English Premier League champions Chelsea are leading the pre-season programming by confirming Malaysia as their pre-season training hub next summer 2011. This was announced by Ron Gourlay, Chief Executive of Chelsea, when he revealed details of the plan at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Also present at the event were Tengku Mahkota Pahang Tengku Abdullah, Deputy President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), and Julian Kam, CEO of ProEvents International Sdn Bhd.

"At Chelsea we are in no doubt about the interest from Malaysia in the club," Gourlay says. "A huge crowd came to our game during our last tour of Asia and with next summer's match taking place in the 85,000-capacity national stadium there is the chance for many fans here to come watch us again."

"As a centre for pre-season training as well, our manager Carlo Ancelotti will require first-class facilities and we know Malaysia will provide that too."

"And we are looking forward to getting closer to our fans out here. Announcing so early gives us the opportunity to plan activities in the region over the next 10-11 months ahead of our pre-season tour. Our successful community coaching scheme will be just one of many engagement activities."

ProEvents, the leading football marketing and management consultancy in Asia, has been appointed once again as the sole and exclusive tour promoter for the Chelsea Asia Tour 2011. The company will be celebrating its 10th year of operations in Malaysia next year.

"We are delighted to bring Chelsea back to Malaysia with the support of Tengku Mahkota," said Julian Kam, who is also a FIFA Match Agent. "Over the years we have built a reputation not only for ProEvents but also for Malaysia. Malaysia is best known for its superb hospitality, excellent facilities for football and the tremendous football fans we have in this country. The Chelsea Supporters Club here has a 600-strong following, and numbers are growing."

Chelsea, the current EPL and FA Cup champions, will be aiming at winning all trophies this season. "The Club is widely popular throughout the world and especially so in Asia where fans will support Champions. With Ron's vision to plan the pre-season ahead, this will give Chelsea fans in the region a tremendous opportunity to plan their next summer holiday in Malaysia,” added Julian Kam.

A comprehensive program will be drawn up to welcome Chelsea to Kuala Lumpur. Activities to promote the event, together with match details relating to ticket pricing, venues and timing, will be announced in the near future.

For media queries, please contact:

Ms Prema Ong

ProEvents Group