Manchester City Football Club and SoccerWorld are pleased to announce their new regional partnership, which will provide aspiring young footballers across China with greater access to state of the art facilities and training programmes.
The new partnership, which sees SoccerWorld become MCFC’s Official Recreational Soccer Partner in the region, was launched at a signing ceremony at the City Football Academy.
The ceremony was attended by SoccerWorld CEO Changen Fan and SoccerWorld Chairman Tao Guan, who received an exclusive tour of the training ground alongside City Football Group’s Commercial Director, Omar Berrada.
Vincent Kompany, Willy Caballero and Richard Wright also made an appearance at the event and the trio welcomed SoccerWorld to the Manchester City family by presenting them with an official MCFC shirt, which they had signed.
As part of the agreement, Manchester City coaches will visit China twice a year to provide SoccerWorld coaches with a one-week intensive training programme that will enable them to enhance the opportunities they offer young footballers in the region.
The SoccerWorld coaches who complete this training programme will subsequently receive an official Club certificate recognising their achievements.
SoccerWorld participants also have a lot to look forward as a result of this new partnership which will give them a chance to visit the UK and enjoy a true Manchester City experience.
SoccerWorld will select the best players taking part in their programme and send them to the City Football Academy where they will train with Manchester City coaches and sports scientists to help them reach their full potential.
While in Manchester, they will also compete in a tournament against Manchester-based youth players, enjoy a behind the scenes tour of the Etihad Stadium and have the rare opportunity to watch the First Team train, an unforgettable experience for any aspiring young footballer.
At the signing ceremony, Omar Berrada, Commercial Director for City Football Group, commented:
“SoccerWorld are an ideal partner for Manchester City. We both share a passion for encouraging people, children and adults, to regularly enjoy the physical and social benefits of playing soccer in safe, secure and fun environments.
“As the leading provider of recreational soccer facilities in China with ambitious plans to grow we are excited to be able to partner with them so that they can use our global football brand to increase participation at all levels of the game and support the broader national focus on enhancing the domestic soccer industry.
“Our partnership with SoccerWorld presents a strong platform on which we can continue to build Manchester City’s relevance, engagement and commitment to China by offering a national organisation access to premier football facilities and services that will allow them to contribute to the growth and development of football across the region.”
SoccerWorld CEO Chengen Fan shared Omar Berrada’s excitement for the new partnership saying:
“The partnership between SoccerWorld and Manchester City provides a new start for the development of youth football in China. In China, SoccerWorld already has more than 20 training centres and 200 pitches where we deliver the highest quality programmes to aspiring footballers.
“Together with Manchester City, we will focus our efforts on ensuring young footballers who train across all of our grounds have access to the best facilities and coaches available. The future looks bright with Manchester City and we can’t wait to get started.”
The partnership with SoccerWorld builds on the Club’s exciting plans in China, following the announcement in December that a China Media Capital-led consortium had acquired a stake in the Club’s parent company, City Football Group.
The Club will also visit China this summer to compete in the International Champions Cup as part of their pre-season tour.
