BRASIL’S ATLETICO PARANAENSE INKS DEAL WITH AIFF

Besides Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF; Dr. Luis Sallim, Vice-President, Atlético Paranaense and Mr. Luis Greco, Director of International Affairs, Atletico Paranaense were present on the occasion; as were Mr. Mr. Cesar Bonamigo, Deputy Chief, Embassy of Brasil in India; Mr. Mauro Federici, Director, Brasil India Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Roberto Mendes da Silva (Beto) amongst others.

The partnership deals in exchange of knowledge among Coaches, technical knowhow as to how to train, participation of AIFF Youth Teams in Camps at Atletico Premises in Brasil, etc.

“Today is a significant day for Indian Football as we are starting a long-term collaboration with a Club which will contribute a lot of technical knowhow for the development of a strong Indian side in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017,” Mr. Das said in the media gathering.

“I would like to inform that the idea was floated by our Technical Director Mr. Robert Baan who envisaged the U-17 National squad’s need to play in various Continents as they prepare for the U-17 World Cup,” he added. “It’s basically a technical contract. For minimum 30 days in a Year, our boys would practice and learn at their premises.

At the same time, they would also come on an exchange tour and both Teams would participate in a Tournament in the two Countries.” “The present contract runs till December 2015 and we would love to extend it on a long term basis,” he maintained. Dr. Sallim admitted it’s a “huge responsibility.”

“Besides developing good Players we stress on grooming good human beings. Nothing will obstruct us to reach our main goal,” he pronounced.“AIFF will be a very good partner and I challenge that within a year, all in India would be happy about choosing Paranaense as a partner,” he said.