PSG to open 6 football schools in Turkey

The French powerhouse want to increase the number of their football academies in Turkey.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) Football Club and the Football Union Company have announced that they are planning to open six more football schools across Turkey in 2019 with a 5 million Turkish lira (€842,000) investment.

The Ligue 1 champions opened their 15th school in Istanbul earlier this year on May 26 2018 and aims to open six more next year with the goal of reaching 3,500 students in 10 cities.

The schools aim to train football players for PSG’s youth setup, as well as to set a model for Turkish teams.

Speaking about the schools, PSG Soccer School Turkey founder Nihat Ugurlu said; “We currently provide training for 350 students. We aim to increase this number up to 450 by the end of the year. There is a worldwide famous giant behind our school which we opened as the first step as part of a 10 million Turkish lira (TL) investment, and there will be new investments in Turkey as well.”

Ugurlu revealed they are planning to focus primarily on the provinces of Izmir, Bursa, Ankara and Antalya.

Young players undergoing training at one of the schools.

The target population of the football schools will be children aged between 4 and 18 years old.

The courses will include English and French language classes as well as personal development classes apart from those related to the sport.

The school provides direct employment opportunities for 500 people, 300 of whom are trainers. It aims to employ 10 personal development experts, 10 dieticians, 20 psychological counselors, 20 sports pedagogues, 300 football coaches and 140 sales experts in 2019.

For more information about the schools, click here.