Attended by more than 2,000 industry professionals from all over the world, the first Asian edition of the World Football Summit in Kuala Lumpur was a roaring success. Themed “Where Asian Football Industry Meets”, the two-day summit was aimed at elevating the football landscape in Asia.
Several high profile industry professionals delivered keynote speeches and participated in talks discussing key industry topics such as such as governance, finance, investments, technology, and broadcasting. Notable speakers and attendees included HRH Tunku Ismail, Chairman of the Malaysian Football League (MFL), Dato’ Windsor John, General Secretary, Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Oscar Mayo, International Director of LaLiga, Robert Klein, CEO, Bundesliga International, Mitsuru Murai, Chairman, Japan Professional Football League, Kevin Plumb, Director of Legal Services, Premier League and LaLiga legends Christian Karembeu and Fernando Moriendes to name but a few.
Apart from the conference, attendees could also visit the expo area to discover the latest in industry-related products and services, as well as the networking area, a platform to meet and generate business with other industry professionals.
“I am proud to say that World Football Summit Asia has solidified its mark as the leading platform to gather the Asian football industry and making Kuala Lumpur the capital of the football business for these two days,” said Mohan Rajaratnam, CEO of World Football Summit Asia, according to Business Insider. “We are confident that all attendees will achieve what they came here for, gaining greater insight to the industry and making connections, ultimately strengthening the development of Asian football.”
“As one of the fastest growing nations in the world, Asia will continue to remain an illustrious hub for business opportunities, especially for European businesses to expand globally,” said Oscar Mayo, International Director of LaLiga, according to Business Insider. “From today, we can see that more and more Asian businesses are also in the position of exploring new markets which makes a summit like this an ideal platform to collaborate with like-minded people. As LaLiga aspires to double our viewership in Asia by 2020, working with the World Football Summit Asia as their global partner gives us the opportunity to help capitalise on the potential untapped market in Asia.”
While only a few Asian nations regularly make it to large tournaments like the World Cup, the region has long love affair with the sport. According to viewing figures for PPTV, which shows LaLiga online in China, more than 10 million Chinese watched the 3 February game between Villareal and Espanyol, the latter owned by Chinese business magnate Chen Yansheng and with Wu Lei, China’s Super League top scorer making his LaLiga debut. In comparison, the game was only watched by 177,000 people in Spain. Many high profile European football clubs are owned by Asians who see the potential of reaching millions of football hungry fans in their home countries.
The popularity of football in Asia is further highlighted by the number of football related opportunities at The Sponsorship Experts. We have comprehensive commercial sponsorship and partnership programmes available for FC Internazionale Milano - Thailand ‘19/’21, LaLiga – Thailand ‘19/’20, Paris Saint-Germain - Thailand ‘19/’20, VfL Wolfsburg – Thailand ‘19/’20, Asian Premier Futsal Championship ‘19, PTT Bluewave Chonburi Futsal Club ‘19/’20, Siam FC ‘19/’20, Thai Honda FC ‘19/’20, and World Intercontinental Futsal Cup Thailand ‘19.
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