Collaboration will offer 5 annual semi-scholarship opportunities for players, staff, executives in sports, law online programs ABU DHABI: Al-Jazira Club has partnered with Spanish university Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía (ISDE) on a new academic scholarship cooperation agreement that will see the Abu Dhabi club offered five scholarship seats on an annual basis. As the first collaboration of its kind between a Middle Eastern club and ISDE, the UAE champions will be offered five semi-scholarship seats for the university’s international sports programs — representing a 50 percent discount of the original fee — to its players, employees, coaching staff and executives. Interested registrants can apply for a variety of easily accessible online postgraduate master’s programs such as global sports management, international sports law and markets, industry sports and entertainment law. The collaboration comes as part of the Arabian Gulf League champions’ mission to raise levels of excellence across all areas of the club. “Everyone at Al-Jazira shares the commitment to continually break boundaries and find innovative ways for growth,” said its CEO Ali Youssef Al-Hammadi. “This cooperation with a leading sports education institution will undoubtedly enable many of our trusted staff members to grow both academically and professionally, and ultimately bring back their new skills to the benefit of our club,” he added. “Education is a very important pillar at Al-Jazira, and following this year’s programs for our community’s school kids, we are delighted to now extend our investment into higher education,” he said. “The cooperation particularly brings us immense pride as we become the first club in the Middle East to sign an agreement of this kind with ISDE.” Recognized globally for its sports management and law courses, ISDE replicates work environments of leading law firms and companies, offering its students access to the same tools they would gain in the workplace. Boasting an alumni community of over 30,000 professionals across the globe, the university is home to campuses in Spain and the US, including New York, Madrid, Barcelona, and the northwestern Spanish region of Asutrias. The modern Spanish university has partnered with over 250 law firms and companies in over 50 countries. It is also in collaboration with world-leading academic institutions such as New York University, Georgetown, the University of Miami and Jindal Global University, among others. On the sports front, ISDE is in partnership with Spanish giants FC Barcelona, who are currently sponsoring several masters programs. Marking the new agreement, ISDE CEO Juan Jose Sanchez Puig said: “With this agreement, ISDE offers Al-Jazira’s athletes a profound international experience, excellence in training, as proven year after year with its outstanding position in the best international rankings. As well as an extraordinary digital training, that brings our students closer to success.”