AEK are currently in town for the festival of football, a competition they lead after victories over Sydney FC and Blackburn Rovers, and it seems the 11-time Greek champions want to leave a last legacy in Australia.

"We have been overwhelmed by the support we have received from the football fans of Sydney since our arrival," said AEK president Stavros Adamidis.

"We are impressed with Australia's sporting infrastructure and believe we can assist with the development of young football talent in Australia. We understand Australia is a unique sporting marketplace with intense competition among four football codes to attract the best young talent and we hope we can play a role in attracting young talent to our football code.

"Our partners have informed us that the Football Federation of Australia launched a national curriculum last year and we aim to work within those guidelines as we introduce the AEK coaching methodology. Hopefully we can have more Australian players like Nathan Burns and past players like Jim Patikas wear the AEK jersey in the future" added Adamidis.

The Academy will be administered on behalf of AEK FC by leading football consultants Leo Karis and Arthur Diles.

"It is a significant investment for AEK FC to launch an academy on the other side of the world," said Karis.

"We aim to assist AEK to implement the AEK football development philosophy in Sydney and produce better footballers for Australia's national teams. AEK coaches will travel to Sydney to implement programs and elite academy students will be sent to Athens to experience a top European football culture. This is a major coup for Australian football."

Academy Director, Arthur Diles, added: "We will be meeting with venue operators, Councils and other stakeholders in the coming weeks to finalise all logistical plans before the program is launched. In the meantime the public can register their interest at www.leokaris.com".