UAE club Al Ahli confirmed a partnership with La Liga, the first agreement between the Spanish top flight and a club outside the country, according to John McAuley of THE NATIONAL. Al Ahli, which currently leads the Arabian Gulf League, announced a two-year deal on Monday at La Liga’s HQ in Madrid, with the collaboration "primarily a knowledge-sharing exercise between the respective parties." It will begin "in earnest" in May, with a series of workshops taking place monthly or bimonthly, "with some open to other clubs and those involved in football within the UAE." At present, the agreement does not facilitate friendlies between Al Ahli and Spain’s top-tier clubs, but will involve Ahli’s academy sides competing in tournaments organized worldwide by La Liga. Ahli Chair Abdullah Al Naboodah said, "Our idea is to improve ourselves. We want to see a lot of improvement in many ways, whether it’s the management side, facilities side, game-day management" (THE NATIONAL, 3/21).
NEW PROJECT: La Liga, in collaboration with Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD), kicked off a project aimed at highlighting the work of Spanish sport through digital content. The webpage www.laliga4sports.es will offer in-depth coverage of the multiple disciplines encompassed in the sports federations and will include interviews, reports and unique content so that fans can follow national and int'l competitions (La Liga).
