February 8 – Chelsea are headed to Asia pre-season on their ‘Here to Play, Here to Stay’ tour, which will see the west London-based club play matches in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
The first match is against a Singha Thailand All-Star XI in the Singha Cup on Wednesday July 17 at the Rajamanagala National Stadium in Bangkok, which will act as a celebration of our partner’s 80th anniversary.
Chelsea will then face a Malaysia XI at the Shah Alam Stadium Kuala Lumpur on Sunday July 21.
On Thursday July 25 Chelsea play against an Indonesia XI at the 88,000-seater Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, in the BNI Cup, marking their relationship with Bank Negara Indonesia.
Bank Negara has issued more than 60,000 Chelsea-branded payment cards since August 2012.
Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay said: “South-east Asia remains home to an ever-growing and passionate Chelsea FC support and it gives me great pleasure that we will again be able to experience that wonderful hospitality.
“In particular I look forward to visiting Indonesia for the first time, a country where we have an extensive fanbase that is eager to see Chelsea play.
A Chelsea FC Soccer School, incorporating a Blue Pitch facility is due to open prior to the team’s arrival in Indonesia where local coaches will help develop the development of grassroots football in the area, following on from similar projects in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Korea and Singapore, as well as Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.
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