FC Barcelona announce partnership with Conscient Football

Indian football just took another small step towards a good grassroots programme when Conscient football announced a strategic partnership with FC Barcelona Escola in New Delhi today.

This partnership will see the organisation of FCB Camps in India, with the first one to be held at the Heritage School in the National Capital Region of the country. Last year, it was held across 22 cities in the world and was attended by 22,000 youth footballers.

During his visit to India, the Director of FCBescola Mr. Xevi Merce said, “We are excited to partner with Conscient Football to introduce FC Barcelona in the country through FCBCamps. India is an important and strategic country for FC Barcelona given the growing interest for football.”

However, as many gurus have pointed out, the Indian youth sides are very good while the Indian senior side isn’t able to replicate their performance. When asked how these camps will benefit the national team, Mr Marce said,

“We will try to help a little bit with training by following what our methodology is, that’s why we start with the camps. They will conduct 1-2 weeks of intensive training, which will help them.”

He also went on to say,

“We will be sending 4-5 coaches from FC Barcelona. They will work with 15-20 coaches in India every week, so there will be many coaches in India.”

Mr Merce emphasised the fact that he has and FC Barcelona have yet to observe the football being played in India, and only then can they announce more projects.

After Ado Den Haag, Liverpool FC, Blackburn rovers FC and FC Bayern, FC Barcelona are the fifth major European club to announce partnerships to take Indian football forward. With the Indian U16 side qualifying for the Asian Championships to be held in 2012, Indian football is on the move.