ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)

Six players from the Talented Player Programme (TPP) of City Football Schools have entered the elite football environment of Abu Dhabi’s Al Jazira Football club, further enhancing its reputation for preparing young footballers for the next steps of their career.

This week saw TPP Under-16 players – Elias, Feli, and Tafara – swap the sky-blue of CFS for the black-and-white of Al Jazira, giving them the opportunity to develop in the environment of a leading UAE professional club, and play regular fixtures against other professional sides – with the ultimate goal of eventually reaching first-team football.

The three players join Itqan, Zein, Kais, all identified by first names only, at The Pride of Abu Dhabi club. The programme offers both boys and girls a platform to develop their talent through a combination of advanced coaching techniques, an intense schedule of competitive matches locally and internationally, and opportunities to train at CFS clubs around the world.

Feli from Abu Dhabi, who spent four years in the programme, said: “TPP helped me become the best version of myself, helped me adapt to challenges, and offered me an incredible level of coaching.”

Dubai-based Elias said: “I feel like TPP has prepared me both mentally and physically. They have improved me in every way. It means a lot to sign for Al Jazira as it is a professional club and I hope to achieve great things here and continue my footballing career.”

According to Simon Hewitt, Head of Football Operations at CFS, Middle East, watching the boys sign for big clubs shows that the pathway programmes is working and “helping children develop on and off the pitch”.
The programme was established in 2019 to offer a platform for hand-selected talented players across the UAE from ages 11-16.