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Full name | Athletico Sports Club |
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Founded | 2006 |
Based in | Beirut |
Colors | Blue and yellow |
President | Robert Paoli [1] |
Website |
www |
Athletico Sports Club ( Arabic: نادي اتلتيكو الرياضي), known as Athletico Beirut or simply Athletico, is a football academy based in Dbayeh, Lebanon.
Founded in 2006, the academy has eight branches across the country. [2] Since 2011, Athletico has been partnered with French club Olympique Lyonnais. [3] In particular, Lyon provide the academy with training expertise and facilities. [3] Athletico graduate Philippe Paoli moved to Lyon's B team in 2013. [4] In 2019, Athletico became the first football academy in the Middle East to receive the "One-Star" label from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). [5] In 2021, the AFC approved Athletico as an elite one-star academy after meeting the 20 criteria in the AFC's Elite Youth Scheme. [6]
The women's team was founded in 2010 as one of the first in Lebanon. They were league runners up in the 2009–10 season, [7] and cup finalists in 2010–11. [8] They withdrew their team prior to the 2012–13 season. [9]
The men's senior team won the Lebanese Fourth Division Beirut in 2021–22, and were promoted to the Third Division. [10]