Tata Football Academy and Tata Trusts collaborate with Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid to develop Indian football

Tata Football Academy (TFA) and the Tata Trusts today announced their collaboration with La Liga giants, Atlético de Madrid (ATM), to enhance and strengthen its existing programmes for promoting Indian football. The main objective of the collaboration is to encourage football as a sport at the youth and grassroots level as well as support the Indian National Football Team. As part of the collaboration, the Tata Football Academy will be renamed as ‘Tata Atlético Football Academia.’

ATM will provide a full-time head coach to TFA who will work on the structure and curriculum that is followed in the Atlético de Madrid Academia in Spain. Technical experts will also visit TFA to guide and exchange knowledge on the best practices in various areas. Some of these include physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, nutrition, video analysis, player recruitments (scouting), periodic assessments and facility management.

Mr R Pavithra Kumar, Director, Program Design, Tata Trusts said, “The partnership with Atletico de Madrid will enrich grass-root players with best-in-class professional training in all aspects of football. It will help young players train to international standards, scale them up to become future international players and help establish India on the global map of the sport.”

Mr Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel said, “TFA has been a nursery for Indian football for last 3 decades and has produced some of best Indian footballers. Our partnership with Atlético de Madrid will certainly enhance the academy’s capability to international standards. We intend to be the benchmark for best practices in training, administration and infrastructure for football in the country.”

Mr Miguel Ángel Gil, owner, Atlético de Madrid said, “For our club is an honour to join Tata Group as a strategic partner in this ambitious Football Development project. Both of us share the vision to build a sustainable future for Indian football. We will work together in an educational programme based in Atlético de Madrid values and focused in giving opportunities for the kids. Tata like Atlético has more than 100 years history in building tomorrow and for us it’s the perfect partner with a long term vision like us.”

The collaboration with Tata Trusts will also witness a residential programme in Madrid, Spain, for budding Indian talented players in the age group of 12-14 years. This will be a long-term training programme, where these players will be coached in the Academia along with the other local Spanish cadets. The programme will begin with a time-period of 3 years which could be further extended to 6-8 years. Twenty candidates will go to Spain in batches in three years. All boarding facilities along with formal education in the top schools where the medium of instruction is English will also be provided to the players in the Atlético de Madrid Academy.

A scouting team from ATM, ably supported by coaches from Tata Trusts and TFA, has already selected 10 boys from various parts of the country for the programme. The boys were selected from among thousands of other players.

Tata Trusts engages in youth development programmes and runs 80 grassroots football centres in Manipur and Mizoram. Tata Trusts also runs a residential Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Aizawl, Mizoram, where 28 football players aged between 12-15 are provided training. It also supports Meghalaya Football Association in running baby league in Shillong.

About the partnership
Atlético de Madrid (ATM) will collaborate with Tata Football Academy (TFA), where ATM will lend the technical support to take TFA to strengthen our youth system and take it to the next level.
TFA will be renamed as ‘Tata Atlético Football Academia’ as a part of the arrangement to enhance the value of the TFA as an academy in the global space and it will be projected internationally as a part of ATM’s international collaboration.
ATM will also have their technical experts visiting TFA to guide and exchange knowledge pertaining to best practices in the areas of physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, nutrition, video analysis, player recruitments (scouting), periodic assessments and facility management.

About Tata Football Academy
Sports has always been a priority within the corporate philosophy of Tata Steel. The Tata Football Academy was inaugurated in 1987. Over the 3 decades the academy has many accolades to its credit, Including national tournaments like Durand Cup, Sub. Jr. National Championship, Jr. National U16, Jr. National U19, and All India Governors Gold Cup. In 2016 TFA has added another feather to their cap by becoming the champions of the 120th edition of the Indian Football Association’s (IFA) Shield. (the oldest tournament in India and the fourth oldest in the world)

out of these 24 cadets have captained Indian football teams in various age-group tournaments. There are 26 TFA cadets playing across various teams in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) in the current season.

TFA is the first academy in India – to have its sports complex comprising of its own football ground, accommodation, gym, swimming pool, recreational areas, etc.

TFA’s Honors and recognition:

• TFA has been conferred by The All India Football Federation (AIFF) for “Continuous Contribution to Indian Football”
• FICCI has recognized and honored TFA in 2017 for “Valuable Contribution to the Development of Football in last 30 years”

About Tata Trusts 
Since inception in 1892, the Tata Trusts, India’s oldest philanthropy, has played a pioneering role in bringing about an enduring difference in the lives of the communities it serves. Guided by the principles and the vision of proactive philanthropy of its Founder, Jamsetji Tata, the Trusts’ purpose is to catalyse development in the areas of healthcare and nutrition, water and sanitation, education, energy, rural upliftment, urban poverty alleviation, and arts, craft and culture. The Tata Trusts’ programmes, achieved through direct implementation, partnerships and grant making, are marked by innovations, relevant to the country. For more information, please visit www.tatatrusts.org .

About Atlético de Madrid 
Atlético de Madrid is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, that plays in La Liga (Spanish Premier Division) The club play their home games at the Wanda Metropolitano. Atlético de Madrid is ranked 2nd in the UEFA ranking.
Atlético de Madrid is renowned for its youth structure in world football and has produced players such as Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata, David De Gea etc.
Atlético de Madrid has several top footballing honours to their name such as 10 La Liga titles, 10 Copa del Rey titles, 3 Europa Leagues, 3 UEFA Super Cup, 1 UEFA Cup Winners Cup, 1 Intercontinental Cup.