Christian Karembeu won the Champions League trophy twice in his spell at Real Madrid, starting in the 1998 Final and as part of their squad in 2000 so there are few people better placed than he to appreciate the true lustre and appeal of the tournament.
The French World Cup winner was speaking at the Bangkok leg of the Heineken sponsored Champions League Trophy Tour, a unique opportunity for Asian fans will get chance to see the famous Trophy
The tour ran for the first time back in 2007 when more than 50,000 fans turned up to see the prestigious trophy up close in Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. This year will also see fans in South Korea get their first glimpse of the prize.
Karembeu believes that it is fundamentally important to share the world’s number one club tournament with supporters in Asia.
He said: “It is a great honour for me to be part of the team that we have here parading the trophy across this fabulous continent.
“I am very proud to be an ambassador for Uefa and it’s a great experience for me to come to Asia and experience the passion of the fans here.
“In terms of viewers, the Champions League is hugely popular over here and that is why we are here.
“This is the second time that I have been here doing this personally and it is a great honour for me to show off the trophy and promote the tournament.”
Karembeu also believes that the popularity of Premier League football in the continent has fuelled the fans desire to enjoy Champions League games.
He added: “Being realistic, I think that the popularity of the Premier League is a big factor.
“There are huge television audiences for the league in Asia and obviously players who play for the very best teams in the Premier League are also visible in the Champions League.
“In recent years a lot of the teams who have progressed to the latter stages of the competition have been English and there are always 3 or 4 who make it to the group stages.
“I think that initially the fans were drawn in by the fact that their favourite stars from the Premier League were competing in the competition.
“But there are so many other great teams who also compete in the tournament – you have Barcelona, Madrid, Juve, Milan and Inter and many others so I think that has added to the culture of popularity with fans over here and that can only be a good thing.”
*
The Trophy Tour
The schedule of the 2011 UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by Heineken is:
February 22 – 27: Kuala Lumpur
March 5 – 6: Penang
March 11 – 12: Kuala Lumpur
March 16 – 17: Bangkok
March 19 – 20: Chiang Mai
March 25 – 27: Kon Kaen
April 6 – 9: Seoul
April 15 – 17: Hong Kong
There will me more to follow about the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by Heineken…
[divider]
[divider]