Bayern goalkeeper Michael Rensing at a football clinic in Burdwan on Monday. Picture by Dipankar Chatterjee

Calcutta, May 26: Bayern Munich came with big plans for Bengal but was left bemused today when the state government appeared unprepared for the scale of what the German soccer giant had to give.

The mismatch arose from state officials’ failure to distinguish between a full-fledged football academy — which is what Bayern has agreed to help set up in Burdwan — and a “centre of excellence”, which virtually covers any ordinary practice ground.

The government showed Bayern officials three football grounds in Burdwan plus a plot, in a township being developed by Bengal Shrachi, as possible sites for the academy.

“The Bayern officials made it clear they were not impressed. The places they were shown were fit only for a centre of excellence. You need a much bigger area for an academy,” a source told The Telegraph.

“I had not spoken to them before; so I had no clear idea what they wanted,” said state industries minister Nirupam Sen, whose Germany trip in April paved the way for the project. “But I like their proposal. We will provide the infrastructure the way they want.”

Sen and other officials had left for Burdwan at 7.30am with the Bayern team, which included ’74 World Cup winner Uli Hoeness and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn’s understudy Michael Rensing.

“The Germans were utterly surprised on reaching the venue. The township plot can hardly accommodate one football ground. The Bayern team wondered how the state government could be ignorant of the requirements for an academy…. one needs at least six to eight grounds,” the source said.

Not many will know these distinctions, but the government should have done its homework since the project will now have to await another visit by a Bayern delegation. One man they could have asked is Saji Prabhakaran, project director of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Prabhakaran said: “An academy needs at least 35 acres for its six to eight fields, one artificial turf, courts for others sports like basketball or tennis, a swimming pool, indoor hall, techno gymnasium, medical and recovery centre, physiotherapy centre and a high-performance testing lab. There should be a residential wing.”

“It was embarrassing to find out that the government had taken Bayern to Burdwan without knowing the technical part of the whole thing,” said an official of the Indian Football Association, the state’s soccer body.

“Only a few days ago, the AIFF had acquired a 126,000sqm (32-acre) plot in Goa to set up an academy with the help of a mobile giant. Even a simple project research could have made things clear to the government.”

What surprised the Bayern officials most was the absence of technical personnel on the government team, the source said. “An SAI coach, Ananta Ghosh, was present but he hardly spoke. Sen and the other officials did most of the talking.”

The minister later said the township plot and a state government-owned sports complex in Burdwan (run by the SAI) can be utilised together to build the academy since they are near each other. There is enough space to build two more stadiums at the SAI complex, he said.

Sen said sport-gear giant Adidas, which has close ties with Bayern, has expressed interest. “An Adidas representative was there. The company wants to provide football kits for the young talents…. The Bengal Peerless will also help set up the academy.”

Shrachi has agreed to provide a place for the foreign coaches to stay.

Boys between seven and 15 will be admitted to the academy and divided into three age groups. “Twenty-four will be short-listed for further training in Calcutta. From them, five will be sent to Bayern Munich for coaching every year,” Sen said.

He added that during his Germany visit, he had met Bayern officials and proposed the academy. “They suggested a rural place away from Calcutta. I suggested Burdwan and they accepted it.”

The Germans were today taken round three football grounds within 1-2km of one another apart from the Shrachi plot. These were the SAI complex and the municipality and district sports organisation football grounds.

With inputs from Sambit Saha and Indranil Sarkar