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Bundesliga’s head of Asia-Pacific Kevin Sim wants to unearth Hong Kong and China’s next global football talent
- After years of pandemic-influenced pivots, Germany’s top league wants to bring in-person activities back ‘at the earliest time’
- With a rich Asian player history and new Chinese poster boy, Sim hopes ‘someone from Hong Kong or China will play in the Bundesliga soon’
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Germany’s top football league targets physical events back in Hong Kong and China “at the earliest possible window”, says Bundesliga Asia-Pacific head Kevin Sim.
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Whereas the region would normally be rife with marquee name visits, exhibition matches and fan activations, the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions have forced a digital-heavy manoeuvre that will hopefully balance out sooner rather than later.
Bundesliga’s APAC head office was established in Singapore a decade ago this year – the first European football league to open a regional base at the time – and opened an office in China in 2019, not including the six club offices in the mainland.
“Slowly but surely [the pandemic] will come to pass and we’d definitely like to bring more activities to Hong Kong, and eventually to China,” said Sim, who last month conducted in-person business at the league’s Frankfurt headquarters for the first time in more than two years.
“Obviously in markets like China and Vietnam where it’s a lot more strict we’ve been pivoting to digital activations and media round-tables, so we’ve always been active.
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