German giants Borussia Dortmund partner with Langkawi City in Malaysia

2021 German Cup champions Borussia Dortmund have entered a partnership with Malaysian club Langkawi City FC.

The partnership between the Bundesliga club and Langkawi City will involve the development of grassroots and youth programmes in Langkawi. Other key activities include a regional youth tournament series alongside BVB coaches and the exchange of education and sport tourism programmes between the two organisations.

Langkawi City, which currently plays in the third tier of Malaysian football, has a stadium with a capacity of 10,000.

What was said?

"Football is becoming more and more popular in and around the world and particularly in Asia and we're proud to cooperate with Langkawi City. An extensive exchange of knowledge and our continuous support of the development of youth and grassroots football in Langkawi and Malaysia is the focus of this cooperation," said BVB Chief Operations Officer, Carsten Cramer.

Dr. Suresh Letchmanan, Managing Director of BVB Asia Pacific, added, "More than providing our very top and impactful football programmes for children and youth, we pride ourselves in enhancing the quality of our coaching and technical programmes. We are encouraged to bring excitement and excellence to our participants in Malaysia. Our expertise will definitely help to inspire the coaches and youth in Langkawi to train and work hard and I hope that we will as well see sustained and increased interest in BVB over the years in Malaysia."

How it started?

The Bundesliga club has been active in Asia since 2014, staging youth and marketing initiatives as well as fan engagement events to strengthen its presence in Asia. In addition, the first team has played a number of matches in China, Japan, Malaysia and trained in Singapore in 2015, 2016 & 2017.

What to expect?

Former Prime Minister of Malaysia and Patron of Langkawi, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, explained, "Borussia Dortmund is a successful global brand and there are many things that Langkawi City can learn from this cooperation. Langkawi is a picturesque island and tourism is one of its main industries. I hope that this cooperation will also benefit the people of Langkawi particularly the youth. I wish the partnership all the success on and off the pitch."