STATSports nets a major deal to help China score on football front

NEWRY-BASED STATSports has signed a new deal with the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to provide its wearable technology to all national teams within the federation.

Just weeks after announcing a multi-million-pound expansion to create 237 jobs, the company has positioned itself as one of the beneficiaries of a major investment in football in China.

The country has set a target of getting 50 million people playing the sport by 2020, with the CFA harbouring ambitions to qualify, host and win a World Cup all within the next 30 years. The goals have resulted in significant funds being directed at football in China.

STATsports has described the deal for its APEX wearable player tracking system (right) as “landmark”.

Its GPS products and analysis solutions have made the company a major international player, with a client list that includes teams from the Premier League, La Liga, NFL and NBA. The CFA deal follows major deals earlier this year with the US Soccer and the Brazilian Football confederations.

STATSports’ chief global strategist Jarlath Quinn (top left) said: “Chinese football has received a great deal of coverage over the last couple of years and has made significant investments to ensure they can compete at the highest level in years to come.”

President Xi Jinping’s National Football Plan for creating a world-class national team includes producing 70,000 pitches and 50,000 coaches by 2020.

With over 800,000 primary schools in China and many hundreds of thousands more secondary schools, Mr Quinn said the business potential is enormous.

“STATSports are delighted to play our part in assisting the CFA to achieve their goals over the coming years and are excited to build on this partnership as the sport continues to grow throughout China.”

Lido Du, head of national team performance at the Chinese Football Association, said: “We are looking to improve our on-field performance of our national teams. We identified GPS player tracking technology as a crucial factor in facilitating this improvement.

“We have tested all leading GPS suppliers on the market and we very happy with the overall package offered by STATSports.

“Their APEX system provided the most accurate data feedback and allows us the most in-depth insights into our athletes’ performance at all levels of the association.”