The Bundesliga giants, FC Bayern Munich has announced the extension of their partnership with the Japan Football Association (JFA). A new contract has been signed for three years which means it will last until 2024.Â
The first agreement was signed back in 2018 and it consists exchange of topmost talents with the FC Bayern Campus, cooperation in training coaches and a friendly match between the youth teams of FC Bayern Munich and the Japan Football Association. The deal also included training camps for JFA teams in Munich. The plans are distributed amongst both, boys and girls from JFA for training camp at Allianz Arena.
Talking about the association, Oliver Kahn, FC Bayern CEO, said, “Japan is one of the strongest countries in Asian football. I was able to experience the Japanese enthusiasm for football at the 2002 World Cup. The continuation of the partnership with the Japan Football Association brings us together with a common goal of developing world-class players. That requires close sporting exchanges. We are proud we already have a world-class player in our women’s ranks in Saki Kumagai, a familiar face in Japanese football.”
Andreas Jung, FC Bayern Executive board member: “The Japanese market is particularly interesting for FC Bayern. We set up our first FC Bayern Football School in Japan several years ago. Now, with the extension of this partnership, we want to add another component to our international strategy.”
Kozho Tashima, JFA President said, “We are very delighted to extend our partnership with FC Bayern München, one of the most prestigious top clubs in the world. We can learn a lot from FC Bayern in areas such as player development. One highlight of our cooperation is sending Japanese youth players to the FC Bayern Campus. Saki Kumagai currently plays for the FC Bayern Women. In the near future, we hope to send female youth players to FC Bayern via our player exchange programme for our mutual development.”
On the field for FC Bayern Munich, two important games are coming up next week. On December 4, they will face off against BVB Dortmund and next in a Champions League clash, they will square off against FC Barcelona on December 9. All eyes would be on Robert Lewandowski who missed out on his first Ballon d’Or on Monday. It will be interesting to see his approach to the games.