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Beijing, China (January 30, 2008) /China Newswire/ — China's first independent football network, ClubFootball (Beijing Wanguo Qunxing FC) has joined forces with MasterCard Worldwide to kick off MasterCard ClubFootball Junior Football Winter Courses. The project is organized in association with Sina Qinzi Zhongxin and the Middle School Times and not only offers Beijing youngsters free and discounted football coaching courses but is also a step towards a brighter future for amateur football.

The Winter Courses mark just one part of a campaign by ClubFootball and MasterCard Worldwide to support amateur football, which over the last 3 years has seen ClubFootball build a fully fledged league and a number of coaching academies to broaden the appeal and scale of amateur football for men, ladies and children, all of which have been backed by MasterCard Worldwide.

According to Rowan Simons, Chairman of ClubFootball, "in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when so many will be focusing on professional sport, MasterCard have seen the real light in coming out in support of amateur football/sport to help demonstrate that sport really is for everybody!"

MasterCard's sponsorship of the Winter Courses allows for 88 free places and over 350 discounted places which are available to more than 500,000 students through a prize competition with Sina and the Middle School Times. Other prizes on offer courtesy of MasterCard are 2008 ClubFootball Memberships bringing discounts at 120+ locations around Beijing and worth RMB100.

Willie Fung, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Greater China and Korea, MasterCard Worldwide, wished the courses every success, believing that this co-operative project between ClubFootball and MasterCard is one of the most exciting to date. "For China, the year 2008 is really a year marked out by sport, and we hope that that through our co-operation with ClubFootball that we can help the local amateur football scene to develop and through this allow more people to participate and use football as a means of keeping fit and healthy, having an enjoyable time and making new friends, What's more this kind of activity is exactly the priceless experience that makes for a better life!"

ClubFootball regards the development of junior amateur football with particular importance and the club's General Manager, Keith Bradbury stated that "we have established these engaging and unique coaching courses at more than 10 locations in Beijing, all of which open to boys and girls of all ages and ability levels. We especially welcome more Chinese youngsters to get involved and experience the courses that we've established at numerous international schools, to practice their football and English, and to make new friends.

The MasterCard ClubFootball Winter Junior Football Winter Courses take place from January 28 - February 1 and from February 11-15. All ClubFootball courses feature experienced, professional coaches and are open to boys and girls of all nationalities from 5-18 years old.

INTERNET LINKS

http://www.mastercard.com
http://www.clubfootball.com.cn
http://baby.sina.com.cn
http://zxss.ynet.com

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes over 16 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.

ClubFootball is Beijing's first joint venture football club and has broken new ground in developing the game of football in China through a variety of high - profile and grass roots projects and initiatives that have earned the company recognition throughout the business, sporting and wider community.

Sina Qinzi Zhongxin is part of the online giant Sina. It is the largest, most authoritative, and most comprehensive Chinese website devoted to parental education. It provides a wealth of specialized knowledge, services and information for parents and parents-to-be designed to cover every possible aspect of their child's life.

Middles School Times is part of the Beijing Youth Daily group. The newspaper was founded by the Education Committees of Beijing and Tianjin. It is circulated in all of the capital's Middle schools and has the largest circulation for a newspaper of its type.

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