Firm's chance to boost Chinese soccer

A Leeds firm is taking football to China

A Leeds firm will have a hand in helping China develop as a super power on the football pitch.

The sports marketing firm Sino-Navigator has landed a deal to develop football among 375 million youngsters in the country.

Director Graham Morgan said it is a great opportunity for the Leeds-based company to introduce the game to Chinese schoolchildren.

The company will roll out a project across China to encourage the inclusion of the sport in school timetables.

Potential stars will then be groomed through scholarships and academies to fine-tune their skills.

The whole enterprise will kick off with a display of footballing skills in Tiananmen Square in front of a pan-Asian TV audience later this year.

Mr Morgan told BBC Radio Leeds: "We're delighted that a company in Leeds, not London, has been able to land this deal.

And added: "China has been very warm in their reception of us."