Chelsea to play
Malaysian select in July Asia tour
Grant: would be given special
dispensation to enter Malaysia.
LONDON, March 27 - Chelsea will play a Malaysian
all-star team in Kuala Lumpur in July as part of a two-match Asian
tour, the English premier league club said on
Thursday.
The London club will play a side comprised of the best players
from the Malaysian Super League on July 29 in the Malaysian
capital, the club said in a statement.
Details of the second Asian match will be announced on Friday.
Chelsea said they were confident manager Avram Grant and defender
Tal Ben-Haim, both Israeli, would be given special dispensation to
enter Malaysia, which does not currently have formal diplomatic
relations with Israel.
"There are precedents and we do not anticipate any problems so
we will continue the dialogue with the Malaysian Government,
through our representatives, and they have been very welcoming and
helpful thus far," said chief executive Peter Kenyon, who pointed
out that the Israeli cricket team were allowed to participate in
the 1997 International Cricket Council Trophy.
The tour will be the first time Chelsea have played in Asia
since May 2005 when their opponents were the Suwon Blue Wings, the
K-League team owned by club sponsor Samsung. They also took part in
the Premier League Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur in the summer of
2003.
"I am delighted that we are coming to Asia where we have a lot
of support and now we can give our fans in this region the
opportunity to see us play," Kenyon told at a news conference in
Kuala Lumpur. "Asia is a very important region for world football.
The development of football here is making great progress and a
strong Asia can only be good for the game globally. "I would like
to thank the Asian Football Confederation and the Malaysian FA for
their invitation to play here in Kuala Lumpur and we were obviously
very happy to accept."
Chelsea have been striving to develop a strong relationship with
Asian soccer in recent years and have been involved in the launch
of four of the planned 10 Vision China city leagues. The club is
also involved in a grass roots talent search in southern China.
