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English FA gives multimillion dollar center green light

England's Football Association gave the go-ahead on Thursday for a national soccer center to be built following a board meeting.

The FA said its "preferred" option was for the center to be built in Burton, central England -- a scheme that has already been on the drawing board for several years -- but stressed a "detailed exploration of the business and funding plans" would have to be carried out before final approval was given.

Some FA chiefs have questioned the viability of the Burton project and there have been calls for any new center to be based nearer England's Wembley home ground in north London.

"I'm delighted that the board has given the green light for a national football center," FA chief executive Brian Barwick said.

"This is a major step forward for the project. There was general agreement within the board that a national football center would be a major asset in the development of players, coaches and referees in this country," he said.

The plan is to develop a complex similar to the successful French academy at Clarefontaine, south of Paris.

However, Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards is among those who have questioned the feasibility of the Burton project, believing the proposed £60 million (US$120 million) cost represents a waste of money.

But Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA's director of soccer development said a new center, wherever it was based, had a role to play in restoring the fortunes of the national side.

"Everyone involved in the FA's coaching and player development structures believes that a national football center is vital to the long-term health of English football," Brooking said on Thursday.

"We were hugely encouraged by the extremely positive reception from both the professional and grassroots game," he said.

"It would act as a catalyst -- a hub site, for interaction between coaches and players and would raise the level, as it has done in a lot of the other big European countries," Brooking said.
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