Spanish champions Atletico Madrid to make debut in Hong Kong Soccer Sevens
La Liga champions will send an academy side for next month's annual football showpiece
Reigning Spanish champions Atletico Madrid will make their tournament debut at this year's HKFC Citibank Soccer Sevens, which will be held at Hong Kong Football Club from May 29 to 31.
Atletico, Spain's third-best supported club after Real Madrid and Barcelona, will be the first Spanish club to compete in the annual seven-a-side tournament, which will mark its 16th edition in May - a year after Atletico clinched their 10th La Liga title.
Atletico Madrid is proud to be the first Spanish side to compete at the HKFC Citibank Soccer Sevens, which has a strong reputation
The announcement came as the club confirmed China's Wanda Group had officially acquired a 20 per cent stake in the La Liga champions, worth a reported €44.98 million (HK$376 million).
Emilio Gutierrez, director of the club's academy and expansion, said: "Atletico Madrid is proud to be the first Spanish side to compete at the HKFC Citibank Soccer Sevens, which has a strong reputation. We can see that many great teams have won the event and each year there are famous clubs competing, so we'll just do our best and hope to entertain the fans with our style of football.
"We are sure that this tournament will be also a great platform to promote the Atletico Madrid brand all over the Asian market, which is a strategic area in the international expansion process of our club."
