As part of China's football reform plan, it has unveiled its first football training institute. (Photo : Reuters)
China's governing body on university sports has entered an agreement with its French counterpart to train more than 200 football coaches from the Asian nation and teach them with advanced instruction concepts.
The partnership was finalized between officials of the Federation of University Sports of China (FUSC) and the Federation Francaise Du Sport Univeritaire (FFSU) while in a meeting in Granada, Spain.
The FUSC, with the support of China's Scholarship Council, would send 240 football coaches to France for further study of the sport under the agreement. The FFSU would partner with local universities in Toulouse, Montpellier and Marseille to endorse the coaches for further training in football instruction.
The training would last from Sept. to Dec. 2015.
Aside from the training program, the FUSC would also hold a China-France University Sports Week in June where national squads of badminton and football by the European nation would be invited.
A host of activities such as friendlies and seminars would be organized to further inspire Chinese students to take their love for the sports to the next level.
International University Sports Federation president Claude Gallien has expressed his delight and optimism for the joint project of FFSU and FSCU. Gallien attended the contract-signing event for the cooperation.
The whole process, which normally takes a year to coordinate, was prepared and finalized in just three months, a feat according to someone from the FUSC.
"I'm very happy for this kind of cooperation coming at the right moment for France and China, the two countries having very good relationships," said the FISU president.
He added: "It was not so easy to do it really fast, and maybe it's the work of FISU to connect people and to help them develop their relationships. So as President of FISU, it's a great pleasure."
