French Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais and Cup winners FC Sochaux will play off in the traditional new season's Champions Trophy, but this year the game may be played in Tianjin, China, on 24 July. The reason is that both clubs are in Asia during the off-season, Sochaux in China for a training camp and Olympique Lyonnais in South Korea to take part in the invitational Peace Cup in Seoul from 12-21 July.
The promotional concept is for the game to be played in the 60,000-capacity Tianjin stadium (120km of Beijing) at 09.00 PM local time (03.00 PM in France) and broadcast live in both countries to an estimated record audience of around 250 million viewers. Both the French and Chinese FAs have reportedly given their approval to the proposed game and the clubs are waiting for the agreement of the LFP, its marketing department and France Television.
The promotional concept is for the game to be played in the 60,000-capacity Tianjin stadium (120km of Beijing) at 09.00 PM local time (03.00 PM in France) and broadcast live in both countries to an estimated record audience of around 250 million viewers. Both the French and Chinese FAs have reportedly given their approval to the proposed game and the clubs are waiting for the agreement of the LFP, its marketing department and France Television.