Chinese fans may soon get to taste real Brazilian samba soccer
every week as Clube dos 13 - an umbrella organization of Brazil's
top 20 clubs - has announced it is preparing to telecast Brazilian
league matches in China.
"We have had talks with the transportation provider and now we
are having talks with the local television stations," Joao Gilberto
Vaz, Asian Pacific Region Representative of the organization, told
China Daily in Beijing on Tuesday.
"We are confident the passion of Brazilian soccer will give
Chinese people a totally different feeling from British
soccer."
Chinese soccer fans will get a chance to watch legendary clubs
like Vasco Da Gama, Corinthians and Santos, homes to legends of the
past like Pele and the stars of the future.
Current fan favorites who got their start in the Brazilian
league include Ronaldo, Robinho, Ronaldinho and Kaka.
"Brazil soccer has the passion and the creativity. Apart from
Kaka and Ronaldinho, we have lots of good players, some are even
better than them. But they are not known to people yet."
"Sometimes Kaka even played better matches when he was in the
domestic league than he does in Europe. But people had no chance to
see him on TV."
Vaz added that in addition to live matches there will be
highlights packages as well as programs on the relationship between
Brazilian soccer and culture.
In China, soccer on sports channels is dominated by top European
leagues like Italian Serie A and English Premier League.
Vaz was also pleased to announce that they have reached a deal
with Singapore-based company ST Teleport, a full-service satellite
communications solution provider, and it allows them to offer local
TV viewers the best possible signal.
"We have had talks in India, Singapore and Hong Kong. We are
stepping up efforts to promote Brazilian soccer in Asia.
"I have confidence that after three years, five out of ten
people in China who are watching soccer at the weekend will be
viewers of Brazilian soccer," said Vaz.
The plan also includes sending Chinese soccer players to train
at Brazilian clubs. Chinese coaches and assistant coaches will get
an internship with Brazilian teams to improve their coaching
capabilities.
Vaz said Japan is a good example of the benefits of co-operating
with Brazilian soccer.
"Look at Japan. They've been sending players and coaches to
Brazil for ten years. Their soccer is improving fast."
In Brazil, there are 11,000 players competing within the 27
Brazilian State Football Federations, the largest number in the
world. The country also boasts the largest number of professional
clubs (more than 500) and largest number of stadiums (over 300) in
the world.
(China Daily June 14, 2007)