On the eve of the 2018 China Cup International Football Championship, LaLiga outfit Atletico de Madrid held an interactive campaign in the 2018 China Cup host city, Nanning, on March 21. The club announced at the ceremony that they will open two offices in China – one in Beijing and the other in Chengdu.
It will be the first time Atletico de Madrid have opened offices outside of Spain and is seen as a further step in the club’s ongoing partnership with Wanda Sports, which will see the Spanish club gain a foothold in China, as well as forging tighter connections with companies, media and fans in the country.
Seeing as China is one of the most important markets, Atletico de Madrid have previously launched some marketing projects in the country.
In terms of youth training, in 2011, the Spanish club became involved in a Wanda Group-launched youth training program, “Chinese Football Stars of Hope”.
The following year in 2012, some young talented football players from China were selected and sent to the club’s youth teams in Spain for further professional football coaching. As Wanda Sports disclosed in their press release, over 100 young players have joined this program since its launch.
Having embraced Wanda Group as a shareholder in January 2015, Atletico de Madrid showed up in Shanghai for a friendly match with Shanghai SIPG that summer. The partnership between the two sides still remains even though Wanda Group sold 17% of their shares in February 2018. This year, Atletico de Madrid’s Uruguayan stars, Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, will play in the 2018 China Cup with the Uruguayan Team.
The 2018 Gree China Cup International Football Championship is the second edition of the China Cup, an official international football tournament inaugurated by the Chinese Football Association, Wanda Group, Sports Bureau of Guangxi and the municipal government of Nanning.
It will be held from 22 to 26 March 2018 in Nanning, Guangxi, China. Apart from China and Uruguay, Wales and the Czech Republic will make up the quartet for this year’s edition.
Source: lesports.com
Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick