The West Bengal government has signed an Memorandum of Association with Spanish Footballing League, La Liga to start a football academy and develop the sport in the Indian state. The MoU was signed by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee during her Spain tour in the presence of former Indian captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.

"On behalf of all of us, including football and sports lovers, we convey our gratitude and humble regards to Javier Tebas and his team. Following discussions today, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding that La Liga will start their football academy in Bengal very soon." Mamata Banerjee said.

The WB CM said that she came to Spain with the hope that the great La Liga would start a football academy in Bengal, so that Bengal-based players, clubs and every other young sportsperson could build a future Messi and Ronaldo.

"Acquiring land for the construction of the said academy in Bengal will not be a problem. I want to tell the La Liga President that whatever they need, we are ready to do it. But we want to see that La Liga helps in producing sportspersons like Messi and Ronaldo from Bengal," Mamata Banerjee added.

La Liga has taken the responsibility of inspecting the development of many excellent projects and in addition to the projects to improving talent identification, infrastructure development and coach education. La Liga will also be looking for opportunities for regional football administrators, players and coaches to be trained the La Liga way.

"We are thrilled to embark on this exciting journey with the Government of West Bengal to elevate football development in the region, taking advantage of the experience we have after more than 90 years leading professional soccer in Spain, and more specifically in the seven years that LALIGA has been in India since opening its office in 2016. This Memorandum of Understanding signifies our commitment to the people of West Bengal as jointly aim to create a self-sustaining football ecosystem, that will nurture talent in line with their rich heritage. Through knowledge sharing and collaboration, we will work towards building a brighter future for Indian football," said Javier Tebas.

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