Final selection. The “Best against the Best” tournament, featuring U17 selections from the four development centers in Mahajanga, Antsirabe, Toliara, and Antananarivo under the FIFA “Talent Development Scheme” (TDS), concluded yesterday. The four teams competed in a round-robin format at the Carion National Technical Center. Eighty talents were observed by four FIFA technicians, talent coach Jacques Pierre, and qualified local technicians over the course of two weeks.
“The objective since the launch of the program two years ago is to detect talents and select the twenty-five who have the potential to pursue intensive training focused on high performance,” emphasized National Technical Director Rado Rasoanaivo.
“These selected players will be released after this tournament to spend a few weeks of vacation at home before joining the national academy,” explained Solonirina Ratovohery, a member of the federation’s executive committee.
The first generation of residents at the center will be grouped together and benefit from high-level training in a sports-study format, one of the criteria required by FIFA.
“Educators and tutors will closely monitor their studies. Those who do not perform well academically will no longer be retained,” the official clarified.
The first generation of youths born after 2010 will begin training in mid-September, following the inauguration of the Carion center, coinciding with the start of the academic school year. The best players from the center could join the Barea for the COSAFA U17 tournament in December.
Captured & Published at: 2026-08-10 06:24:19 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/08/programme-tds-vingt-cinq-joueurs.html