Inaugurated on Sunday by the King Mohammed VI, the new academy was built in the Salé city, near capital Rabat, at a global cost of MAD 140 million (about USD 17 million).

The Mohammed VI Football Academy's main objective is to produce highly qualified football players, through an educational system combining both sports and studies. It will take charge of 60 children aged between 12 and 18.

The pedagogical body is composed of four technicians and 16 professors, who will guide and train the academy's students. These are also a doctor, a physiotherapist and a nurse.

These future football players will benefit from intensive sports training, through daily exercise, and pursue their academic studies at the same time.

Training and studying at the same time will enable young trainees to preserve their chances in the non-sporting life as well if they choose to, the academy's officials had said at the launching ceremony in 2008.

The complex is composed of ten classrooms, medical and exercise facilities and four stadiums that respond to FIFA norms. The residential side includes 30 double rooms, 4 single rooms, two dormitories, entertainment spaces (TV, internet, etc.), a cafeteria and a restaurant.

The new academy, which was launched at an initiative of the king, is sponsored by the country's heavyweight companies, such as ONA, CDG, BMCE Bank, Maroc Telecom and Addoha.

The question which imposes itself, however, is whether this structural initiative, highly laudable, will be enough to upgrade our national football, which is suffering a number of dysfunctions.

Last year, a number of state-owned companies had pledged to provide MAD 250 million in order to promote and raise the standard of football in the country. This financial assistance was meant to benefit the national team and clubs alike.

In fact, the Moroccan sports sector, which has produced many international champions, has in recent years reached its nadir, making most Moroccans lose hope in the future of their country's sports.

The sovereign had earlier criticised this disappointing situation, putting the blame on “improvisation, poor performance and the use of sport by some for personal pursuits or as a means to make money.”

He had stressed that sport is a driving force for human development, integration and social cohesion, and its practice has, today, become a basic human right.