It means that Infront, and its wholly owned subsidiary Beijing Infront Sports Consulting, will be working with the China Football Association (CFA) through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and up to and including the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
The exclusive deal covers all key aspects of the marketing and technical development of the Chinese men’s, women’s and youth national teams.
Infront, which is already a strategic marketing partner to the Chinese Super League, will market all sponsorship (except kit supply), television, new media and image rights. However, the agreement also includes a comprehensive technical development plan for the teams working in close partnership with the CFA. This will involve recruiting experts in specialised areas such as coaching, nutrition, scouting and mental conditioning. Infront will also be responsible for organising home and away friendly matches according to the requirements of the CFA.
“Infront has come up with an exciting concept – it is, in effect, prepared to commit resources not just to the commercial programme but to the development of the teams. In other words, it is sharing risks and rewards as a fully committed partner, identifying with the success of Team China in the most profound sense,” said Mr Xie Yalong, general secretary of the CFA.
This is a new kind of relationship,” said John Kristick, executive director of marketing for Infront. “In the past, some people saw agency relationships with sport as potentially exploitive. This is the opposite - we have goals, the national team has goals and they are the same goals - success on the playing field is the route to success for Chinese football.”
Already boosted by the 2002 FIFA World Cup, interest in Chinese football is set to build in the run up to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in China and the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
