PCG Entertainment to help create Chinese football academy

Asia-Pacific media and entertainment company PCG Entertainment announced on Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Shenzhen Tianrong Sports Culture Management for the creation of a major football academy in China.

The AIM-traded firm said Tianrong is a division of the Shenzhen Tianrong Investment Group, a company involved in sporting and cultural activities and the promotion of Chinese sports, tourism, culture and entertainment.

PCGE and Tianrong will partner to create the new football academy in China, which is intended to involve a joint venture with a Western football club.

The company’s board said the venture fits with the Chinese government's current policy on promoting sports.

In 2015, the Chinese government committed to creating a CNY 5 trillion sports industry over the next ten years, catering for what it says is a growing middle class and raising its international sporting profile.

“This partnership between PCGE and Tianrong represents another significant step in China's commitment to developing world-class players by collaborating with internationally renowned partners,” said PCGE CEO Nick Bryant.

“Tianrong have a track record of investing in major sports projects and we are very excited to be working with them to develop the academy in China."

Li Haojie, chairman of the Shenzhen Tianrong Investment Group, said his company was pleased to be partnering with PCGE to create this academy.

He called it “an important part of our long-term commitment to the development of world-class sports infrastructure in China."