du Football Champions UAE 20 Top Talents Revealed

The du Football Champions, the only international scouting platform in partnership with LaLiga, and home of the UAE Schools & Streets Cup, the nation’s official youth football Cups hosted an event to announce the names of the UAE’s top 20 talents scouted by LaLiga coaches since duFC kickoff in October 2015. 

During the celebration event, it was also announced that the top 20 will take part in an exclusive month-long training session led by LaLiga coaches next month.  The outcome of this intensive coaching session will also determine the final list of UAE young talents who will travel to Spain in July to compete against LaLiga’s best youth clubs.

Speaking at the event, Osman Sultan, CEO of du said, “We established duFC because we believe that there are many hidden football talents among youth across the UAE who have the potential to become football stars playing with the best teams in the world.  With all our private and public sector partners, we are here to support them achieve their dreams and I am confident there are champions in the making among the 20 youth here with us today who will be playing at international clubs in the near future.”

duFC has established an integrated platform not only to discover talent but to help them develop their skills and train regularly to continuously improve their game and skills. The top talent who return from Spain will be enrolled in September at the newly launched du Laliga High Performance Center, the first of its kind outside of Spain, where they will receive the highest quality training by internationally certified coaches throughout the year.

“Partnering with the world’s strongest league, LaLiga allows us to build champions from a young age and we will continue to invest in their development over several years, offering them the best training ground and the greatest chances to be scouted by leading professional football clubs,” continued Sultan. 

The 20 talents were selected following the 2-day intense training conducted by LaLiga coaches in March.  They represent both schools and streets cups from across the UAE.

Commemorating the talents, Hussein Murad, CEO of Inspiratus, the organizers of the initiative said, “What we have achieved this year is a milestone for football in the UAE and the region. We could not have done it without our partnerships with the private and public sectors. Today we are celebrating the talent of these young footballers who we hope to see playing in top clubs and teams both nationally and internationally in the future. And this is the just the beginning…”

The demand for du FC’s UAE Schools and Streets Cups in its inaugural year was phenomenal with over 7000 youth from across the UAE participating in a world-class tournament to gain tournament exposure and an opportunity to train with LaLiga.

The du Football Champions is a nationwide initiative featuring the UAE’s official schools Cup and Streets Cup.  Conducted in partnership with KHDA, ADEC, Dubai Sports Council, Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Sharjah Sports Council, it aims to achieve sustainable human development through the discovery of promising talents, who will raise the bar on sports excellence at local and national teams as they become the next generation of professional male and female footballers.