By David Gold
March 5 – Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester City will play a high profile friendly in China’s Olympic Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing on July 27, the day of the start of the Olympic Games in London.
Arsenal would usually play their annual Emirates Cup tournament at the end of July, but a clash with the Olympic Games has caused other options to be considered this year.
They could also tour Nigeria during the summer as the club look to boost their international profile.
Traditionally Arsenal go to Austria for a pre-season tour, but that was abandoned for the first time last year as the team looked to expand international commercial income, following the path taken by some of their rivals, including Manchester City.
The North London side’s tour last year took in China, Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia.
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said: “Further to our hugely successful visit to Hangzhou (pictured above playing Arsenal) in 2011, everyone at Arsenal is extremely excited to once again be visiting China this year.
“We enjoy huge support in Asia and by playing a match in Beijing, we will once again be bringing the Club close to our loyal fans in China.
“The players and staff had an amazing time in China last year and we are all looking forward to visiting this great country again in July.
“The match against Manchester City is sure to be an exciting spectacle, with many great players from both sides playing in front of thousands of supporters in the wonderful ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium.
“It is also fitting that two English clubs are playing each other on the opening day of the London 2012 Olympics, in the stadium which hosted the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.”
It will be Manchester City’s third visit to China while they have also played in the United States on recent tours.
On the first anniversary of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, August 8, 2009, the Stadium hosted a performance of the opera Turandot, and the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup) final, the traditional curtain raiser to the Italian football league season.
The Beijing Guo’an football club was scheduled to play at the stadium, but later backed out of their agreement, citing the embarrassment of using an 80,000 plus seat venue for games that routinely draw only slightly more than 10,000.
Beijing Football Association (BFA) vice-secretary general Chen Wei said: “The BFA is looking forward to the Arsenal and Manchester City match at the Beijing National Stadium on the evening of the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London.
“We are committed to the continued growth of football in Beijing and pleased that these two top clubs will work with us to achieve our goals.”
Manchester City interim chief executive John MacBeath added: “This game will be a hugely exciting one for Manchester City.
“The ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium (pictured) is a truly iconic world sporting stadium, and it will be a fitting venue to host a classic encounter between two of the English Premier League’s greatest clubs.
“It is clear that there is huge appetite for the Premier League in Asia, and we are very much looking forward to taking our talented squad there to witness the excitement and put on a sporting spectacle for our fans in China.”
China have been engaged in attempts to raise the profile of football in the country, with millions being invested in the sport and high profile players recently signing for leading teams.
Argentine star Dario Conca moved from then Brazilian champions Internacional to Guangzhou Evergrande last year, whilst Nicolas Anelka recently signed for Shanghai Shenhua from Premier League side Chelsea.
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