The Italian football club Juventus officially opened the Avan branch of its Armenian academy in Yerevan on September 30, reports Zartonk Sports.
The opening drew Education, Science, Culture and Sports Minister Zhanna Andreasyan, Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan, Football Federation of Armenia President Armen Melikbekyan, UEFA Secretary General Theodore Theodoridis, Italian Ambassador Alessandro Ferranti, Juventus Chief Business Officer Peter Silverstone, and Juventus legend Fabrizio Ravanelli.
Academy founder Alfred Sadoyan cut the ribbon and led guests on a tour of the facility, where they watched children train. “For the first time in the Republic of Armenia, the opening of a football academy affiliated with a major European club creates broad opportunities for our children,” Avinyan told reporters. “I think this is also a very good start for the footballing future of Armenia’s national team.”
Around 700 children have already enrolled, in programs that start from the age of two. “These children of different age groups undergo the same intensive training they would receive in Italy or at the academy of another major European club,” Avinyan said.
The Avan facility includes football pitches with natural and artificial turf, an indoor pitch, a gym, medical and rehabilitation areas, a technology-equipped analysis room, and accommodation for coaches and children. It was built to green-building standards, with 15 coaches from the Juventus system applying the club’s methodology.
Silverstone said the project stood out even by the club’s standards. “Juventus has around 100 football academies around the world, but what we have seen here is truly exceptional. Creating such infrastructure in just one year is an incredible achievement,” he said.
The Avan site is one of three Juventus locations in Armenia. Two are already operating, in Yerevan’s Avan and Kentron districts, and a third is under construction in Nor Hachn, in Kotayk Province.
Construction began on May 29, 2025, with about $20 million invested so far. The Kentron site houses the Freedom Arena, a roughly 2,000-seat venue built to UEFA Category 2 standards, along with Armenia’s first specialized sports medicine clinic.
Minister Andreasyan called the academies a foundation for the sport’s future and noted that talented children, including those from Armenia’s regions, will be able to train there for free. The academy’s most promising players will have the chance to train at Juventus in Turin and compete in the Juventus Academy World Cup.
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