'Sevilla FC is open to the world, says club president ahead of Al-Ittihad match
DUBAI: La Liga club Sevilla on Friday night will take on Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad in the annual Antonio Puerta Trophy, which is part of the pre-season preparations for the both teams.
Arab News spoke to Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco about the clash with Al-Ittihad and football powerhouse Saudi Arabia.
Here are some of his comments.
About the idea behind the Antonio Puerta Trophy…
Antonio Puerta is one of the greatest legends of our club. He was instrumental in our first Europa League title in 2006 and the ones that followed in the following months. His passing is a huge blow to the club and fans, which is why he will be honored every year at this game. We always try to invite a high-quality team to present him with the best tribute.
By playing Al-Ittihad in the 2024 series…
We are in the middle of the preseason preparing the team. I believe that on that day, the 26th, we will have 20 days of training since we started on July 6th. He wants to continue training, implement the new coach's game model. We hope Sevilla fans will enjoy a good game, ensure the competition, and let all of us who love football start to see what Sevilla will look like next season.
In the Saudi Pro League project…
The growth of the Saudi Pro League is very interesting. For a club like Sevilla FC, where part of our business model is based on selling players to make a profit that allows us to make new investments, it is important to have an emerging market ready to invest . The most important thing now is to maintain this level of investment, to build a solid structure in the club, to train in all areas, and to invest in the formation of youth teams to enable the technical improvement of local players as well.
Regarding Sevilla's attendance at the International Football Conference in Jeddah last December…
We had a great experience at this summit. Different members of our club have been able to see first-hand the development of football in Saudi Arabia, and we can expand our network of contacts in the region to continue creating partnerships and collaborations.
On Sevilla's relationship with Saudi Arabia…
Our trip to Saudi Arabia was different. The head of artificial intelligence, Elías Zamora, visited to show the tools we have and can offer to the football market in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular. In addition, through our sports management, we can share our extensive knowledge, transfer policy and scouting policy, which have been known in recent years and have been further improved. with artificial intelligence. We aim to create a bond where we can learn from them, and they can learn from Sevilla Football Club.
It's about exporting Sevilla's famous scouting style…
At the beginning of the 21st century, we started a scouting policy that allowed people to find unknown players on the market. These players came to Sevilla Football Club, we increased their performance, achieved sporting success in the form of European qualifications and national and European titles, and then we sold them, creating a huge profit that we returned it with a new signature. As this practice became more common in football, we introduced a new aspect: artificial intelligence. This sports expertise can be offered to the Arab market to give them the ability, through artificial intelligence and scouting of each club, to have an effective player purchase and sales policy. .
About Sevilla's global relationship building…
Sevilla Football Club is a club open to the world. Our international plan aims to increase our fans worldwide, and to do this it is important to continue to build relationships with clubs from different regions. We are also open to play as visitors to other clubs if there is an attractive opportunity.
