La Liga to launch Asian Cup competition

Spain’s top football division, La Liga, has launched the LFP International Cup, which is to be held in Asia starting in 2011.

The competition was launched at the Soccerex Forum in Singapore by La Liga CEO Francisco Roca Perez and Sergi Vieta of the Megapro agency, and is part of a long-term strategy by La Liga to increase brand awareness in Asia.

Details of the new tournament remain unrefined at the moment, but it was confirmed that three as yet unnamed La Liga teams will play in South East Asia either next July or August.

Roca said: “For us, this is a very particularly exciting and new development of the Spanish League. We are trying to change the gears in terms of how the Spanish League and its players are being promoted internationally.

“We feel we have a lot to offer to the world of football in general, and we think that Asia is one of the key areas for the expansion of football in general and of the Spanish League in particular.”

Vieta added: “After the exploits of Barcelona in the 2009/10 season, and with Spain recently emerging as World Cup champions, we felt that this is the best time to introduce the LFP International Cup and share the beauty of Spanish football with the Asian market.”