It is an ambitious project called Match Algarve and it has a very clear goal in its sights – to create one of the best football training centres in Europe in the tiny hamlet of Bensafrim, set back from the coast behind Lagos.
The Portuguese and Dutch investors involved aim to “provide a high performance sports centre for people connected to professional sports, but also for athletes who wish to research, train and compete within a stimulating environment, with unique conditions and a climate that can help them attain their sporting goals”.
So how will they do it? The plan is for a luxury centre on a 610-hectare plot near Bensafrim, with a number of other state-of-the-art infrastructures.
Besides the central football field, which will also include an athletics track and a capacity for 2,000 people, Match Algarve will have an additional eight football/rugby fields with private accommodation, eight tennis courts, a grass-covered training field and swimming pool, as well as a 36-hole ‘footgolf’ course – a new sport that is fast catching on.
To ensure athletes stay on top form, there will also be physical maintenance circuits as well as a high-performance training facility.
Match Algarve will also be equipped with a quality medical centre – putting it also squarely on the map for athletes recovering from injuries and looking for somewhere well-equipped and peaceful for their return to training.
The super-new centre will also boast an advanced-technology gym and spa.
And finally the cherry on the cake, Match Algarve will include a five-star hotel, with a commercial area, high-quality restaurants and a fully-equipped congress centre, as well as 25 luxury villas.
While more details are still to be announced, the project will most certainly come as a welcome shot in the arm to an area that is struggling to offer good employment prospects and is set back from the madding crowd.
Investors involved include developers Carvoeiro Branco, the Imca group BV and management consultants Pluis Participaties BV.
This project follows on from a bid by football manager and promoter Sven Goran Eriksson in the past to create exactly this kind of infrastructure in exactly the same place.
www.matchalgarve.com
