Johan Cruyff Institute and FIFPro División América, together in the professionalization of football

Johan Cruyff Institute will provide training grants to each of the 15 member associations of FIFPro División América

FIFPro División América has proposed to continue investing resources in order to be at the forefront in the professionalization of the sports industry in its geographical area. To this end, it has reached a collaboration agreement with Johan Cruyff Institute that will directly benefit all its member associations.

The Institute, recognized and valued from its years of presence in Latin America, will be directly involved in training the professionals of FIFPro División América, offering a scholarship for the program Football Business Fundamentals to each of FIFPro’s member associations, 15 in total (in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, United States, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Peru).

This collaboration with FIFPro División América joins existing agreements between the Johan Cruyff Institute and two of FIFPro’s member associations: the Association of Professional Football Players of Peru (SAFAP) and the Association of Guatemalan Footballers (AFG). And according to the director of the Institute, Mariël Koerhuis, “it is a collaboration of special relevance because it allows us to achieve a major challenge for our institution, which is to train professional football players to be prepared for life after their sport career”. Mariël recalls that “that was one of the most persistent concerns of our founder, Johan Cruyff. This innovative project, which in its initial phase focuses on training the leaders of the members of FIFPro División América, is a first step towards achieving this goal”.

Fernando Revilla, president of FIFPro División América and former student of the Master in Football Business in Peru in 2012, believes that “this agreement generates a major boost to the continued professionalization of the management of football, and sport in general, in the American continent. Training within our member associations is an essential part of this and the opportunity offered by Johan Cruyff Institute with this training program is an excellent start”.