Pune-based real estate developer DS Kulkarni Developers Ltd will invest ₹300 crore in setting up facilities for 36 sporting disciplines at the DSK international campus at Loni, on the outskirts of the city.

This includes around ₹80 crore for building a football stadium and three football grounds as infrastructure for a residential football academy it has established in partnership with English Premier League club Liverpool FC.

The Liverpool FC International Football Academy–DSK Shivajians was inaugurated on Wednesday by Liverpool FC legend and former player Jamie Carragher.

Speaking at the launch, DS Kulkarni, Chairman and Managing Director, DS Kulkarni Developers, said that ₹300 crore has been earmarked to build facilities for 36 sports.

An aquatic centre and tennis courts were part of this plan to help youngsters spend more time in outdoor sports and keep them away from lifestyle-inflicted diseases, he said. To begin with, the newly-inaugurated football academy will train 64 budding football players in the under-17 and under-19 age groups.

They were selected after a three-month-long scouting camp that will be held in six cities. Over 2,500 aspirants underwent a rigorous selection process under the supervision of Liverpool FC coaches Ray Curtis and Michael Rice.

DSK has provided scholarships to 34 students based on their economic status, while the rest will pay approximately ₹4.5 lakh a year for the duration of their stay, Shirish Kulkarni, president of the academy, said. After two years, the plan is to train children in the younger age groups as well, he added. “I was at Liverpool’s Academy for six years before I went on to playing in the first team for 17 years. I know first-hand how important it is to have the right development as a young player to fulfil your potential,” said Jamie Carragher.

The players, who will make up the U-17s and U-19s squads, will follow Liverpool’s philosophies both on and off the pitch.

“The Academy back in Liverpool is very close to my heart, so it’s great to be here today and be part of the opening of India’s first international residential football academy,” he added.

Spread over 20 acres, the new academy is built to international standards and includes a residential complex with 840 air conditioned and furnished single rooms.

It has two full-size pitches, one 4G synthetic turf and one of natural grass, and an outdoor swimming pool along with practice areas, a lecture theatre, classrooms, changing rooms, a gym, canteen, convenience store, entertainment and requisite medical facilities.

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