The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Chad and LALIGA have signed a multi-year partnership to develop and professionalise football in the country.
The agreement was formalised in Madrid on Thursday, 1 October 2026, by Chad’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Nair Abakar, and LALIGA president Javier Tebas.
The programme will combine LALIGA’s management expertise with local knowledge in Chad. Its main priorities are identifying young players across the country, training coaches and club officials, providing technical support for a future national football academy, and strengthening the national championship.
The agreement was signed at LALIGA’s headquarters during a visit by Nair Abakar and a Chadian delegation. The visit included presentations on LALIGA’s work and discussions about the next stages of the project.
Nair Abakar said: “Our ambition for Chadian football is to offer our young players an environment in which they can flourish, allow our clubs to develop and make our championship more competitive.
“We chose this partnership with LALIGA to help achieve that ambition. It combines recognised expertise in professional football with knowledge of the local environment and the commitment of our football community. Together, we want to establish a programme whose results will be reflected in the careers of players, the work of coaches and the daily lives of our clubs.”
The first phase will focus on building the foundations for the wider collaboration. It will include a national talent-identification campaign, a system to monitor players who are discovered, technical advice on the design and organisation of the future national academy, and training for coaches, club executives and sporting directors.
A strategic assessment of the national championship will also be carried out, with recommendations and a development roadmap.
LALIGA president Javier Tebas said: “LALIGA is delighted to support Chad in this project. Our advisory work in different regions of the world allows us to share our knowledge and methodology, always working closely with local institutions and professionals and adapting to each country’s specific circumstances.
“Through this collaboration, we want to help generate knowledge, capabilities and tools that can continue to develop sustainably over time.”
The initial structural stage will establish a shared methodology, strengthen national expertise and provide a detailed assessment of the needs of Chad’s clubs and competitions. Later phases will support the operation and consolidation of the national academy, as well as the implementation of recommendations for the league and clubs.
Tresor Penku, LALIGA’s general director in Africa, said the project would help ensure that knowledge remains within Chad’s football ecosystem and contributes to its long-term development.
LALIGA described the agreement as its first collaboration of this kind in sub-Saharan Africa. The organisation says it has delivered more than 1,000 sporting projects in 60 countries since 2015, working with federations, leagues and clubs across Europe, America, Africa and Asia.
Based in Madrid, LALIGA is made up of the 20 clubs in LALIGA EA SPORTS and the 22 clubs in LALIGA HYPERMOTION. It has more than 268 million social-media followers across 16 platforms and 20 languages, with offices in eight locations covering 35 countries.
Its social work is conducted through LALIGA FOUNDATION, while LALIGA GENUINE Moeve is the world’s first professional football competition for players with intellectual disabilities.