Sandro Rosell believes that the agreement signed this Saturday between the Club and the Peking Municipal company Intersports is: “the first step towards developing a Barça feeling in Asia”.
“Messi continues to be the best player in the world”
Sandro Rosell also insisted that for him: “Messi continues to be, without a doubt, the best
player in the world•, as well as referring to Andres Iniesta, who on Saturday completes 9
years since his debut with the first team: “he’s got the talent he was born with, but
he has cultivated that and worked hard, as well as having that culture of effort".
The President was also asked about the possibility of noon kick offs for the team and he
admitted: “I don’t like it myself, I like the traditions of football and the tradition
at the Camp Nou is to play at night, but we will follow the rules”.
The strategic agreement between the Club and the Chinese company Intersports to promote the Barça
brand and the Club’s values in the Chinese market was signed this Saturday. During the
signing, which was attended by Club President Sandro Rosell and the Intersports President Heifeng
Xia, as well as the Club’s marketing director Laurent Colette and Jun Chen, the general
manager of Intersports, the strategic priority of the Chinese market for the Club was stressed.
Trip to China in November
According to Sandro Rosell, the deal aims to: “create a permanent link with
the Chinese society, so that all who wish to can share with us the values of FC Barcelona”.
The President also announced that a delegation from the Club would be visiting China at the end of
November: “we will take it a step at a time, so that the new generations of Chinese citizens
understand what the Barça feeling is. We hope that the Chinese boy and girls’ feeling for
football will be based on Barça”.
The trip will take in a gala benefit dinner for the Chinese Handicap Association, an
agreement between the two organisations and meetings with local businessmen and media.
Training Camp for five summers
Laurent Colette explained that the first fruits of this agreement would be seen in Northern
China where a training camp would be held at the Beijing Olympic Stadium –the Birds’
Nest Stadium – for the next five summers for children aged between 6 and 14, with a total of
180 children a week expected to take part under the supervision of a team of Barça coaches and 25
local coaches: “it is very important to transmit the Barça philosophy to local coaches,
because sooner or later China will be a world footballing power”, the Club’s marketing
director commented.
“The best team in the best stadium”
Heifeng Xia explained that his organisation had chosen FC Barcelona as a partner because:
“ for us, FC Barcelona is the best team in the world and the Birds Nest Stadium is the best
ground in the world, we wanted the best team in the best stadium. Barça is the most influential
club in China and we hope this will be a long term collaboration between us”.