São Paulo – Teaching the technique of Brazilian children in Lebanon is part of the plans of the Latin American Study and Culture Centre (Cecal) of Saint-Esprit de Kaslik University (Usek). To discuss the matter, Usek representatives are in Rio de Janeiro, where they made contact with player Bebeto.
According to Cecal director Roberto Khatlab, the idea is to open a school at the university and to name it after Bebeto. "We have already met him, and Bebeto accepted the Usek honour. We are now going to start the agreements for the school to be inaugurated yet this year," said Khatlab.
To teach football, the university wants to take a team of Brazilian coaches to Lebanon. The idea is for the members of the groups to be at least 10 years old. According to Khatlab, Usek already has a structure for the school. The project is part of the sports exchange program between Lebanon and the countries of Latin America.
Khatlab believes that with the opening of the school, not only Lebanese children and footballers will be interested. "We are also going to receive players from other countries," he said. For inauguration of the school, the Cecal aims to take player Bebeto, who is currently a state representative, to the Arab country.
José Roberto Gama de Oliveira, aka Bebeto, was one of the most important Brazilian strikers in the 1980s and 1990s. In Brazil, he played for teams Flamengo and Vasco da Gama, as well as for the national team. In the 1994 World Cup, alongside Romário, he set up a striker duo that made history. That was the year of Brazil’s fourth world championship, in the United States.
Khatlab is in Rio de Janeiro with the director of Usek central library, Joseph Moukarzel, and with the Sports Service director at Usek, Fouad Saliba. The Lebanese delegation also includes 14 Usek volleyball players who travelled to Brazil to compete in the International Volleyball Cup, From Marcy 1 to 3. The matches are part of the Cecal sports exchange program.
*Translated by Mark Ament
