English Premier League football club Arsenal has signed a partnership with Chinese sports and cultural development company iRENA.
The deal with the club’s new official soccer schools partner will set a platform for the establishment of a widespread grassroots programme across China. Arsenal plans to open soccer schools with the assistance of iRENA across five Chinese cities by the end of 2016, starting with Shanghai and Chongqing.
Each soccer school will be led by Arsenal-trained coaching staff. Under the deal, iRENA will utilise a range of sponsorship rights including player and legend access, digital and social promotions and tours of Arsenal’s training ground facility.
“Football in China is growing more and more popular and the government is particularly committed to encouraging youngsters to play,” iRENA chief executive Hong Gao said. “We are happy to be contributing to this through our partnership with Arsenal, which has a fantastic reputation for nurturing young players. We will be opening a number of Arsenal Soccer Schools across the country, with approximately 300 children at each school.”