Football: Barcelona to set up school in India

NEW DEHLI: Barcelona are setting up a football school in India as they expand their coaching network worldwide with the aim of training 10,000 youngsters in the next three years. The school in New Delhi will be managed by the club’s training arm FCBEscola and will welcome 300 children aged between six and 14, according to club officials. The Delhi school is set to be operational by the end of the year and plans are afoot to expand operations to other cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Goa, Pune and Ahmedabad. “This is one of our most ambitious projects worldwide,” said FCBEscola Director Xevi Marce. “We hope to train 10,000 young footballers in the next three years. With this initiative, we will provide the depth and the quality needed to develop coaches and players from a very young age.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2012.