Football is fast game and is certainly picking up speed in India. The English Premier League is definitely the most watched league in the county. Liverpool has a lot of fan following in the Asian countries of the world.
Recently, Liverpool announced that they are all set to open a youth academy in India in the January of 2014.
This project is a partnership between the Anfield club and Indian side DSK Shivajians. The objective is to create a permanent set-up to find and nurture young and talented players in Pune.
The LFC International Football Academy DSK, which will commence in January, 2014 and is planned to be a multi-purpose residential complex.
As of now the plan is that it will have a number of full-size pitches, practice zones, classrooms, changing rooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria, seminar theatre and medical accommodations, the whole nine yards. This is a major step in helping push the game in India.
The potential market that India has along with the amount of money it has, this move surely makes a lot of sense for both the club and he sport.
The setup will support and sustain players up to the age of 18. Also, coaches and coaching staff directly from Liverpool are expected to play an integral part in this project.
Frank McParland, academy director told liverpoolfc.com, “At the academy in Liverpool we aim to develop outstanding players and good human beings. The results speak for themselves, as last season seven academy players made their first-team debuts.”
He added: “Education and community work is key to the development of our young players and we look forward to taking our knowledge and experience of developing young footballers to India.”
This project has loads of potential and can be of great help to the sport.