Retired Brazilian footballer Ronaldo joins forces with Carlos Wizard Martins to launch Ronaldo Academy in China

Carlos Wizard Martins, the former billionaire founder of Brazilian language teaching, information technology and vocational education service provider Grupo Multi, is teaming up with retired soccer legend Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima to launch a franchise of 30 soccer academies in China, according to Sohu Sports. The first batch of the soccer schools will be set up in Beijing, Changsha, Deyang and Sanya.

The school’s methodology will be based on Ronaldo’s skills and his achievements amassed throughout his career on the soccer fields. The retired player, who has been called “the phenomenon” and is known all over the world simply by his first name, is one of only four soccer players to have won the FIFA World Player of the Year award at least three times, along with France’s Zinedine Zidane, Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Ronaldo Academy has already experienced great success in America and Brazil. Earlier this month, Martins arrived in Beijing and held initial talks with several potential investors. Martins and Ronaldo plan to have 30 schools in operation over the next three years with each school expecting to host 500 kids aged from 4 to 17. The best trainees will be provided with opportunities to study at the Ronaldo Academy in the US and Brazil. 

Martins and Ronaldo plan to visit China again in November. Then there will be talks with Chinese officials and sports authorities on how to expand the academy in China and what other possible opportunities there are for potential cooperation. 

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick.