Last night in Beijing Sina Sports and Premier League side Manchester United held a joint press conference to officially announce the availability of the club’s 24/7 channel to Chinese fans exclusively on Sina Sports starting on January 17th.

The launch ceremony was attended by Manchester United legend Denis Irwin, Sina’s Senior Vice President Wei Jianglei and Reds’ Managing Director in the Asia Pacific region, Jamie Reigle. Following the historic launch, attendees were invited to stay for a live viewing of the Manchester United VS Liverpool game. 

Back in early January, the two sides reached a long-term partnership to bring the club’s official television channel to China. Under the deal, Sina Sports becomes the exclusive digital media broadcaster of MUTV in Mainland China. 

Wei Jianglei, Sina.com's senior vice president, said that they expected to provide over 100 million Chinese "Red Devil" fans with more diversified and in-depth sporting services.

"Football is more than a sport," Wei said. "It is also believe it to be a kind of culture and spirit." He hopes the channel will bring passion and power to the fans.

According to Jamie Reigle, the club's Managing Director in the Asia Pacific region, Manchester United have pledged to produce more tailored content on the channel for Chinese fans in the future.

The English Premier League giant opened its Weibo account at Sina.com in 2011. Up to now it has attracted nearly 800,000 followers.

Zhang Fanjing, president of the club's supporters association, China Reds, has been obsessed with the English club for 13 years. He hopes the channel translates the contents into Chinese as soon as possible to help Chinese fans get to know the club better.

Source: Xinhua

Proofread by John Devlin