The Reds land in Pune

The dream of making a mark at the international level will come true for the Indian football fans. The Abhijit Kadam Memorial Football Foundation (AKMF) — along with English Premier League club Liverpool — is coming up with a football development centre in Pune.

Abhijit Kadam Football Development Centre (AKFDC) will be the first of its kind, which will provide a number of football-related courses to the wards.

Along with Liverpool, Cheshire-based football company Kickworldwide and Bharati Vidyapeeth University are also a part of this four-way tie up. The AKFDC is Liverpool’s first direct project, not only in India, but also in South-East Asia.

Speaking at the soft launch of AKFDC, commercial director of Liverpool Football Club, Ian Ayre, said that India has a lot of potential, but the players need formal training to learn technical aspects of the game. “India has many players and they show a lot of passion during they are young, but the passion vanishes when they grow up,” said Ayre, while talking to DNA.

“This happens because of many factors, one of them is the lack of job opportunities related to the sport. With this development centre, we will try to solve this problem and enable the talent to explore different avenues,” he added.

Vishwajit Kadam, managing trustee, AKMF said the centre will help the player in developing their skills.

The curriculum pattern will be provided by the UK-based Stockport College. The academy will be set up in the Bharati Vidyapeeth University campus at Satara Road and will start operating from September this year.