Ajax eyes Chinese impact with CST deal

Bicycle and car tyre manufacturer Cheng Shin Tire has signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Dutch Eredivisie football club Ajax.

The Taiwanese company confirmed it would team up with the reigning Dutch champion earlier this month and put pen to paper on the agreement at Ajax’s Amsterdam ArenA today.

Ajax’s marketing director and former goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, said the deal could give his club a “more solid foothold” in China and a range of co-operations on joint marketing initiatives are planned, with CST’s European headquarters based in Uithoorn near Amsterdam.

This sponsorship follows Ajax’s work alongside English Premier League club Everton on the Chinese reality television series ‘Football Dream’, where talented youngsters from the country battle to win a place at the club’s respective youth academies.