Tottemham Hotspur Heading to Malaysia for AIA Cup

• Club to take on Malaysia XI in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday 27th May
• Tour that also includes visit to Sydney provides Club with an opportunity to engage with growing fanbase in Asia-Pacific region
• Match sponsored by Club’s principal commercial partner, AIA
• Visit will see players engage in community activities and sponsor’s events in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur and London (Tuesday, April 7, 2015): Tottenham Hotspur is delighted to announce it will visit Kuala Lumpur next month to take on Malaysia XI in the AIA Cup.

The match will take place at the Shah Alam Stadium on Wednesday May 27, kick off 8.45pm local time (12.45pm UK time) before the team head to Sydney for a friendly with Sydney FC at ANZ Stadium the following Saturday. 

It will be Tottenham Hotspur’s first visit to Malaysia since 1979 and will present an opportunity for the Club to further engage with its well-established fanbase in the region.

The Official Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Club in Malaysia was formed in 2010 and is one of over 100 the Club has around the world. The Club has an estimated fanbase of over 170 million in Far East Asia.

First team players and legends will take part in meet and greet opportunities with supporters as part of the visit, with the squad also set to take part in community activities in Kuala Lumpur alongside the Club’s principal partner, AIA.

Mauricio Pochettino, Head Coach, Tottenham Hotspur, said: “We are delighted to be visiting Malaysia and looking forward to giving our fans in that part of the world a chance to see us play up close against some of the best players from their country.

“We are well aware of the passionate following we have across Asia and the well-established Supporters Club that we have in Malaysia, and hope that we can put on a fantastic show for them on the night as a way thanking them for the continued support they give us from the other side of the world every week.

“Our Global Coaching team will be working alongside the Tour in both Kuala Lumpur and Sydney towards the joint goal we have set with AIA – providing increased sporting opportunities and promoting health and wellbeing across the Asia-Pacific region.”
Dato’ Hamidin Haji Mohd Amin, General Secretary, Football Association of Malaysia, said: “This will be Tottenham Hotspur’s first visit to Malaysia in 36 years and we are delighted to welcome them to Kuala Lumpur in May.

The Club has many fans around the world, with a strong following in Malaysia, and the match against Malaysia XI at the Shah Alam Stadium is one that we expect will be hugely popular amongst soccer fans in the country.”

Bill Lisle, Chief Executive Officer, AIA Bhd, said: “AIA, the official shirt partner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, is pleased to partner with Spurs on its tour to Asia Pacific as part of our efforts to encourage healthy living among our customers and the larger communities in this region.

“Spurs shares AIA’s commitment to the role sport can play in promoting healthy living and we are working closely to deliver that important message through the matches, football clinics and other community outreach initiatives AIA in Malaysia will be organising with Spurs during their upcoming tour to Kuala Lumpur.”

Julian Kam, Group CEO of Official Match Promoter, ProEvents, said: “We are extremely excited to welcome Tottenham Hotspur to play in the AIA Cup in Kuala Lumpur. They are one of the top clubs from the English Premier League and have a following of over 400 million supporters globally, with over 170 million of those fans residing in Far East Asia.

“Therefore, this is fantastic news to all Tottenham Hotspur fans in Malaysia and thousands more from neighbouring countries such as Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei, who we hope to see at Shah Alam Stadium on the night.”

General sale tickets are priced at RM58 with a limited number of VIP seats available at RM428 and RM328. All tickets are now available for purchase at Ticketpro, either online via www.ticketpro.com.my and hotline, +603-7880-7999. Tickets will be available at Ticketpro outlets at a later date.

About AIA Bhd.
AIA Bhd. is a leading insurer in Malaysia, where we have been privileged to do business since 1948. We offer a suite of high quality products including Protection, Health, Personal Accident, General Insurance, Employee Benefits, Retirement and Family Takaful solutions to meet our customers’ protection and financial security needs at every life stage. Through our wide and diverse distribution footprint which comprises a 17,000-strong Life Planner force, our exclusive bank partner’s branches nationwide as well as corporate sales teams and brokers, we give our customers the choice of deciding how, when and where they connect with us.

Part of the AIA Group, the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group, AIA Bhd. has the financial strength, experience, service centre network as well as a well-trained team of more than 2,000 staff to serve our 3 million customers nationwide. As at end 2014, AIA Bhd.’s total asset worth was RM46 billion, with a paid-up capital of RM767 million.

About AIA
AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or the “Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has operations in 17 markets in Asia-Pacific – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, a 97 per cent subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 26 per cent joint venture in India and a representative office in Myanmar.

The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai over 90 years ago. It is a market leader in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US$167 billion as of 30 November 2014.
AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia-Pacific, AIA serves the holders of more than 28 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.

AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “1299” with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: “AAGIY”).

About Tottenham Hotspur
Founded in 1882, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has a tradition of playing an entertaining and attacking style of football. The team has achieved five consecutive top six Premier League finishes and has a multi-national squad of players. Tottenham Hotspur also has:

A global following in excess of 400 million, with strong supporter bases across the UK, the USA, China, Asia and Southern Africa, including more than 100 Official Supporters Clubs worldwide

Commercial partnerships with globally-recognised brands including AIA Group Limited (AIA) – one of the world’s leading providers of insurance services; US sportswear giants Under Armour, and EA Sports

A newly-built state-of-the-art training centre with advanced plans for a new world class stadium development that will sit at the heart of a major regeneration for North London 

An award winning Foundation that has created over 2 million opportunities to help enhance the lives of people in its local community through education, employment, health and social inclusion programmes

About ProEvents Group
ProEvents is the leading football marketing and management consultancy in Asia with expertise in providing unique and insightful football market intelligence. With offices in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, ProEvents have organised and promoted football events all over Asia including Brunei, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

ProEvents’s co-founder and CEO, Julian Kam became one of FIFA Licensed Match Agent since 2000, and is the first Chinese to achieve this professional qualification.
Together with the chairman, Paul Kam, they entered sports marketing industry by establishing ProEvents Management Limited in Hong Kong in 1992, at a time where the industry was dominated by overseas companies.

Over the past 23 years, ProEvents has become the leading football promoter in Asia. We have organised and promoted more international football matches and clubs football tours in Asia than any other companies. Teams brought into Asia include Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Inter Milan and many others. Apart from Club teams, we also worked with National Associations such as Brazil, England, Argentina and all local football associations in the region. With our second to none track record in the industry, the company is well recognised and respected by leading sports and entertainment companies across Europe, Asia and America as well as by clubs and national associations.

Released by Shekhinah PR on behalf of ProEvents International.
For further information kindly contact:

Darshini Mahendranathan
Head of Corporate Communications
03-20561280/Darshini.Mahendranathan@aia.com