São Paulo – Fluminense football club and Oman may establish a partnership for youth football between the team from Rio de Janeiro and the Arab country. The proposal was discussed during a visit that the ambassador of Oman in Brasília, Khalid Salim Al Jaradi, and the government relations executive at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Tamer Mansour, made to the offices of the football club, in Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro, last week (24).
At the meeting, the ambassador and the International Relations vice president at Fluminense, Alexey Dantas, discussed the possibility of establishing a partnership. “The ambassador came to visit Fluminense, which is a reference in Brazilian football, and also in countries that are fledgling in football. They want an institutional partnership for cooperation and exchange that may take place in different ways,” said Dantas.
This partnership may involve exchange of players who are not yet professional and qualification of athletes and members of technical commissions. What will take place, however, is yet to be decided. In coming weeks, Fluminense will send a project to the Embassy of Oman, which will give the club from Rio a presentation about the country.
If a partnership is established, athletes from Oman should spend some time at the Fluminense training centre in Xerém, Duque de Caxias, some 50 kilometres away from the city of Rio de Janeiro. That is where the current Brazilian champion’s youth players practice. There is also a chance for a Brazilian to spend a season in the Arab country.
“This is an opportunity for both sides to win. We can take our brand abroad and they have a chance to learn with us,” said Dantas. The vice president at Fluminense stated that the club already has a partnership with Vélez Sarsfield, from Argentina, and another with Hajduk Split, from Croatia. It is also negotiating contracts with teams in China and the United States.
During the trip to Rio de Janeiro, from the 22nd to the 24th, the ambassador from Oman also met with the president at Vale, Murilo Ferreira. The mining company has an iron ore pelleting mill in Oman. Jaradi also had meetings at Petrobras, Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), the seat of the government of Rio de Janeiro and the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan).
*Translated by Mark Ament
