Chinese government and companies and their role in European football

With the IAAF World Championships, now the 15^th edition of the Athletics games, taking place in Beijing, China from 22/08 to 30/08/2015, please find a selection of articles below showcasing the role of China in the sporting world, with a specific focus on Chinese connections to European football.

Bundesliga: Bayern Munich reach the milestone of 4,000 fan clubs worldwide (309,425 members)

FC Bayern Munich (Bundesliga) now have 4,000 fan clubs worldwide, announced the club on 17/08/2015. The "#rotwienie Oberopfingen" based in Kirchdorf (Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany, 90 kilometers from Munich), which has 95 members, was the 4,000^th fan club to be officially recognised by…

Premier League: EA Sports partners with West Bromwich Albion in 2015-16

The video game publisher EA Sports has become a partner of West Bromwich Albion FC (Premier League) for the 2015-16 season, the club announced on 21/08/2015. The club will actively participate, via its official accounts on social networks, in the promotional campaign for the 2016 edition of the…

Bundesliga: FC Bayern Munich open an office in Shanghai to develop its brand in China

FC Bayern Munich (Bundesliga) have opened an office in Shanghai (CHN), its second overseas location, after their New York office opened in April 2014, announced Jörg Wacker, the club's head of internationalisation and strategy, on 23/08/2015. The main purpose of the new office will be managing the…

Ligue 1: AS Monaco create a webpage "asmonacograndmatch.com" dedicated to its major events

On the occasion of the club's second leg of the 2015-16 Champions League play-off tie between AS Monaco and Valencia CF, kick-off at 20:45 CET at the Stade Louis II in Monaco (the first leg was played in the Mestalla on 25/08/2015, a 3-1 victory for Valencia), the principality club has updated its…

FIFA: the president of the CFU, which contains 25 Caribbean federations, supports David Nakhid (TRI)

Gordon Derrick, the Antiguan president of the CFU, announced his support for the candidacy of the Trinidadian David Nakhid for the FIFA presidency, on 23/05/2015. The CFU is an association which includes the 25 Caribbean member associations of FIFA (and also six football federations not affiliated…

MLS: franchise value and turnover (in $m)

Premier League: watchmaker Royal London becomes official timekeeper of West Ham United until 2016-17

The watchmaker Royal London has become the official timekeeper of West Ham United FC (Premier League) until the end of the 2016-17 season, the club announced on 22/08/2015. Royal London are entitled to a presence at the stadium on matchdays, and will launch a range of limited edition watches to…

Borussia Dortmund: €276m in turnover (+5.9%), €5.5m in net profit (-54.2%) in 2014-15

Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA has achieved a turnover of €276m during the 2014-15 fiscal year (from 01/07/2014 to 30/06/2015), up 5.9% year-on-year (€260.7m), announced the group which owns the Bundesliga club on 21/08/2015.Despite the decline in sporting performance (Dortmund were 7^th in the…

Bundesliga: the nine games of Matchday 2 draw 3.6 million subscribers on Sky channels

The nine games of Matchday 2 of the 2015-16 Bundesliga, played from 21 to 23/08/2015, drew at least 3.625 million subscribers on average on the German pay-TV network Sky Bundesliga, according to data from two German institutes of audience measurement, AGF and GfK. The best audience of the weekend…