Sport8 International held a product launch event on Tuesday at the Chaoyang Museum of Urban Planning in Beijing. One of the highlights of the event was the O2O (online to offline) product, "Sport8".

Sport8 International is co-sponsored by Huang Jianxiang, one of the best-known sports commentators in China, Wesley Sneijder, a Dutch professional footballer who currently plays for the Turkish club Galatasaray and Bai Qiang, an entrepreneur from China.

Huang said that the app allows football lovers to easily connect with children who want to play football.

"We'd like to set up a platform to mobilize the football-related resources in China, including football fans and football pitches that are not frequently used," Huang said during the product launch.

"In China, there are many football fans and also a great number of kids who are old enough to play football. By using our 'Sport8', anyone who applied to become football teachers will have professional training. Once tested qualified, they will give football classes to the kids." Huang added.

Parents need to pay only 1 yuan if they want their kids to take such football classes.

Huang believes their training program will help achieve the goals that the Chinese government set on the development of football in China.

Chinese authorities unveiled a football reform plan last month to boost the development of the game in the country. The plan covers various levels of the sport, including professional clubs, professional leagues, national teams and grassroots football.

According to the plan, the total number of schools specializing in football will rise from the current figure of around 5 thousand to around 20 thousand by 2020 and 50 thousand by 2025.

Original title by CRIENGLISH: "Sport8" app released to promote football