Paris Saint-Germain announced the opening of a PSG Academy in Kazakhstan. The football training center will open in Astana in September 2026 and is expected to welcome around 300 young footballers in its inaugural season. Kazakhstan will become the 24th country to join the Parisian club’s international network of academies.
Training sessions will be held at the indoor Air Arena sports complex, which features a FIFA-compliant football pitch. The facility will allow year-round training regardless of weather conditions.
Who can join the academy
The program is open to boys and girls aged 6 to 14. Participants will be divided into groups based on their age and skill level.
All training sessions will be conducted under the official PSG Academy methodology, which is based on the French club’s youth development system. The program focuses on technique, game understanding and decision-making. Kazakhstani coaches will also undergo specialized training and receive ongoing methodological support from PSG’s technical staff in Paris.
PSG Academy Kazakhstan will be headed locally by entrepreneur Almaz Alsenov. According to him, the project is intended to help develop youth football in the country.
«We are proud to bring the PSG Academy to Kazakhstan and provide young players with access to the club’s world-class training methodology and football philosophy. Through this partnership, we aim to contribute to the long-term development of youth football in Kazakhstan by creating an environment where children can grow both as athletes and as individuals, building teamwork, confidence, discipline and character on and off the pitch,» Alsenov said.
In the future, the academy may expand beyond Astana
Astana will be the first city to host the academy, but PSG has already announced plans to expand the network to other regions of Kazakhstan. The goal is to make the program accessible to more young footballers.
Diversification Director and CRO Chief of Staff at PSG Nadia Benmokhtar said the opening of the academy in Kazakhstan is part of the French club’s international strategy.
«The opening of a PSG Academy in Kazakhstan reflects the club’s ambition to continue expanding the reach of its expertise and values far beyond Paris. With this new Academy in Astana, we are taking another important step in building a global network that enables thousands of young players around the world to learn football according to Paris Saint-Germain’s standards of excellence and continue their development as part of the wider PSG family,» she said.
PSG Academy was established in 2005. The global network currently comprises more than 200 training centers across 24 countries, where more than 50,000 young footballers train each year.
