09 June,2009 08:28 PM IST | | Debarati Palit
English Premier League giants launched their first football centre in the city yesterday
Football lovers in the city rejoice! The English Premier League giant Liverpool has launched its first football centre in Pune.
Named Abhijit Kadam Football Development Centre, the center is a tie-up between Liverpool andu00a0 the Abhijeet Kadam Memorial Foundation. The football centre will be based within the campus of Bharati Vidyapeeth University and will allow aspiring footballers combine their studies with football under the aegis of Liverpool Football Club coaches.
Also, the students enrolled at the centre will get to enroll for football related courses that will be conducted in partnership with some leading colleges in United Kingdom.
Steve Bellis, director of Kickworldwide Ltd, a UK-based football development house, said, "As Pune has 160 local football clubs, it would be erroneous on my part to say that there's dearth of talent here. However, the city lacks infrastructure and quality of training."
But with the centre starting, football aficionados in the city will now get proper training and might even get opportunities to play for prestigious clubs in India and even across England.
Vishwajeet Kadam, managing trustee of Abhijit Kadam Football Development Centre, said, "Though it too early to give away details on this, but we are in talks with several international clubs."
Ian Ayre, commercial director of Liverpool Football Club, said, "We are concentrating only on providing world-class training to the players. As for the opportunity to play with Liverpool or any other international club goes, I would like to say that it would not be an easy nut to crack."
Ayre added that playing for such clubs requires immense talent and if they find someone unusually brilliant, they would definitely give him a chance.
