adidas Extends Its Contract to Support Chinese Football until 2010

adidas announced today that it has signed a six-year co-operative agreement with the China Football Association, extending adidas' agreement to support Chinese football until 2010. It is a historic day for both adidas and the CFA as this new contract is the biggest sports marketing deal ever in China.

This agreement demonstrates adidas' commitment to continue its support to China's goal of becoming one of the major contenders in World Cup football. adidas will continue to support all of "Team China", including the men's and women's national teams, the men's U-23 / U-20 / U-17 team and the women's national youth and junior teams. adidas will also contribute to the development of grassroots programs as well as football-relevant training for Chinese football. 

adidas has been the long-term partner of the CFA for the last two decades, witnessing a lot of achievements of Chinese football over the past 20 years, including the Chinese Women's National Football Team's success in the FIFA Women's World Cup 1999 and the Chinese Men's National Football Team's first ever qualification for the first round group stage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

"We are proud of the unique and visionary contributions adidas has made to the development of Chinese football since 1979. This new agreement is our long-term commitment to further support the development of Chinese football as well as the Chinese market," said Erich Stamminger, member of the Executive Board of adidas-Salomon AG responsible for Global Marketing.

CFA Executive Vice President, Mr. Yan Shi Duo, added, "adidas is respected as the world leader in the football industry and I truly believe that the new agreement will further strengthen our partnership and contribute to the development of Chinese Football."

As the world's leading football brand, adidas continues to apply innovative technologies to further expand its leadership in the worldwide football market. adidas has been associated with the FIFA, UEFA, AFC and many of the top international federations and their national teams for many years, including France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, and Japan.