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Bayern Munich will open its first football school in Africa and it will be in Ethiopia. An agreement was signed this week (Wednesday) between the leaders of Ethiopian football and the club 28 times champion of Germany and five times winner of the Champions League. Former Brazilian striker Giovane Elber made the trip as ambassador for the Bayern Munich brand.
The football links between Germany and Ethiopia are close. The project does not come out of nowhere, because for five years a German has directed the project of development of the football ethio-Germanic. Joachim Fickert has notably brought the coach of the selection of German under-20s to coaches of young Ethiopians. It is in this logic that links have been established with Bayern Munich. According to the Ethiopian Football Federation, a similar project had been discussed with Arsenal, but was not realized. Gizateh Alemu is a former international referee and FIFA instructor, he is now referee trainer in Ethiopia. He looks favorably on Bayern's arrival on the Ethiopian stage. " There are so many Bayern Munich fans here, especially during the Champions League and then with the World Cup, when Germany was at the top of world football. So, it's a very nice idea . "
" Football concepts and knowledge ... "
A good idea, because Ethiopian football needs to grow, according to Gizateh. " What we miss here in Ethiopia is tactical discipline. Our players at the national level have not had a training of this kind at an early age. They just trained on their own, in their home region, with no one to show them how to play, how to follow a team tactic . "
The Bayern project provides for the regular arrival of German technicians to train coaches and coaches of the Ethiopian round-robin.
Bayern trainers will be able to learn the basic tactics for young Ethiopian footballers. But the school will also bring technology, hopes the technical director of the Federation of Ethiopian Football, Mekonnen Kuru. " The country is not so poor, it can buy balloons and jerseys. Our problems are technology, concepts and football knowledge, all this must be introduced in Ethiopian football. For example, match analysis is one of the best tools in the world right now and we do not have it. But we should . "
Bayern present in the United States and China
The Germans will be at work to invest, build and manage the school. A school whose details are unknown. How many young people will be admitted every year by Bayern Munich? Will families have to pay all or part of the tuition fees? Discussions will take place in the coming months. Former referee Gizateh is cautious. " Building a football school here is not an end. We are waiting to see the results. Since we are only at the beginning, there may be problems that will happen, perhaps. But I'm sure after a few years, this academy will be useful for Ethiopia . "
The Ethiopian football authorities are careful not to put forward a timetable for the actual opening of the Bayern School. For the German club the goal is to be " closer to [his] African fans ." The challenge of financial development is important. The team of Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben already has five schools around the world, in the United States, China, Thailand, Japan and Singapore.