Vidic attends Premier Skills programme in Mumbai

The Premier Skills programme began in 2007 and has already trained more than 1,500 coaches and referees.

Former Manchester United star Nemanja Vidic and actor Ranveer Singh during the Premier Skills event in Mumbai.

Premier Skills, the referee and coach development programme run by the Premier League and the British Council, drew three surprise visitors in Nemanja Vidic, Garry Monk (former Swansea FC player and manager) and actor Ranveer Singh (official Premier League ambassador in India).

They attended a special event to showcase the PS programme, involving Premier League club coaches providing training and education materials to participants who will share the acquired skills to develop and co-ordinate projects in own schools and communities.

Read: Vidic confident Sanchez will help Man United win trophies

The All India Football Federation has accredited the Premier Skills Phase 1 training as equivalent to the ‘D’ Licence certification. Candidates who successfully complete the Phase 1 course can apply for  the AFC ‘C’ Certificate course after three months of successfully completing the PS training Phase I. 

Coaches representing eight ISL clubs along with four female coaches from Sports Authority of India (SAI) were coaching 80 youngsters from the Oscar Foundation, Arsenal Soccer Schools and St Andrews school at the Mumbai event.

The Premier Skills programme began here in 2007 and has already trained more than 1,500 coaches and referees. It is done in partnership with the SAI, AIFF and the ISL. Cities hosting the PS programme include New Delhi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Goa, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jamshedpur, Pune, Chennai and Kochi. The programme will expand to Guwahati later this year. 

“Premier Skills is really important as the more qualified coaches then better training the young players receive,” quipped former Manchester United captain, Vidic. Moreover, the Premier Skills programme is part of the ‘Football Movement’ project.