FC
Barcelona established the partnership with the Vives Network as a starting point for this groundbreaking
initiative that aims to use the Barça brand
as a magnet for international talent in order to create academic projects that
have the potential to become benchmarks in the sporting world. In order to make
this a reality, the club asked the universities in the Vives Network for their collaboration, advice and experience. The
network is currently chaired by Universitat de Vic rector Jordi
Montaña.

Over
the coming months, the network will draw up the master plan, which will define
the lines of action and the educational format of Barça's university project.

Barça president Rosell acknowledged that the project was still very much in the
early stages but said that they were very excited about it. He said, "It
will only become a reality with the participation of these universities that
share our cultural identity and values. Barça is
more than just a club. We strive for excellence, not just on the field, but in many
areas of society, and we believe that we can put the strength of our brand and
our club behind national projects like this and help raise the international
profile of our universities". He went on to say, "We already train
athletes and others at La Masia, but we want to
go a step further and offer university training with the collaboration of Barça and the top Catalan-language
universities".

Jordi Montaña, the president of the Vives University Network
and rector of the Universitat de Vic,
explained, "We are a group of 21 universities in four different countries
– Spain, Andorra, France and Italy – and we all share a common language with Barça, as well as the club’s sporting values".
He stressed the importance of the meeting, saying, "It will help bring Barça and the university community closer
together", and make it possible "to find ways of working
together."