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More on Professional Player Development Systems


Canuck Oranje

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In previous posts, I had mentioned that there were a number of well-funded groups that were getting involved in developing young players Brazil. The three mentioned at the time were, Pao de Acucar Esporte Clube, Desportivo Brasil, and Primeira Camisa. The business model is to take in players at 13/14 years of age and develop them for eventual sale of their playing rights to European clubs. Typically these groups link to either by alliance or outright acquisition of small Brazilian professional clubs where they showcase these players.

While maybe not the wealthiest of these, a fourth may be the highest profile. A group fronted by Pele just made the news by linking with a Swiss club. See the following article from www.thestar.com.my

Pele and Swiss club plan to churn out Brazilian stars

GENEVA: A Swiss Second Division football club, Lausanne-Sport, will become the European gateway for a new training scheme for young Brazilian players involving Pele, the footballing legend said on Friday.

Campus Pele will combine football training and education for teenage talent from deprived backgrounds at its base in Sao Paolo state in Brazil, with the backing of investment from Brazilian financiers, the organisers said.

Pele said he owed everything to football, including his education, his livelihood and his international exposure.

“I want to give something back to football,” he told journalists here.

“Until now I had lots of offers to be a professional coach around the world. My retirement will be to work with youngsters,” Pele added.

The Brazilian star will guide new investments and the training programme for the youngsters, who will spend time with Brazil’s Second Division Paulista football club and get a chance to show their worth to European club scouts at Lausanne.

“Maybe it will be a surprise for the youngsters to have Pele as something like their manager,” Pele said.

Investors in the Luxembourg-based company set up to finance the project are effectively being promised a stake in nurturing Brazilian stars of tomorrow.

“The core part of the project is to prepare young players to be professional footballers, to travel around the world, in the way that you train any other professional in the world, like lawyers or bankers,” said one of the backers, Celso Santos Grellet.

Lausanne-Sport said the 10-year partnership was a huge boost for the club and their emerging sports-education programme.

“In sporting terms it brings us tremendous added value, because even if the fruits of the work will only emerge in three or four years’ time, I don’t have to point out that Brazilian players are still the best in the world,” senior club executive Francois Laydu said. – AFP

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