England's internationals will be streamed live on a new Mandarin version of the Football Association's website as the organisation looks to boost its profile in China, the organisation announced on Monday. The website, which will go live at the weekend, will offer football fans in China access to news, match highlights, and interviews with England players and key performers from the FA Cup.
The FA will stream live matches on the site, starting from next season, and will also open an account on China-based social media platforms Weibo and Sina in the hope of boosting the number of Chinese interested in the English game. The FA's global head of business, Sean McAuliffe, said: "Our key intention is to increase interaction with fans of the England team in China, and those who avidly follow The FA Cup.
"Most of the content of the Mandarin website will be translated from TheFA.com but also a significant contribution to the website will be local content provided by our existing partners in the region. "Naturally, we are also keen to maximise any commercial opportunities in China, as well as supporting our major global partners, Budweiser and Nike."