Samsung Chelsea Asia Tour 2008

Chelsea plays against Malaysian Selection Team in final leg of the tour

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—July 29, 2008 Chelsea Football Club completed their well-prepared Asian tour with the support of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. right here in Malaysia. The tour, regarded as a festival of football by Asian football fans, featured a number of games with top Asian football teams from different countries. The tour also demonstrated Samsung’s sports sponsorship strategy; to provide the best teams, the best games and the best entertainment opportunities.

According to the tour schedule, Chelsea Football Club, led by its new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, began its Asia tour with a match on July 23 against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, a top team from the Chinese Super League, in 2010 Asian Games venue the Guangzhou Olympic Stadium. Chelsea’s second game in China was against Chengdu Blades in Macau on July 26. The final game of Chelsea’s Asia tour was played against the Malaysian Selection team in Kuala Lumpur on July 29. With the chance to watch so many “big names” in football play live, the games aroused great interest from football fans across Asia.

The game between Chelsea FC and the Malaysian Selection team was a great outing for the Malaysian players, as the Malaysian national team had just recently held India to a 1 – 1 draw in a friendly game at Hyderabad ahead of the AFC Asian Cup 2011 qualifiers in January next year. This was a great experience for the local fans, as they had the opportunity to watch their local heroes battle it out on the field, and managed to put on a good fight despite losing 2 – 0 to Chelsea’s star studded team.

Samsung Electronics began planning for Chelsea’s Asia tour when it became the club’s largest official sponsor in 2005. The Barclays Premier League is immensely popular in Asia, and its television ratings in China and Malaysia are among the highest of any broadcast in their respective nations. By supporting Chelsea’s Asia tour and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Samsung has made 2008 a memorable time for Asian sports enthusiasts, especially football fans.
The core belief of Samsung Electronics’ sports strategy is to provide the best sports entertainment opportunities, like the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to sports fans worldwide. Richly experienced with a wide range of sports sponsorships, Samsung Electronics hopes to build a strong emotional bond with Malaysians through the Chelsea Asia Tour. The company hopes to illustrate its continued commitment to Malaysia not only through providing its customers with the best electronics products and the best services, but through its Olympic sponsorship, and through bringing one of the world’s greatest football teams to the country.
This tour provides both Samsung and Chelsea with ideal opportunities to promote their brands in Asia’s growing markets.

“It is a great honor for Samsung Electronics to support one of the very best teams in European and world football. We are fully behind the team and would like to see our successful partnership continue. ‘Blue is the color’, and it always will be for Samsung and Chelsea. Together, I am sure this tour will be an unforgettable, world-class football experience for all of Asia’s football fans,” said Lee Tae Jik, Managing Director and CEO of Samsung Malaysia Electronics (SME) Sdn Bhd.

“With the Olympic Games just around the corner and as the top partner for wireless communications equipment, Samsung will do everything it can to contribute to the success of the Beijing Olympic Games. This is all part of Samsung’s mission to be the most caring company in the world,” he added.
Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon said, “Chelsea is delighted to be here in Malaysia after a fantastic outing in China and Macau as part of our Asia tour. We are also delighted to bring Chelsea’s Football in the Community (FITC) initiative to Malaysia’s shores as it is one of our many ways to contribute back to the community. Malaysians are huge fans of the greatest game, and we hope that this initiative would spur the younger generation to excel in the sport.”

“We are very privileged to have Samsung as a partner as we look to build on this growth. In partnership with Samsung, Chelsea Football Club has certainly become a truly global team,” he added.