By David Gold
March 15 – Chelsea and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have renewed their partnership, formalising the club’s support to the development of football in the Asian confederation.
Qatari football chief and President of the AFC Mohamed Bin Hammam signed the agreement with Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.
The agreement will support development of football in China, with the club providing instructors for coaching clinics and management workshops, as well as financial and grassroots support to Vision Asia, an initiative prompted by Bin Hammam, which enables members of the AFC to develop their football through methods ranging from marketing to refereeing and the women’s game.
Bin Hammam said: “This is a great chance for a club to work with a football confederation to develop football.
“Since the first contract was signed four years ago, we have developed our football a lot and overcome some of the challenges in improving the grassroots level of football.
“Currently 38 cities are part of the Vision Asia development programme and the snowball is still rolling.
“On behalf of all in Asia, we would like to welcome Chelsea FC, we are very proud and delighted with this relationship with Chelsea.”
As part of the deal, the AFC’s Youth Player of the Year will be able to train with the London club alongside 10 selected players from the Vision Asia project, and Gourlay praised the agreement.
Chelsea have worked with the Confederation in Qindao, Wuhan, Chengdu, Nanjing and Zibo, with the Vision China project due to be doubled as Chelsea looks to cement its relationship with the region.
The Premier League champions became the first European team to take an approach of giving as well as taking from the Asian market when the initial deal was struck in 2007, and believes the partnership to be key to its overall business strategy, a point emphasised by Gourlay.
“Since Chelsea and AFC signed the agreement the first time in 2007, it’s been an exciting time for us at the club to have the chance to work with a confederation to develop football especially in China.
“We believe the game is getting stronger in Asia and we are happy to be a part of it by spreading our wings.”
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