The Tamale Utrecht Football Club, a division one club based in Tamale have signed a cooperation agreement with it mother club in Netherlands, FC Utrecht. The signing was done in Holland by the Owner of the FC Utrecht, Mr Frans Van Seumeren and his Ghanaian counterpart, Mr Abdulai Alhassan (CEO, TUFC/TUFA) in the presence of key officials of FC Utrecht including the Managing Director of the club, Mr Wilco van Schaik, Mr Sander Hense (Director of Football Players International) and Mr Foeke Booy (Technical Director), just before a match between FC Utrecht and ADO Den Haag. Speaking to Myjoyonline.com immediately after the signing, the CEO of Tamale Utrecht Football Club, Mr Abdulai Alhassan said, the cooperation agreement between the FC Utrecht and Tamale Utrecht FC is to supply knowledge based exchange programmes through education and football to enhance community development. He noted that, as part of the agreement, Holland FC Utrecht which is the mother club for Tamale based Utrecht FC will provide technical support, logistics and materials to the Tamale team. “All TUFC teams, for instance, play in FC Utrecht outfits. In return, FC Utrecht gets first choice of any talented players of the Ghanaian club," he stated. FC Utrecht also runs the Tamale Utrecht Football Academy (TUFA) alongside the local club to impact knowledge and skills to young Ghanaian footballers. Mr Abdulai Alhassan who is also a Holland based Ghanaian footballer said the Tamale Utrecht Football Academy (TUFA) will be officially launched this year. “The aim of this Academy is to stimulate sports and social development in Tamale, in the North of Ghana, by investing knowledge, experience and means in football and in community projects. TUFA players reside at the Academy, go to school on a daily basis and possibly play at the club after completing the Academy”. The Managing Director of FC Utrecht, Mr Wilco Van Schaik said the club is aiming for fruitful cooperation between the Foundation FC4YOU and the Tamale Utrecht Football Academy in future. “FC Utrecht wants to be a club with its feet in the community, that has good relations with surrounding amateur clubs and that contributes via FC4YOU to the social development of the city and the region. TUFC and TUFA in Ghana have comparable objectives.”