FCBARCELONA.CAT

07.07.2009 12:05

FCBEscola in Fukuoka presented

www.fcbarcelona.cat

On Tuesday at midday in Tokyo, FC Barcelona presented its first football school in Japan, which will open in September in the city of Fukuoka to 200 boys and girls aged 6 to 12 years.

The presentation at the Instituto Cervantes in Tokyo was attended by Miquel Puig, manager of the Barça FCBEscola and Naoto Muramatsu, a coach at the FCBEscola Fukuoka. A welcome video featuring Julio Alberto, director of sport of the FCBEscola was shown during the event.

Objectives

Miquel Puig made it clear that FC Barcelona’s objectives overseas are to “expand the Barça brand worldwide, help the football in each country to get better and spot any talents that could emerge anywhere in the world”.

Second school in Asia

The manager of the FCBEscola said that Fukuoka will be the club’s twelfth international school and the second in Asia, following the one opened in Hong Kong last September. Summer camps have been held with Japanese children in the past, such as one last August that was attended by about 400 youngsters in three different cities.

No entrance tests

Miquel Puig explained how these activities are all part of the process of setting up a permanent school as part of Barça’s “expansion into Japan”. It is being organised in collaboration with the company Guardianship INC, and unlike the camps at La Masia, there will be no aptitude test to decide which children are allowed places.

In the case of the new Fukuoka school, the Barça FCBEscola technical coordinator, Iván Palanco, will act as director of sport, assisted by Japanese coach Naoto Muramatsu. The ground used as the school’s base will be the Fukuoka Kenei Kasuga Koen Kyugijyo.