The SAFF Launches Club Academy Development Project to Enhance Talent Pathway

2026-09-16
19:26:46

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) has launched a project to develop club academies, targeting clubs in the Roshn Saudi League, the First Division, and the Second Division.
This initiative is part of broader efforts to enhance the talent ecosystem, improve the quality of operations within club academies, and establish a sustainable pathway for talent preparation and development.
The project was launched during a club forum held by SAFF today, Wednesday, in Riyadh, in an event was attended by General Secretary Mr. Majed Al-Sahib, SAFF’s Chief Football Officer Mr. Matt Crocker, FIFA High-Performance Specialist and Talent Development Planner Mr. Philippe Senderos, and representatives from the 68 clubs included in the project.
At the start of the forum, General Secretary Mr. Majed bin Ali Al-Sahib welcomed the attendees, emphasizing the importance of the partnership with clubs in developing the football ecosystem, as well as the vital role academies play in building a sustainable talent base and supporting the future of Saudi football.
SAFF Chief Football Officer Matt Crocker outlined the project’s general direction, objectives, and upcoming workstreams.
Meanwhile, Competitions Committee Chairman Naeem Al-Bakr discussed the evolution and recent expansion of youth-level competitions, highlighting their role in providing a progressive competitive pathway for players.
For his part, Mr. Mark Canham, the Saudi Football Federation’s Director of Football Development, outlined the academy development program, pointing out its importance in enhancing the quality of technical operations within clubs and strengthening the player preparation and development pathway, meanwhile, Philippe Senderos—a High-Performance Specialist and Talent Development Planner at FIFA—discussed the significance of academy development programs in building sustainable talent systems and emphasized FIFA’s role in supporting initiatives and programs dedicated to football development.
The project aims to establish unified standards for academy operations and assist each club in defining its priorities and refining its methodology. This ensures the preparation of a generation of elite players and facilitates a seamless talent pipeline from academies to first teams and national squads.
The SAFF is implementing this project in collaboration with Double Pass, a Belgian firm specializing in academy development. Double Pass has previously partnered with major global football associations—including those of England, Italy, Japan, Turkey, and Germany.
The project relies on international benchmarking and an assessment of the current state of academies to establish unified standards; it also involves comprehensive evaluations of existing academies, with the findings used to create tailored development plans for each club.
Furthermore, the project entails a comprehensive evaluation of academies across several key areas: talent identification and development; player progression pathways to the first team; the sporting environment; infrastructure; staff competencies and learning; digital analysis; and investment and governance.
This approach provides a holistic view of each academy’s current status and identifies specific opportunities for improvement, as this project will be implemented through three assessment cycles running until 2030, with each cycle combining comprehensive and interim evaluations.
The first cycle—commencing in the 2026/2027 season—will encompass all 68 academies and be followed by the implementation of tailored development plans and capacity-building programs, while second and third cycles will focus on monitoring progress, re-evaluating performance, and measuring the development achieved in relation to the project’s targets.
The project introduces club incentives linked to operational quality and productivity, alongside benefits related to player transfers; these measures aim to enhance the return on investment in talent development and boost both the technical and market value of players developed within the clubs.