Project Citah

Project Citah, or Project Cheetah in English, is a football project regarding grassroot talent development in Mataba. The project will be focusing on player development and talent identification.

The project had a budget allocation of Cr 50m and had an extra Cr 25m invested by the Mataba Football Development Group in mid-January 2023.

Sections

The following are the sections of the projected as cited in the recent press conference revealing the roadmap of the project.

Player development infrastructure

The Project Citah will involve the development of 3 regional football development centers, mainly focusing on youth local football players and recruiting them to join the nationwide football system. A center is also planned to be built for underpriviledged parts of Mataba to provide a pastime for the citizens living in the part of the area and also maybe discover some young talents in the area.

All centers are planned to be the core part of a upcoming Sports Scholarship programme in collaboration with the Matabese Ministry of Education.

The centers planned are: Inner Mataba Football Development Hub, Pahmer Football Development Center, Pafle Football Development Center and the Mataba Centralized Football Development Venue.

Player pathways

In collaboration with the upcoming development centers, the project board has devised a plan to allow youth footballers to properly recieve education with a scholarship and possibly gaining a professional contract.

If successful, the player may start training in the development centers until they have finished Lower School (Grade 6). The player may choose to continue as a part-time player in the center and train 3 times a week and continue to receive higher education with their Upper School (Grade 7 or above). The player may also choose to enroll in the Center's education programme where they will receive tailor-made courses to suit their needs. The player may also graduate with a certificate in sports science if they want. The centers will also provide higher education after they complete their Upper School courses if they wish to join.

The project has managed to amass large clubs around southeast Eura such as Lahore Darul Jaya FC, Daas City FC and Mataba Sailors to partner with the project.

Player naturalization

Main article: Foreign Sports Talent Scheme

The project also will include player naturalization as one of its focus sections as the board feels the region needs better players as role models and maybe benefit the national team and clubs with a naturalized player in the team. Notable former examples may be Sahad Sabdul from Daau and Zack Ortega who obtained his lost Matabese passport by applying for the talent scheme.

The region currently is in process of naturalizing Krasno player Gan Hewei of Pretaling Daya City, Dauian brother duo Denis Gurgobachev and Emil Gurgobachev from Valestir Bahlsa and Zyrkis young talent Ramu Nikhil from Mataba Sailors. The scheme will continue ongoing until the project board feels the region can self-sustain talent production.

There have been rumours of Mattia Ferrari and Ivan Spagnol being naturalized.

Liga Mataba

With the extra funding, the project will also provide extra prize money for teams competing in the Liga Mataba, ranging from Cr 3m to 6m depending on league position when the season ends and the final championship winner.