A recent graduate from the famous Aspire Academy, the Qatari Akram Afif signed with Sevilla to become the first player ever in the Spanish league to have been born in Qatar.
Being no stranger to Spanish football, Afif played for both Sevilla and Villarreal’s youth teams, while on loan from Qatari parent team, Al Sadd.
The news came as Al Sadd announced the move on their twitter account and followed by a confirmation by Villarreal on their website. Afif described it as a dream come true, and added that he hopes to play in the world cup one day, representing Qatar.
Since 2015, Afif was playing for the Aspire Academy owned Belgian second division team K.A.S Eupen, where he scored six goals in 16 appearances this last season.
Afif comes from a football family, and is the son of a former Tanzanian Simba player and brother to Ali Afif, who plays for the Qatari Lekhwiya club and a member of the Qatari national team.
Having played for the Qatar national team himself and for their U20 division, Afif will probably also be playing in the European Champions League with his new team.
The move is a major milestone for Aspire Academy, the Qatari sports school, which has been working hard on developing world class athletes for the past decade.
Aspire Academy has been training young male Qatari athletes since 2004, whilst providing them with quality secondary education.
