President of Dutch Football Club PEC Zwolle visits Aspire Academy
The President of Dutch Eredivisie club, PEC Zwolle, Adriaan Visser visited Qatar’s Aspire Academy and was warmly welcomed by the Academy’s Director of Football Performance and Science, Professor Valter Di Salvo.
During his visit, Visser had the opportunity to see Aspire Academy’s renowned facilities firsthand as well as see the Academy’s new Football Performance and Science Department.
Following his tour of Aspire Academy, Visser, said: “This is such an impressive facility. I have seen similar academy set-ups elsewhere, including Real Madrid’s Academy, but Aspire Academy has taken it to another level, combining academic excellence with integrated experience and professionalism. We have learnt a lot after seeing what Aspire Academy offers to its studentathletes in terms of optimising physical and mental strength. In fact, our visit to Aspire Academy was born out of a recommendation from our Technical Director who previously worked in Qatar.
“We shall now go on to explore co-operation possibilities between the Netherlands and the State of Qatar and talks have already begun at the highest level of personnel within our respective sporting industries,” Visser concluded. PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, currently playing in the Eredivisie, the Netherland’s highest level of professional football club. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total of 16 seasons, reaching sixth place in 2015. They won the KNVB Cup in 2014 and also reached the final in 1928, 1977 and 2015.
The President of the Dutch club is currently in Doha on an official visit to Al Gharafa Sports Club to discuss areas of mutual co-operation.