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| Chelsea to help China quake relief |
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| Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon |
HONG KONG: Chelsea will play Chinese Super League team Chengdu Blades in Macau next month with a series of events around the game to raise awareness and money for the Sichuan earthquake relief effort.
The Premier League heavyweights, who are currently without a manager after Avram Grant was sacked, will take on the Blades on July 26.
They have already announced matches in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical on July 23 and in Kuala Lumpur on July 29 against a Malaysian Select XI as part of their pre-season Asia tour.
The fixture in the former Portugese colony takes on added significance because of the opposition.
The city of Chengdu was seriously damaged by the recent devastating earthquake in China which left over 86,000 people dead or missing.
Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said he knew the area well as it is one of the cities in the Vision China grassroots project in which the club partners the Asian Football Confederation.
“We are very happy to play this game in Macau as it has particular significance for us with our connections to Chengdu via the Vision China programme (of AFC),” he said in a statement.
“We did look at playing a game in Chengdu, and now for very obvious and tragic reasons, that will not be possible.”
“But we are delighted to assist in raising awareness for the earthquake relief effort as well as having excellent opposition to help prepare for the new season.”
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