Ora Developers Egypt announces an exciting new partnership between ZED Football Club and Aston Villa Football Club

Ora Developers Egypt has announced its latest partnership with Aston Villa Football Club (FC) to advance the development of players and coaches within ZED FC through high-level courses that will provide invaluable insights in key coaching and developmental areas. This partnership fortifies ZED FC as the dynamic extension of Aston Villa in the region while showcasing Ora Developers Egypt’s pioneering initiatives in the space of developing unique youth and sports upskilling platforms – in collaboration with such a world-renowned business partner.

Several distinguished guests

The agreement was marked by a partnership announcement event on April 2nd، 2023، that took place at the Pyramids of Giza. The event drew several distinguished guests، including Haitham Mohamed، Chief Executive Officer of Ora Developers Egypt along with Onsi Sawiris، Chairman of ZED Sports Investment and Seif Zaher، CEO of ZED Sports Investment. The event was also attended by H.E. Dr. Ashraf Sobhy، The Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports.

Through this partnership، Aston Villa FC coaches will be passing down their expertise in fundamental areas، which include player and coach development، performance، analysis، and scouting. Through sharing coaching and player development philosophies، ZED FC will further enhance both on-field and off-field performance and psychology. Aston Villa FC coaches will be sharing their knowledge and expertise on the mental side of the game، which will provide ZED FC coaches and players with a new and improved perspective on the mentality needed to continue to grow and develop at the highest level. In addition to sharing these philosophies، ZED FC coaches will benefit from learning invaluable insights directly from members of the Aston Villa coaching staff during these courses، whether it be online، in the UK، or in Egypt.

Enhancing scouting capabilities

This partnership comes as part of the Premier League club's vision to expand and enhance scouting capabilities. As they garner further talents and raise more awareness towards their name in the market، ZED FC now acts as Aston Villa’s arm in Egypt and the entire Middle Eastern region. This represents another of multiple milestones for ZED FC's youth sector as they continue، through education، exposure، and technological advancements، to provide the biggest market of young، talented players in the Middle East and Africa.

After Eng. Nassef Sawiris’، Chairman and Co-owner of Aston Villa، previous investment in Vitoria SC، this has also now become a three-way partnership، as ZED FC and Vitoria are known for their strong youth academy in their respective markets. This exchange of budding talent between Vitoria SC and ZED FC will now create an even bigger، more attractive market for top European clubs، starting with Aston Villa.

Haitham Mohamed، CEO of Ora Developers Egypt، shared his excitement over the partnership in his opening remarks: "We are thrilled to be working with one of the longest-standing clubs in the world to not only learn their historic coaching and development tactics at ZED FC but also to further grow our business relationship to its maximum potential. This first-of-its-kind agreement will provide our local talent and coaching staff with maximum exposure to the world of European football while providing our players and coaches with the platform to further develop their skills at the highest level from a range of coaching experts."

Onsi Sawiris، Chairman of ZED Sports Investment، also expressed his enthusiasm toward the agreement “Our ZED FC partnering with a historic club of Aston Villa’s stature will prove to be a turning point for other European clubs، who will be keen to extend their academies to Egypt. Not only does this partnership bring tremendous value to our players، but it also provides our coaching staff with the platform to take their coaching skills to new heights، which will translate for generations to come."

Extensive opportunities 

This agreement brings extensive opportunities for all parties involved both on and off the field، from the key insights that will be passed down by the Aston Villa FC coaching staff that will translate into the players and coaches’ day-to day-lives to the player data and storage systems that Aston Villa FC will provide to ZED FC’s youth sector. This fortifies that that this one-of-a-kind partnership opens the door for opportunities that extend beyond the football pitch.