(Jun. 27) – The Signature Ceremony of the Protocol on the establishment in Nanjing of “Jiangsu Guoxin Parma International Football School” was held in Beijing last Saturday. The ceremony was attended by the Vice Director of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Congress Mr. Li, the President of Parma F.C. Tommaso Ghirardi with the coach Roberto Donadoni, and the Ambassador of Italy to the People’s Republic of China Attilio Massimo Iannucci. With this agreement, Parma F.C. aims at “exporting” its football model, characterized by sparingness in expenses, talent scouting and the development of young players. This football school will be a further example of Italy-China cooperation, in a filed, such as football, that is very popular and appreciated in East Asia. The Ambassador Iannucci declared: “I appreciate President Ghirardi and Coach Donadoni’s initiative because I’m convinced that the opening of this football school will make our two Countries even closer. The long-lasting dispute over the Italian Super Cup in Beijing, the recent recruitment of one of the Italian most important football coach, Marcello Lippi, by Canton team and the signature of this agreement between Parma F.C. and Jiangsu Guoxin are important pieces of a mosaic in which Italy is willing to share its old-established football experience with Chinese friends, aiming at developing an increasingly competitive Chinese League. I’m convinced that in the near future, in the framework of the excellent friendship relations between the two Countries, there will be many other cooperation exchanges between Italian and Chinese football, which represents a huge market not only for football, but also for the Italian sport as a whole.” (Red)
