English champions Chelsea inked a deal with Asian soccer's governing body yesterday, helping to foster players and leagues in China as part of a strategy to gain fan allegiance in the lucrative Asian market.
The program, known as "Vision Asia," runs till 2012 and is the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) long-term commitment to developing leagues and players in countries like China and Iran, and in soccer backwaters like Bangladesh and India.
Yesterday, Chelsea's chief executive Peter Kenyon inked a four-year development deal with the Asian Football Confederation to specifically develop the program in China.
"Target No. 1 is to ensure Chelsea is recognized as responsible for the development of the sport in China," Kenyon said. "We believe that working in this manner, we will be working in a manner to have fans aligned to Chelsea."
Fan base
Leading European clubs have made a beeline for Asia in recent years -- making signing appearances or playing friendlies during offseason -- hoping to cash in on a potential fan base in the billions.
"Chelsea's mission is to be the World's No. 1 club by 2014. That can't be realized without Asia," Kenyon said at a press conference at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
For "Vision China," the best 10 young players from each AFC-picked city will be sent to Chelsea for training. The AFC Player of the Year will also have the option of training with the London side for a month.
Chelsea will not be involved in any other countries for now.
The club, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, is committing US$2 million annually to the program, officials said. The AFC's initial spending comes in at around US$2.5 million a year, president Mohamed Hammam said.
Partnership
"Under this partnership, AFC and Chelsea are uniting their capacities and resources to develop football in the project cities of `Vision China' and to accelerate `Vision China's' expansion," an AFC statement read.
The Chinese cities of Qingdao, Wuhan, Nanjing, Chengdu and Zibo are on the initial "Vision China" list where new leagues will be developed along with schools coaching programs. It is not immediately clear which areas Chelsea are involved in.
Apart from China, the other countries in the program are Oman, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam and Iran.
Pakistan, Myanmar and Taiwan will be added this year, the AFC said.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS