Global Fútbol

To boost Africa’s growing love of football internationally, LaLiga has partnered with the Turkish Red Crescent to create a mini football pitch at the Roosevelt Kindergarten in Dakar, Senegal, which will function as an immersive football environment and education centre for local children. 

The project has been designed to give youngsters between the ages of three and six a positive experience through combining football, play, and education. Leading the activities will be a professional youth football coach and local teachers, who will work with tailored and personalised courses for the children both on and off the pitch.

Having created hundreds of similar projects around the world, LaLiga and its Foundation are committed to transmitting the positive values of football, teaching how teamwork, respect or fair play can be applied in wider society. 

As well as helping to develop talented new players, this work is creating a legacy in communities worldwide and making a positive impact on the lives of children through both sport and education.

Similar LaLiga initiatives already underway include the socio-educational project at the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan or its partnership with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation in India.

“I believe that such a valuable partnership between LaLiga and the Turkish Red Crescent shows that no matter what field we work in we can collaborate to create good and to help people,” commented Abdullah Kaya, Turkish Red Crescent country representative. “This project will provide the children of Roosevelt Kindergarten with a healthier environment in which to practice football, the sport they love, and thus give them the chance to grow up as healthy individuals, remembering what their elders did for them and do the same for their children. I really am proud with our work and hope this collaboration will extend to as many children as possible.”

“It is extremely important to give back to the community and do it in such a way that will benefit many children for years to come,” added Ramata Thiam Diaw, LaLiga delegate in Senegal. “This project will do exactly that. LaLiga will bring joy to the children at Roosevelt Kindergarten and instil the positive values of football. “As football continues to grow, we want to see more children playing and learning about the sport.”