MOSCOW (Sputnik) – FC Barcelona’s summer school for talented youth is opening its doors in Sochi on Friday, making it the football club’s first project in Russia.
"The location was not chosen by chance, Sochi is one of the most modern cities for sport due to its preparation for the Olympic Games. There are many new sports centers and stadiums built, a great platform for development of kids and mass sport has been created," Inaki Andreu, the coordinator for Barcelona’s international projects and the person responsible for the school in Russia, told Sputnik.
Every year, the FC Barcelona leadership selects locations to open a new campus. In December 2014, they visited Sochi to make an evaluation of the structure and installation. The club’s board approved of the location in February.
This summer, six campuses will be functioning in Sochi until August 19. As many as 6,000 boys and girls will be able to participate in the training.
The school will offer possibilities to learn technical and tactical elements of football following the methods of work used in FC Barcelona. Daily training, theory sessions and other recreational and educational activities will take place.
FC Barcelona cooperated with the Russian Sports Ministry, as well as the Sochi administration, to organize the school.
"We are delighted that FC Barcelona is opening a football campus on the Black Sea coast," deputy mayor of Sochi Sergei Yurchenko said.
Real Madrid is another well-known Spanish football club that has established a school in southern Russia. In 2013, the club opened a facility in Rostov-on-Don. More than 100 children are practicing football and basketball in the Real Madrid social sports center, according to the club.
