The new website will be supported by the Chinese football social network site ikanqiu.com (‘I love football’) under a five-year deal. The Chelsea website will also be linked and promoted through leading Chinese portal website Sohu.com.
“The most exciting feature of the new Chinese website is the online community elements through our association with popular sports and football social networking sites,” said Cas Knight, managing director of Chelsea Digital Media.
“The website is the result of Chelsea’s dedication to directly sharing the fun and excitement of football with our supporters in China. Fans will be able to follow in Mandarin the extensive content found on our English website.”
Chelsea became the official football development partner of the Asian Football Confederation’s Vision China grassroots project in 2007 and since then has helped launch five Vision China city leagues in Nanjing, Wuhan, Qingdao, Zibo and Chengdu.
Chinese interest in Chelsea and the Premier League is on the increase following the decision by Chinese pay-broadcaster WinTV to sublicense one live match per week and highlights to free-to-air broadcaster Guangdong TV.
