KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -English champions Chelsea inked a deal with Asian soccer's governing body Thursday, helping to foster players and leagues in China as part of a strategy to gain fan allegiance in the lucrative Asian market.
The program, known as "Vision Asia," runs till 2012 and is the Asian Football Confederation's long-term commitment to developing leagues and players in countries like China and Iran, and in footballing backwaters like Bangladesh and India.
Thursday, Chelsea's chief executive Peter Kenyon inked a four-year development deal with the Asian Football Confederation to specifically develop the program in China.
"Target No. 1 is to ensure Chelsea is recognized as responsible for the development of the sport in China," Kenyon said. "We believe that working in this manner, we will be working in a manner to have fans aligned to Chelsea."
Leading European clubs have made a beeline for Asia in recent years - making signing appearances or playing friendlies during offseason - hoping to cash in on a potential fan base in the billions.
"Chelsea's mission is to be the World's No. 1 club by 2014. That can't be realized without Asia," Kenyon said at a press conference at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
For "Vision China," the best 10 young players from each AFC-picked city will be sent to Chelsea for training. The AFC Player of the Year will also have the option of training with the London side for a month.
Chelsea will not be involved in any other countries for now.
The club, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, is committing US$2 million (?1.51 million) annually to the program, officials said. The AFC's initial spending comes in at around US$2.5 million (?1.89 million) a year, president Mohamed Hammam said.
"Under this partnership, AFC and Chelsea are uniting their capacities and resources to develop football in the project cities of 'Vision China' and to accelerate 'Vision China's' expansion," an AFC statement read.
The Chinese cities of Qingdao, Wuhan, Nanjing, Chengdu and Zibo are on the initial "Vision China" list where new leagues will be developed along with schools coaching programs. It is not immediately clear which areas Chelsea are involved in.
Other topflight clubs can join the China program, Hammam said, but Chelsea would be given priority, and right of refusal.
"We'd like to give exclusivity to Chelsea in China," Hammam said, adding that the club's involvement in the program was Asia's gain.
Apart from China, the other countries in the program are Oman, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam and Iran. Pakistan, Myanmar and Taiwan will be added this year, the AFC said.
In Bangladesh, the AFC will help certify coaches and work for league development. It also helped reorganize Bangladesh's national association while in India, the association is working with development leagues in two states and launching youth workshops and basic refereeing courses.
So, the AFC says it is committed to helping all 46 national associations under its purview to improve.
"Except for Japan, everyone else is pretty much behind...(They are) lacking in business concepts of professional football today," Hammam said.
