Carlos Vieira in Anshun for China's first Sporting CP Academy

Sporting CP vice-president Carlos Vieira and sports project coordinator André Lourenço travelled to Anshun this week to put pen to paper on partnerships for the first Sporting CP Academy in China.

The Anshun Olympic Centre will host the academy, with an agreement being signed with the local authorities for the use of the facility. Activities will get underway in September, with a Portuguese technical coordinator being named as the link back to the Alcochete Academy and to give training to coaches and players. An agreement has also been secured that will allow the Sporting Academy School to provide training at public schools.

China's investment in a Sporting Academy School is a gigantic step towards the country's goal of organising a World Cup and winning it.

Rui Jorge announces squad of 25 for Euro 2017

The national under-21 coach, Rui Jorge, has named a squad of 25 for the coming under-21 Euro 2017 tournament, including five Alvalade youngsters.

Ruben Semedo, Robias Figueiredo, Francisco Geraldes, Daniel Podence and Iuri Medeiros are the five, with Sporting CP and FC Porto both contributing the most players.

Portugal is in Group B and will face Serbia (17th of June), Spain (20th of June) and Macedonia (23rd of June).

Sporting CP's Academy School in Asia visits spiritual home

Estádio José Alvalade welcomed a special visit from the Singapore Sporting Academy School this week. the Sporting Academy project director, Pedro Morgado, hosted the group, led by Paulo Oliveira. The visit rounds off a stay at the Sporting Academy in Alcochete and a walk on the pitch during the weekend's win against Chaves.

During the visit Pedro Morgado spoke about the importance of the facility in the Far East: "It is really important for a number of reasons. It is our first academy in Asia and it is a region with a lot of potential, not just its terms of population but for developing the Sporting CP brand. Our main goal is to make sure Sporting CP is present in every corner of the globe and right now we are on four continents and all we are missing is Australia, where we hope to go soon. The opportunity to come and visit us is part of this project and it is really important for the people who work with us to come and see Alvalade and the Academy. We have travelled out to Singapore and given training, namely to Terry and Terrence who are two lads who really like Freestyle. Now they have come to visit us to see how things work here."

Paulo Oliveira also highlighted the importantance of the visit: "This is really fantastic and is a dream come true for me and the coaches. It is a real honour to be in Alvalade. We know all about the players produced here and we want to do the same thing. The most memorable thing for us has been how people have welcomed us and home humble the young players are in Alcochete. It was incredible. Our Academy School is doing very well. We have a lot of competition from clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona, but I think what makes the difference is the Sporting CP philosophy and our training techniques."

One of the Singapore Academy School coaches, Terry Lee, also proved overjoyed with the trip: "It has been great to be at the stadium, the Academy and to go on the pitch. The passion for football here is incredible. Everybody lives and breaths football. It is totally different to the experience in Sinagpore and being here helps us to understand just how big Sporting CP is."

Cristiano Piccini

Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Real Betis for the permanent transfer of the player Cristiano Piccini. The player has signed a contract valid until 2022, wih a buy-out clause of 45,000,000.00€.

Sporting SAD wishes Cristiano Piccini the best of professional and personal success.

Alvalade boss celebrates his 500th match in the top division

Jorge Jesus reached the fitting milestone of 500 matches at the top level of Portuguese football recently and the National Association of Football Coaches made the most of the occasion. Meanwhile the Alvalade coach took the opportunity to talk about the success of his profession.

Bruno de Carvalho prepares to open another Sporting Academy School

Whenever a new Sporting Academy School opens, president Bruno de Carvalho makes the effort to get out and do the honours. Coming after the inauguration of the Costa Rica facility, Angola was next up and the Alvalade president used the occasion to sit down in an interview with TV Zimbo.

Portugal beats Hungary to keep up the pressure on Switzerland

The national football team continued in strong form in their World Cup 2018 qualification campaign this weekend, beating Hungary 3-0 in Estádio da Luz.

Rui Patrício and William Carvalho were in the starting line-up as usual and the Sporting CP keeper had a quiet night, making just a single stop in a dominating Portuguese showing.

Sporting CP's youth system of course dominated the squad, with six out of a total of 14 players featuring produced by the Sporting Academy: Cédric, José Fonte, João Mário, Ricardo Quaresma, João Moutinho, Rui Patrício and William Carvalho.

Wealth of Alvalade faces feature in under-21 Euro 2017 qualifier win

The national under-21 team beat Norway 3-1 in a Euro 2017 qualifier this week, with Alvalade's Rúben Semedo finding the back of the net with a 59th minute header.

Also in action were Sporting CP's Iuri Medeiros (on loan to Boavista), Daniel Podence and Carlos Mané (on loan to Stuttgart), while Domingos Duarte (on loan to Belenenses) and Tobias Figueiredo (on loan to Nacional) were introduced off the bench.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino speaks on the closing day of the Football Talks conference

FIFA president Gianni Infantino was another one of the speakers invited for the last day of the Football Talks conference this week, adding his contribution to the dominant topic of technology in sport.

"After maybe 50 years, we have decided to test the Video Assistant Referee. I was skeptical at first and I was worried that it would interrupt the fluidity of the game, but that doesn't happen. Instead it helps referees to make the right decisions. We all know in a matters of seconds that a referee has made mistake when we are watching at home. Now we can help. We want to bring transparency and justice to football", said the FIFA leader, finishing: "We want to use the Video Assistant Referee at the World CUp. We are testing the system and in March 2018 we will make a definite decision. I feel really confident about it."

Pierluigi Collina affirms the role of technology in football

The retired referee Pierluigi Collina spoke at the Football Talks conference this Friday, defending technology as a crucial step in football for bringing greater transparency to the game.

"We can working better preparing referees, but even that way we cannot compete with this technology. We live in a world where we are surrounded by technology and we cannot avoid it", opened Collina, going on to remember a disallowed goal in the Ukraine vs. England encounter at Euro 2012: "There were some criticisms that the referee was not capable of seeing if the ball crossed the line. Technology proves it did by 2.2 centimeters. 2.2! That is not a margin for humans, but for technology."

To finish, Collina highlighted the importance of preparing referees for officiating over the teams they are allocated: "Every match is different and the referee has to understand the game he/she is refereeing. That way there are no surprises. We have to know about the characteristics of the players, how the teams play and how dead-ball situations will be."