identity and a reference-point for Indian football. The reputation of Sevilla FC extends beyond this partnership with Bengaluru, it is known all over the world. Having relationships with international clubs is very important. English teams like Tottenham Hotspur have also come to India and it is positive that clubs like Sevilla want to be part of what we’re doing here.”

In fact, Varela emphasised that football in India is experiencing exponential growth: “There is an evolution going on. There is a long-term objective and the vision is to try to qualify for the 2047 World Cup. They are promoting football through the national team but have a long way to go to reach the level of cricket as, along with Australia, they are the strongest country in the world in that sport. New rules are being brought in to increase the number of teams in the Super League and develop Indian football.”

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Sevilla FC strengthens its ties with Saudi football

We were able to experience the nature of football in Saudi Arabia first hand by visiting the country during the LALIGA FC Futures tournament last week. Held at the Mahd Academy, our Under-14s A Team performed brilliantly, finishing runners-up.

The visit was used to create strategic relationships with football clubs and institutions in the country. The club took full advantage of the LALIGA FC Futures tournament being held in the country to organise meetings with local clubs and institutions.

In addition, in line with our educational philosophy, our representatives were able to present our Innovation Center projects to Dr. Yahya Alsharif from the King Saud University. With the possibility of holding joint studies in mind, the differences between young players’ development in Saudi Arabia and Spain were discussed and evaluated.

We previously visited Saudi Arabia back in December 2023 to take part in the World Football Summit. On that occasion, Jesús Arroyo, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, and Elías Zamora, Chief Data Officer, travelled to Jeddah to represent the club. They spoke about our successes with technological innovation and discussed the Innovation Center’s goal to share our knowledge and experience to educate clubs and institutions around the world. 

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Sevilla FC strengthens its relationship with institutions and the world of football in Morocco

Sevilla Football Club continues to strengthen its ties with Morocco. The first vice president, José Castro, has visited the country this week, taking advantage of the participation of one of our youth teams in the AMF Tournament Sub-19 organized by the Mohammed VI Football Academy. The club has sought to delve deeper into the local football scene, which in recent years has forged strong emotional ties due to the sporting successes achieved at our club by players like Youssef En-Nesyri, Yassine Bono, and Munir El-Haddadi.

The visit has served to consolidate the relationship with this neighboring country through a meeting with the president of Union Sportive Yacoub El Mansour, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid. The vice president also held a meeting with his counterpart from Sporting Club Casablanca, Amine Benjelloun, the recent runner-up of the CAF Women’s Champions League, and discussions began on the possibility of a friendly match between our women’s first teams. Additionally, a visit was made to Mohammed V University in Rabat. In all these meetings, possible lines of collaboration between Sevilla and Morocco in various fields were outlined.

Furthermore, Sevilla has also been able to firsthand experience the facilities of the Football Academy and the Mohammed VI residence where the AMF Tournament Sub-19 was held, which has become a High-Performance Center for player development. It’s worth noting that Youssef En-Nesyri, who lends his name to one of the football fields in this complex, took his first sporting steps here. The presence of Sevilla FC has generated significant media coverage in the country, where various media outlets are covering the development of the Sub-19 Tournament, which is being broadcast on the public television channel STNR. STNR has also produced a report on the connections and common projects of the club with Morocco. In fact, Sevilla is increasingly gaining a larger group of supporters in the country, with almost 1.3 million Moroccan followers across our various social media profiles.

In purely sporting terms, Sevilla’s youth team B had a notable participation in the AMF Tournament Sub-19, reaching the semifinals where only penalties against Ajax prevented them from reaching the final. Previously, they had defeated Aspire Academy from Qatar, Liverpool in the group stage, and RC Strasbourg in the quarterfinals.