Continental Tires Asian Cup Trophy Tour wraps up in Shanghai

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By Mark Baber
October 15 – Continental Tires, Official Sponsor of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 wrapped up its Asian Cup Trophy Tour in Shanghai on Monday after bringing the trophy to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu in an event looking forward to next year’s tournament and celebrating the recent signing of a four year collaboration with the Chinese Football Association.

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Indian Super League opens in Bollywood-style

ISL launch event

By Mark Baber
October 14 – The Indian Super League held an extravagant Bollywood/footballing extravaganza on Sunday to open the long-awaited start of the new competition which aims to awaken the “sleeping giant” of Indian football. Amidst all the hype, voices of caution advised of the difficulties involved in building fan bases from scratch, in a cricket obsessed country and warned of the historical precedent of similar ventures in the USA.

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Chinese move to boost technical know-how with new FIFA deal

Zhang Jian

By Mark Baber
September 26 – At a meeting at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Chinese Football Association Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Zhang Jian (pictured) and FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke have signed a technical cooperation agreement aimed at improving the technical level of Chinese football coaches, referees, and managers, improving the national team at all levels of achievement, and promoting the development of youth and women’s soccer.

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Big loss expected for FIFA sponsor Sony

Sony

By David Owen
September 17 – Sony Corporation, the Japanese consumer electronics group that is one of six FIFA top-tier sponsors, has announced that it will pay no dividend for its current financial year, for the first time since its shares were listed in 1958, the year of Brazil’s first World Cup victory.

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