The Chinese division of sports activity centre SoccerWorld has entered into a regional partnership with English Premier League football club Manchester City.
The agreement names SoccerWorld the ‘official recreational soccer partner’ of the club in China. The length of the partnership was not disclosed.
As part of the deal, Manchester City will send coaches to China twice a year to provide week-long training programmes to their SoccerWorld counterparts in the country. Upon completing the programme, the SoccerWorld coaches will be recognised by the club with an official certificate.
The standout players on SoccerWorld’s programme will be given the chance to train at the City Football Academy, Manchester City’s state-of-the-art training ground. The players will also take on Manchester-based sides and watch the club’s first team train.
Omar Berrada, commercial director for City Football Group, Manchester City’s parent company, said: “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.”
The partnership with SoccerWorld comes after a China Media Capital-led consortium in December acquired a stake in Manchester City’s parent company, City Football Group.