Sports and education complex ESC Madrid unveiled

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LaLiga, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and T3N Sport & Investment, accompanied by regional and local officials, have unveiled ESC Madrid – the sports and education complex where the two professional leagues will coexist in Madrid.

The multi-disciplinary complex, which has entered the final stage of its 42,000-metre square build, is at the forefront of sports development in Spain thanks to a long-term agreement by LaLiga and the NBA with T3N Sport & Investment, a consulting firm specialising in investment, training and sports development, for the creation of similar complexes in Spain.

ESC Madrid will have football pitches, a basketball court, a high-performance gym, swimming pool, dining room, games rooms, library and residential facilities for 450 athletes, among other amenities.

Furthermore, it will have an international school and training classrooms where secondary, international and American baccalaureate, and postgraduate courses will be taught. Part of the LaLiga Business School will also be moved there and it will act as the headquarters of the country’s first NBA Basketball School – the basketball development programme with enrolment open to boys and girls aged between 6 and 18 years.

“At LaLiga we firmly believe in the importance of training in sport, both technical and educational. This project, in partnership with the NBA and T3N Sports & Investment, will strengthen this commitment that we embarked on with our sports schools and the LaLiga Business School, among other projects, and which will have a new space for their development at ESC Madrid,” LaLiga President Javier Tebas assured.

“We’re very excited and keen to begin our activity at ESC Madrid, and we’re delighted to be sharing space and generating synergies with LaLiga. Creating spaces such as the future NBA School where we can make basketball grow with grassroots training and where local talent can develop under the best possible conditions is fundamental for the NBA,” said Chus Bueno, vice-president of basketball operations and head of Spain at NBA EMEA.

ESC Madrid aims to become a ground-breaking model for the sports sector in the country, capable of hosting all types of sporting and training projects – both national and international – in a single space. Furthermore, it will facilitate the generation of joint opportunities in sports and training projects, branding actions, commercial strategies and all manner of events.

“This is a special project, a strategic alliance with LaLiga and the NBA that will turn these complexes into a global benchmark for sport and education, building a global platform that generates synergies and opportunities for young people from around the world,” T3N Sport & Investment CEO Kiyomi Cerezo said.

As well as for clubs and partners, the project will also be made available to the entire sports and education industry to offer a 360-degree service, where education, sport and co-living are integrated into a single complex. In addition, it will serve as a technology hub for all companies from the innovation industry for the development of projects to improve sporting performance.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

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Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

 

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

 

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.

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