Leading Spanish sides could be playing friendlies in the UAE from this December after the Arabian Gulf League and La Liga organising bodies signed a three-year partnership on Thursday.
Representatives from the Pro League Committee (PLC) and La Liga de Futbol Professional (LFP) joined to seal a “Memorandum of Understanding” at the UAE Football Association headquarters in Dubai, designed to strengthen ties between the nations. This marked the first such agreement signed by the Spaniards and another league.
The deal has promised to see an exchange of ideas on all aspects of the game, including sponsorship programmes, technical workshops, youth tournaments and stadia management as well as potential non-competitive fixtures in the Emirates.
“The agreement is for three years and we wanted to benefit from management of media and courses to match organisation,” said PLC CEO Suhail Al Areefi. “The agreement will start as of today.
“We have a programme which will start right after signature, so we can benefit as much as possible.
“Of course, our clubs are always looking to communicate with such teams. Now we have means through La Liga and this agreement to start organising games in two months ahead of potentially playing in December.”
The LFP opened their first office outside of Spain two years ago in the UAE. Talks have been under way since to formalise relations between the nations.
Director general of LFP Middle East and North Africa Fernando Sanz was excited by the memorandum and believed it would benefit both parties.
He said: “I would like to thank PLC for all their efforts to reach an agreement with La Liga. We are very proud for this agreement, as well as possibility to create closer ties between these two countries which have the same passion – football.
“That said, we have a lot of work ahead to help each other in football and academy development. I insist the agreement is important for us.
“Two years ago, we opened our first office outside of Spain in the UAE. We believe in this country.
“We are a very good league, but it is always important to learn from other leagues and countries.”
