Monday 08 November 2021, 09:00

Innovative FIFA Training Centre launched

  • Online academy launched with training sessions to educate coaches and players

  • Ground-breaking tool with three sections: the game, practice and environment

  • Arsène Wenger: “FIFA has a responsibility to educate people all over the world”

The FIFA Training Centre has been launched as an innovative tool that is available to players and coaches all across the world. With a comprehensive bank of technical football information, the online academy features insightful resources developed by the sport’s leading experts and illustrates FIFA’s goal to harness technology for the benefit of the global game. The “Game” section is designed to further the development of coaches, whilst under “Practice”, a vast range of training sessions are available aimed at cultivating the essential skills and qualities players require to thrive on the pitch. The wide-ranging vault of content features sessions for all levels, from grassroots to elite, and all age groups, from children to adults. Crucially, it is available to users all over the world.

“We have made all of our analysis a key part of the FIFA Training Centre to help everybody to improve,” said FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger. “It’s a huge initiative because we think that FIFA has a responsibility to educate people all over the world and this is one of the main tools that we have. We want everybody to take advantage of it, especially the coaches. This is a global tool that we offer to the whole world.”

The FIFA Training Centre also includes a section on the details that can be crucial to optimising performance levels in football, recognising that players and coaches need to be developed in a sustainable and holistic way and using successful individuals to reveal the keys to the process.

“The modern game has to integrate everybody,” Wenger continued. “That’s why this ‘environment’ section is so important. Today, we call it the sociological environment of the player, and because it has to be right, we try to educate everybody who is in that environment.”

The FIFA Training Centre has not been developed in isolation but as part of a significant strategy for football’s sustainable global development. The FIFA Talent Development Scheme has seen a thorough analysis of football across 205 member associations, looking at the specifics of how they work with talent and the different ways in which they operate with coaches and competitions. By paying attention to specific situations in each association, FIFA can contribute by providing the tools that can increase football’s sustainable global competitiveness.

“The Training Centre is accessible to anybody,” emphasised FIFA Technical Director Steven Martens. “We will develop sites dedicated to specific groups, be they technical leaders, national team coaches, academy managers or coach educators. So, we will have various target groups that all have an environment where they can learn from each other, as well as a bank of information that is available 24/7 and 365 days a year.”