The young players of the PSG academy in Doha conducted a series of trainings under the watchful eye of their coaches, usually French, as the fierce Gulf sun set on the horizon.
His team’s Champions League triumph over Leipzig led them to Sunday’s last opposition to Bayern Munich in Lisbon, on the backing of many students.
“I hope PSG wins 3-1, a hat-trick from Neymar,” said Yassine el-Samman, 11. “But Bayern is a team. “
Samman, like others at the under-12 education session, said his circle of relatives are newcomers to the dominant French side.
“I once watched a game with my dad. He told me there was a club I didn’t know was called PSG. And I saw them play really well, so we saw more. “
The academy opened with a major fanfare in January 2019 on a occasion attended by PSG superstar Neymar and first-team coach Thomas Tuchel.
Open to children and women over five to 16 years old, it is consistent with 4 sites, charging 2,000 riyars ($five and five, 46 and five euros) per month.
PSG’s network of more than 70 similar academies around the world is a key component of its ambitious Qatar-funded mission to expand its global appeal and secure a position at the highest point in world football.
“It’s advertising our brand, but not just. These are also values,” said the academy’s technical director, Cyril Klosek.
“PSG is already one of the brands in the sports industry, we expanded the brand, vending and those academies. “
– Premier League –
Twenty-two teenagers in impeccable dark blue T-shirts from the PSG made a series of dribble and passes, wearing the jersey of Qatar shirt sponsor Ooredoo Telecom, which the main logo of the French hotelier Accor.
While the PSG’s stalwartness in the country accumulated on the educational ground, the club seeks to attract Qatari football fans more widely.
“Most (students) knew PSG, but less than English or Spanish Premier League clubs. But we communicated a lot about the history of the club,” Klosek said.
PSG’s network of academies is the cornerstone of the club’s global ambitions and complements Qatar’s purpose of being a football power during the 2022 World Cup it hosts.
The Doha outpost, which trains another 1,000 young people, one-third of whom are Qatari, gives other people in the rich Gulf Emirate the opportunity to share Qatar’s flagship sports investment.
Several PSG stars have traveled in recent years for winter camps and fan selfies.
The academy also supports Qatar’s strategy of growing locals by 2022 with a PSG academy player sent to Paris for testing.
Although he owns the Qatar Sports Investments club, PSG’s long history in Qatar pales in comparison to the popularity of English Premier League heavyweights such as Manchester United and Chelsea.
– The generosity of Qatar –
“The PSG sought to establish educational camps in Qatar, which helped bring its popularity to life in Doha,” Qatar sports journalist Hossam Nabawy told AFP.
“Certainly, winning the Champions League would be a long way to expand Paris’ popularity in most of the world, only in Doha. “
But it is Liverpool who perhaps enjoys the ultimate fieryness of Qatar, where his Egyptian talisman Mo Salah is respected through the contingent of 300,000 expats. Qatar’s total population is just 2. 75 million.
At the Club World Cup in Doha in December 2019, thousands of Liverpool fans joined forces with travel enthusiasts to witness their winning campaign.
The Qatar Reds have almost twice as many Facebook supporters as Qatar’s PSG Fans Club, and largely expatriate members gathered to watch Liverpool matches before the coronavirus.
But Qatari themselves have warmed up in the GSP since their country acquired it in 2011, according to experts.
“Qataris have become susceptible to the team after their acquisition through Qatar and the presidency of Nasser al-Khelaifi, who (helped) the team succeed in the Champions League final for the first time,” commentator Mahmoud Nsiri said.
Away from the PSG academy and branded outlets at a leading grocery shopping center and at the airport, little in Doha suggests that the PSG have replaced Liverpool.
But it is clear that many followers of the new generation of PSG have been attracted through the club’s series of banking step signatures, a direct result of Qatar’s generosity.
When asked why he supported PSG, a young amateur who bought groceries at the club store before Sunday’s final replied: “Neymar.