Shanghai's Tongji University unveiled its football academy on Wednesday, aiming to cultivate football-related professional talents in China starting 2018.
The Tongji International Football Academy will focus on cultivating talents who specialize in football-related fields including football sports science research, sports management, football economy and football media, said Wu Jiang, vice president of Tongji University, news portal thepaper.cn reported Thursday.
"What China's football sports lacks significantly today is specialized personnel to support the football industry," Wu was quoted as saying by the report.
China lags behind advanced football countries in terms of talents in sports management, football business operation, as well as training sectors, said Wu Jingui, a technical director of Shanghai Greenland Shenhua Football Club.
The Tongji University football academy will start recruiting students from next year, and the recruitment will be based on the national college entrance exam, or gaokao.
Three majors will be available next year - football sports training, football science research and football economic management, and about 20 students will be admitted for each major, revealed the report.
The academy follows the establishment of a "national football academy" in East China's Shandong Province in January, which is co-founded by China's General Administration of Sport and the Shandong provincial government.
Both academies offer bachelor's and master's degrees.
