Tottenham join drive to promote youth football in China

REUTERS - Tottenham Hotspur became the latest club to join the soccer drive in China as the Premier League side will take part in a year-long initiative to develop the game at grassroots level in the Asian country. The London club's global coaching team will follow methods used at their academy to provide 42 physical education teachers an insight into coaching at the elite level, which will help train 8,000 primary and middle school students in Guangzhou. "We understand the importance of football development in China and, given our track record, we are perfectly placed to harness the talent and passion for the game in China to help develop young players who could become future stars of the game," Grant Cornwell, head of global coaching, told the club's website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com) In addition, 40 children - both from Guangzhou and underprivileged areas of China - will visit the United Kingdom for the Jaguar China-UK Football and Cultural Exchange in November, and will undergo a week of intensive training at Tottenham's training centre. Chinese companies are increasingly interested in buying stakes in European soccer clubs not only as profitable investments, but also as a way to help President Xi Jingping's bid to raise the profile of the sport. (Reporting by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)