FIFA has its first major Chinese sponsor, with more coming soon
Dalian Wanda became the first Chinese sponsor of the international football federation FIFA. Its chairman, the richest Chinese, Wang Jilin, said other companies in his country would follow. One of the goals of large investments in world football, which also affected Czech football through Slavia Prague, is to organize the World Cup in China.
FIFA, which signed a contract with a Chinese company until 2030, has won its first major sponsor in three years. Sony and Emirates have previously stopped working with her. Adias, Coca-Cola, Gazprom, Huyndai and Visa are also among the top partner groups Wanda has joined. It is also the first major success of the new FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“We hope that this contract will provide a great opportunity for Chinese football and for the development of our business in this sector,” said Wang, who added that other Chinese companies would be involved as FIFA partners. One of them could do so “in a very short time”, another within a year. However, the richest Chinese, whose assets reach $ 30.8 billion (about 740 billion crowns) according to Forbes, was not specific.
Wang believes that the influx of Chinese money into world football will help China’s efforts to host the World Cup. According to FIFA regulations, this could not happen until 2030 at the earliest, at the time when the current agreement with Dalian Wanda expires.
The Wanda Group, which has a 20% stake in Spain’s leading Atlético Madrid, specializes in the real estate market and the team, as well as investing in the entertainment industry. At the beginning of March, it bought a competitor of Carmike Cinemas through the American cinema chain AMC Entertainment, which belongs to the conglomerate. in order to build the largest chain of cinemas in the world.
Chinese investment is also flowing into Czech football
Chinese investment also affects Czech football. In September last year, the CEFC Group entered Slavia Prague, where it acquired a 60% stake. The oldest Czech club was probably saved from insolvency at the time. Only a month later, CEFC became a partner representation.
Perhaps I will improve my mood. CEFC will become a 70% shareholder in Eden Arena. Sparta and Plzen have the lead, but everything takes time. Next year…:-).
– Jaroslav Tvrdík (@Jaroslav Tvrdik) March 20, 2016
CEFC obviously intends to invest additional funds in football. Jaroslav Tvrdík, the company’s representative for Europe, stated on his twitter account that CEFC will become a shareholder in the Eden Arena in Vršovice, where Slavia plays its home matches. According to him, the Chinese company should own a share of 70 percent.