Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei soccer tournament makes debut

The inaugural Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Champions Cup soccer tournament kicked off on Thursday in Beijing with high expectation to boost the game's development in the region with elite-level competition and youth training programs annually.

The tournament is jointly organized and participated by three Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs, Beijing Guo'an, Tianjin Teda and Hebei China Fortune, and will invite another CSL club, Henan Jianye, to play in round-robin for the winner's bonus of 1 million yuan ($149,963) at China Fortune's home stadium in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, on Oct 5 and 8.

The tournament held during the 19-day break of 2016 CSL season was initiated to provide more opportunities in high-level drills, youth training exchanges and grassroots promotions for not only the three clubs but also the whole Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, said organizers.

"Under the national plan to push soccer's development from grassroots to elite level, we feel that as part of the major urban area in North China the three cities have a lot in common, especially in people's interest in soccer," said Ye Jun, chairman of Hebei China Fortune.

"The event will provide more games to feed the growing appetite of fans for more competitions apart from the league as well as a dialogue platform for all stakeholders involved in the game to work together in club operation and youth development," he said.

Starting from this year, the three clubs will take turns to host the tournament and correlated activities annually with support from regional football associations.

Beijing Guo'an's General Manger Shen Li said on Thursday that the four-team exhibition tournament could be expanded into a bigger event involving each club's youth squads of multiple age groups.

"Hopefully, the event will help propel the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region into a professional soccer hotbed that could be compared to the Greater London Region in England," said Shen.

There are currently 11 professional and semi-professional soccer clubs competing in China's top-three-tier leagues in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, while around 90 clubs in all-level leagues are being operated in the equivalent area around London, according to renowned TV commentator and Premier League expert Su Dong.

"The event builds a platform to engage all the fans in the region and develop the sense of belonging among them to the region's teams. That will help inspire greater participation," said Su.

The competition was the latest event in the sports sector to realize the central government's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integrated development plan after Beijing and co-host city Zhangjiakou in Hebei province won the rights to host the 2022 Winter Olympics last July.