Since the little island of the The Maldives announced that they had relinquished their upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifying “home” game against China, the city of Shenyang in NE China has been named as its replacement. China’s “away” qualifier will now take place on September 8 in….. In addition, China’s Olympic Team will play a friendly match with Bahrain on September 4 which will be followed by a football seminar in this new “football city”.

According to the report, Shenyang Sports Bureau is planning to become more involved in dealings with Infront, the Swiss sports media agency recently purchased by Wanda Group. The sports agency is trying to schedule an 8-country football invitational matches in Shenyang where teams will compete for the Shenyang 2016 Goethe Cup World Youth Football Championship. FC Koln of the Bundesliga has reached a agreement with Shenyang Sports Bureau, where the two sides will collaborate in youth football, football management and in coach training.

Like Infront, Shenyang is looking at other potential sports partnerships. Infront, Wisdom, AST and Shenyang have reached out to basketball, triathlon and skating. The projects covered include an ice theme park, the Shenyang Marathon, a motorsport drifting contest and the International Equestrian Championship.

Shenyang has signed almost 30 contracts with Infront. It is hoped that in the near future more and more leading companies will cooperate with Shenyang establishing it as a “football city” brand.

Source: ln.gov.cn

 proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick