Bayern lends expertise to Chinese sports management students

Tsinghua University has expanded its academic prowess to the sports field after signing a deal with top German soccer club Bayern Munich to help teach sports management.

Under the deal signed on Friday, FC Bayern Munich will assist in the sports management courses offered by the university's Center for Development of Sports Industry.

The club will run guest lecturers, organize joint case studies and participate in a variety of academic research activities.

Rouven Kasper, managing director of FC Bayern Munich's Shanghai office, was also appointed as a member of the supervisory board of the university's sports faculty.

Tsinghua established the center dedicated to sports management last year to offer various courses combining academic and practical approaches for executives and high-ranking officials in the sports circle.

"This partnership with the top university in China is both an honor and a commitment for FC Bayern," Jörg Wacker, Bayern Munich director of internationalization and strategy, said.

"Our work with Tsinghua University underlines our commitment to long-term and sustainable activity in China."

Yang Bin, vice-president of Tsinghua University, said FC Bayern experience would inspire China's sports industry.

"FC Bayern is one of the most successful soccer clubs in the world with a huge number of national and international titles. What's more, it is a world-famous club with a uniquely sustainable approach to management, which has helped FC Bayern achieve positive financial results in the last 26 years despite significant economic and sporting pressures.

The partnership with Tsinghua University is the club's second cooperation with an elite higher education institution in China.

In December 2016, the 'FC Bayern Munich Scholarship' was awarded for the first time at Tongji University in Shanghai.

Since August 2015 FC Bayern has also been working with Columbia University in New York, where the club's US office has been based since August 2014.

This summer, Bayern will play in Shanghai and Shenzhen in the lead up to the 2017/18 season.