Chelsea's Asian Summer Tour

Chelsea FC Chief Executive Peter Kenyon confirmed the Samsung-Chelsea Asia Tour 2008 at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Chelsea will take on a Malaysian Selection, an all-star team of the best players from the Malaysian Super League, currently scheduled for July 29 in Kuala Lumpur. Kenyon said: “I am delighted that we are coming to Asia where we have a lot of support and now we can give our fans in this region the opportunity to see us play. Asia is a very important region for world football. The development of football here is making great progress and a strong Asia can only be good for the game globally." “I would like to thank the Asian Football Confederation and the Malaysian FA for their invitation to play here in Kuala Lumpur and we were obviously very happy to accept. Together with our sponsors Samsung and adidas we will be working hard to put on a great show for the fans and also continue our efforts to help promote Asian football from top level to grass roots.” Chelsea has built a number of significant relationships in the region recently. Last year it became the first major club to sign a partnership with the Asian Football Confederation as the Official Football Development Partner of the confederation’s Vision China grass roots project, a key part of the larger Vision Asia programme. So far Chelsea has helped launch four of the planned 10 Vision China city leagues, in Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan and Qingdao and another is coming soon in Zibo. It has also agreed to be the exclusive football club partner of a grass roots talent search in southern China. The Super Soccer Star television show will be broadcast in the province of Guangdong in April with the four finalists destined to visit Chelsea’s world renowned Academy and Stamford Bridge later in the summer. The club is also a sponsor of the International Football Arena Beijing, the leading independent forum for debate amongst the game’s leading figures and Chelsea has also had preliminary discussions with All India Football Federation about exploring ways of working together. The tour will be the first time Chelsea has played in Asia since May 2005 when the opponents were the Suwon Bluewings, the K League team owned by sponsors Samsung. Chelsea also took part in the FA Premier League Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur in the summer of 2003.