Global Fútbol

Green and white have long been two of the most common colours in Algerian football and now Real Betis are bringing their own green and white kits to the North African country. The LaLiga Santander club have set up the Betis Academy Algeria in Dely Ibrahim, working with United Football Academy to establish a centre that can host around 300 youngsters between the ages of five and 16.

Real Betis is a popular club in Algeria, as it currently boasts the Fekir brothers, Nabil and Yassin (now at Betis Deportivo, the green-and-white subsidiary), who are of Algerian descent. It therefore made perfect sense for the Spanish club to continue its international expansion with a football centre in the outskirts of Algiers.

As Ramón Alarcón, the General Director of Business at Real Betis, outlined: “We won’t rule out any market, whenever the opportunity makes sense. In recent seasons, the club carried out various international communication projects that have helped boost our visibility. A mix of many factors has increased the interest in working with Real Betis in different markets, such as the Algerian market.”

Before opening the academy in Algeria in September of 2021, Real Betis had also set up academies or campuses in Zimbabwe, Iraq, USA, Mexico, Morocco and China. This is in addition to the work the club’s charitable foundation carries out in the city of Seville and across the autonomous community of Andalusia.

This international expansion achieves multiple important objectives. Firstly, Real Betis can help develop the sport and provide opportunities for children in different communities, teaching them the club’s sporting values and improving their football skills through the successful coaching methodology of the Real Betis academy. Secondly, the club can establish links with new fanbases and make connections with potential commercial partners.

On the club’s international expansion goals, Alarcón explained: “Our main objective is to help bring the values and methodology of the club to locations all around the world with these projects. We think this is a good way to reach young people, and sometimes not-so-young people, as well as brands and other stakeholders in the sector who are primarily interested in LaLiga and the Premier League. We can show them that Real Betis isn’t a club that limits its presence to Spain. Of course, we’re going to keep working along the same lines into the future.”

Discussing some of the other international projects that Real Betis launched before this one in Algeria, Alarcón continued: “We treat all of the projects the same, no matter which market they are developed in. It’s true that in markets like Mexico or Chile we have a greater presence because of having had first-team players from these countries. On the other hand, we also work in countries like Zimbabwe, where Real Betis haven’t had many historical links or players from that country. But, thanks to the good work of the academy, we have been able to establish various commercial deals or a collaboration with a leading club.”

The latest LaLiga project in North Africa

The opening of Real Betis’ academy in Algeria is simply the latest project in North Africa involving a Spanish club or LaLiga. RCD Espanyol have also established a football school in Algeria, in their case in Tizi Ouzou. Plus, there have also been projects in neighbouring countries, with Real Betis even setting up a technical campus in the Moroccan city of Fez.

LaLiga has made connections with communities in North Africa too, for example with a project in the Moroccan city of Tetouan that worked with the Cervantes Institute to combine football coaching with Spanish lessons for local boys and girls.

Those in charge at Real Betis are clear that growing beyond Spain’s borders is important and that it’s hugely beneficial to build connections in places such as Dely Ibrahim. As Juan Parra, the Director of Sporting Projects for Real Betis’ charitable foundation, concluded: “Projects such as this one in Dely Ibrahim demonstrate that Real Betis and its foundation are working hard so that as many youngsters as possible around the world can enjoy Real Betis, football and the sport’s values.”