The Chinese company Sinobo Group have invested in the Czech First League club SK Slavia Prague  becoming the club’s largest shareholder. They have also become the stadium title sponsors with Sinobo Stadium replacing the Eden Arena. The club hosted a press conference in the Czech Republic on November 19 to announce the news. 

Under the new investment and partnership, SK Slavia Prague will start a series of collaborations with CSL Club Beijing Sinobo Guoan FC, who Sinobo Group also invest in,  for example, youth football training academies in China. It has also been reported that the two clubs will share a similar management system and standards in the management of both men’s and women’s first teams, player scouting, commercial development, brand building and other areas. 

At the press conference, the President of Sinobo Group, Mr. ZHOU Jinhui, said that it was an honour for Sinobo Group to title sponsor the Eden Arena. The title sponsorship will help the two cities of Prague and Beijing to know more about each other. He commented that the two cities shared much similarities in history, architecture and culture and that SK Slavia Prague and Beijing Sinobo Guoan share some natural similarities in football culture and fan culture. He hoped that through this investment and title sponsorship, SK Slavia Prague would become the name card of Prague, allowing more Chinese people to get a deeper understanding of the capital city of the  Czech Republic. 

SK Slavia Prague was founded in 1892 and is the oldest football club in Prague. The club has won many domestic titles and qualified for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League group stage. It also has a very long history with its youth training system. In November 2017, the club signed a partnership with the Chinese Football Association and set up the first CFA’s European football collaboration center. 

Sinobo Group have been actively participating in the sports industry during the past few years. It became the controlling shareholder of Beijing Guoan FC at the beginning of 2017 and invested in the construction of the Beijing 2022 project, Taizicheng winter sports town in May 2018 and will also take part in the running of the town. 

After investing in the Czech football team, it will take advantage of the rich local culture and tourism resources to develop its business model “real estate + sports” and provide a good platform for the international development of Beijing Sinobo Guoan F.C. 

Reference: Dongqiudi 

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick