The LALIGA team, Cádiz CF have formed a collaboration with Kuala Lumpur City FC of the Malaysia Super League to expand their presence in Southeast Asia. Cádiz CF have prioritized internationalization for a while, and by formalising this arrangement, the Spanish club has advanced this effort significantly.
As part of the agreement, Cadiz CF will support Kuala Lumpur City FC’s professionalization and athletic administration, and Los Amarillos have already invited the Malaysian team to come and use their facilities for pre-season training.
Additionally, both clubs have pledged to help the other grow their brands and locate business possibilities in Malaysia and Spain, respectively. By doing this, Cádiz CF will be able to solidify their position in Asia, one of the most valuable worldwide markets.
Cádiz CF, Co-Owner, Ben Harburg, said, “We have identified Southeast Asia as a large and growing market for football. LALIGA have great resources in the region, so we reached out to their regional headquarters in Singapore to aid us in developing a strategy for the key markets. One of the workstreams generated was to build partnerships with key clubs in each major market. The LALIGA delegate in Malaysia helped arrange and facilitate the calls with local clubs and we found that we shared a similar vision and work ethic with Kuala Lumpur City FC.
“This opens the door to the market, by working with our partner club on local scouting, player development, academies, friendly matches and sponsorship opportunities. There is a very large, high-growth, football-hungry population, still underpenetrated by other LALIGA clubs. We hope to find our way into their hearts as their LALIGA side of choice, as we have done in other geographies.
“We are focused on Southeast Asia this year and will announce coming activities and partnerships in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. We have already been very active in China and India, via dedicated social media teams and collaboration programs with national football federations.
“This is our first step in the Malaysian market, but we will be working hard to ensure that is just the first of several workstreams in Malaysia. We hope to use this as a gateway to the market, beginning with simple social media activations and localized content but then expanding to include player transfers, collaboration on academies, organization of friendly matches, and ideally a regional club tour in the off-season, as well as other commercial partnerships.”
LALIGA delegate in Malaysia, Adrián Prol, stated, “At LALIGA, we’re delighted to see more Spanish clubs have a presence in this part of the world. Promoting football around the world is one of the main objectives that LALIGA has set as an integral part of its internationalisation strategy, and this collaboration agreement is a great example of this.”
Prior to this arrangement, Cádiz CF had also developed partnerships in a number of nations, including Saudi Arabia, Saint Kitts & Nevis, and India. Additionally, they have social media accounts in Spanish, English, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic, allowing them to interact with audiences throughout the world.