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New Delhi – Within two months of announcing its plan to enter India in October 2011, FC Barcelona completed the first FCB Camps in December 2011 and January 2012. With the second set of camps already underway, more than a thousand enthusiastic young footballers will have experienced the Barça life. The participants have come from over a 100 schools and from more than 20 cities across the country like Delhi, Bengaluru, Kochi, Jaipur, Bhopal, Baroda & Pune to name a few. Taking forward its commitment, FC Barcelona today announced the setting- up of its official Football School FCB Escola in Delhi NCR. It is the school model of FC Barcelona, exported internationally with the idea of extending the Barça brand and values to the world.
FCBEscola Delhi will be set up in association with Conscient Football, the only official partner of the club in India. FCBEscola will be operational within 2012 and will have capacity for around 300 players between 6 -14 years of age. This will create a long-term training and development platform for aspiring footballers in India. Subsequent to Delhi, Barça and Conscient Football plan to expand the various programs into other major Indian cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Goa, Pune, Ahmedabad to name a few.
Addressing the launch of FCBEscola Delhi in a press conference, Xevi Marce, Director of FCB Escola, said, “This is one of the most ambitious projects for FCBEscola worldwide. We hope to train 10,000 young footballers in coming three years and with FCB Escola we will provide the depth and the quality needed to develop coaches and players from a very young age. We are very excited to be here and to share our vision with Conscient Football.”
Mr. Xevi Marce introduced Mr. Antonio Claveria as the Technical Director for FCBEscola Delhi, who will be stationed here. Since the announcement of FCBEscola plans in October 2011his team has been preparing him for the role. Mr. Antonio Claveria, added “It was a great experience for me to start the Barça India project in December 2011 and now I am thrilled to be the Technical Director of FCBEscola Delhi. I am looking forward to working with talented youngsters on a sustained and regular basis to nurture India’s young footballers.”
FC Barcelona is globally recognized for its ability to develop players. Eight players in Spain’s 2010 FIFA World Cup winning squad were from FCB, and 50% of FCB’s current first team are products of its youth system. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Valdes, Pique, Puyol, Fabregas, Thiago, Pedro are some of the top players trained under Barça philosophy. FCBEscola Delhi will offer world- class training under the same successful methodology.
The school will come up in Delhi NCR in partnership with Conscient Football, a grassroots football development initiative dedicated to raising the bar of football programming across India. Speaking at the launch, Ms. Anupama Jain – Director, Conscient Football, said, “We set out to bring the best to our country and are very proud to launch FCBEscola. With this, we will be able to create a pathway for young footballers to continue their development under the world’s most successful training methodology. We believe that this will contribute towards the development of better players and citizens while helping India become a stronger footballing nation.”
Present also at the conference were Mr. Josep Moratalla, former player FCBarcelona, who played with Diego Maradona & Bernd Schuster, Mr. Rajesh Jain, Director Conscient Group, and Mr. Tarun Chaudhry, COO Conscient Football.
ABOUT FCBARCELONA
FC Barcelona was founded in 1899 and is now one of the most popular and supported football clubs in the world with 173,071 members spreading across the globe. The club prides itself on its ability to form players with dedication, patience and effort as opposed to buying them. This methodology has proven to be successful, as FC Barcelona has achieved more titles than most clubs in the world, including a record 6 championships during the 2008-2009 season.
ABOUT CONSCIENT FOOTBALL
Conscient Football is one of the largest grassroots development organization for football in the country. It is the only official partner of FCBarcelona in India and has successfully executed their programs in the country. Conscient Football also conducts youth leagues, camps, long term development programs, coaching courses and exposure trips with the core objective of the development of the individual and the sport of football in India.
