AC Milan target India with three academy centres in Kerala

November 30 – Italian giants AC Milan have followed the expansion route of city rivals Inter and opened three new academy centres in India.

All three AC Milan International Academy sites are in the federal state of Kerala, and have been launched in collaboration with Calicut Sport City LLT, was recently held in India.

AC Milan has been making in-roads in Asia with its academy concept and has established centres in China, Japan, Kuwait and Vietnam. AC Milan provides “experience and tradition” and its technical-organisational methodology, working with a local partner.

AC Milan legend Christian Panucci was on hand for the launch of the academies in Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Malappuram, which will offer a training programme for girls and boys from 5 to 18 years of age, offering them an elite technical programme.

Official Academy Head Coach Alberto Lacandela, through the application of the Metodo Milan (AC Milan Method),will oversee the project.

Casper Stylsvig, AC Milan’s Chief Revenue Officer, said: “We are delighted to unveil three new AC Milan International Academy centres in India, a strategic territory for the Club, with great growth prospects and a Rossoneri fanbase of over 64 million supporters. This is further evidence of AC Milan’s desire to be a point of reference both outside and inside its national borders and to invest on the next generations both on and off the pitch, in accordancewith the values the define our Club’s DNA.”

India is considered a sleeping giant in terms of both its commercial opportunity for the sport and the relatively low participation in the game and poor performance of the country’s national teams. That is something that the new leadership of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is trying to change, with considerable political support.

Luigi Cascone, Deputy Consul General of Italy in Mumbai, added: “India is among the countries with the highest growth rates in the world and almost one and a half billion inhabitants with an average age of 28. However, the football that I have seen here in Kochi today, and the dozens of families and officials who came to witness the opening, is not just about business. On the contrary, it is above all about values, such as friendship, teamwork and mutual respect. Values of which we are proud as Italians and which today are the real heroes.”

Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1711723180labto1711723180ofdlr1711723180owedi1711723180sni@n1711723180osloh1711723180cin.l1711723180uap1711723180

 


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