Marcet Football University

The Marcet Football University was founded in 1978 by José Ignacio Marcet[1] as a football youth training organization in Europe,[2] which has established schools in various parts of the world. Programs allow students to train and pursue their primary, secondary, or post-secondary school at the same time.[3] This includes training in leadership and professionalism.[4][5]

By 2018, over a million players had trained with Marcet alongside more than three thousand coaches.[2] The academy had programs present in 30 different countries,[6] and it has hosted young players from countries in other regions, including eighteen students[7] from North Korea,[8] more than a dozen students[9] from Ukraine during the Russian invasion,[10] South Korea, China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan,[7] India,[11] and Honduras.[3] The children of high-profile parents, such as Shakira and Gerard Piqué, have also attended their schools.[12] The school's most populous program is in Barcelona,[13] and schools have been set up as far away as Canada or India.[14] Alumni of the academy have included Han Kwang-song,[15] Oliver Torres,[16] and Konrad de la Fuente.[17] Marcet has partnered with football clubs in order to arrange junior competitions, including Barcelona FC.[18]