Tune Group Hypes Up Premier League Fever

TUNE GROUP HYPES UP PREMIER LEAGUE FEVER

24 FANS TO HEAD FOR HONG KONG FOR BARCLAYS ASIA TROPHY

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 July 2011 – It will be a fantastic opportunity for 24 Premier League football fans to catch their favourite teams performing ‘live’ during the Barclays Asia Trophy in Hong Kong next week as Tune Group offers 12 pairs of Category A tickets for all 4 matches at the tour on 27 and 30 July 2011.

Tune Group has come in as the Official Partner of the Barclays Asia Trophy that will see Chelsea, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and the 2010/11 Hong Kong First Division champions Kitchee battle out each other at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Tune Hotels Group CEO Mark Lankester, on behalf of Tune Group, says: “Malaysia has been abuzz with football fever with Premier League teams Liverpool, Arsenal and now Chelsea coming to town as part of their Asian tours. The awareness of Premier League football is at an all-time high right now, not only in Malaysia but also Asia. To further drive up the temperature, Tune Group is pleased to be the Official Partner of the coming Barclays Asia Trophy later this month, giving away 12 pairs of Category A tickets. We have received overwhelming response and lucky winners will be leaving for Hong Kong next week.”

The first phase of the contest that ends today (Wednesday) was run on Tune Hotels Facebook pages, spread across 4 regions including Malaysia (www.facebook.com/tunehotels), Thailand (www.facebook.com/tunehotelsTH), Indonesia (www.facebook.com/tunehotelsIND) and the United Kingdom (www.facebook.com/tunehotelsUK). Meanwhile the second and final phase is currently running on Tune Talk Facebook page on www.facebook.com/tunetalk until tomorrow (Thursday).

A fan needs to ‘Like’ the respective Facebook page, and then update and tag their Facebook status with comments on why they became a fan. Fans with the best Facebook status updates will be selected winners.

Chelsea, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and the 2010/11 Hong Kong First Division champions Kitchee will play in the Barclays Asia Trophy. Now an established part of the Premier League’s fixture calendar, the Barclays Asia Trophy is a bi-annual tournament and the only Premier League-affiliated competition to be held outside England. The four team knock-out tournament will take place over two match days on Wednesday 27 and Saturday 30 July 2011, with a final to determine the winner and a play-off to decide third place.

All matches will take place in the Hong Kong Stadium, at 6pm and 8.30 pm. Apart from a pair of Category A tickets to watch all 4 matches, winners will also enjoy free accommodation courtesy of Tune Group and return flight seats sponsored by AirAsia.

This is the fifth Asia Trophy, the others having previously been held in Kuala Lumpur (2003), Bangkok (2005), Hong Kong (2007) and Beijing (2009). This time, however, the Barclays Asia Trophy is coupled with the first ever Barclays Premier League Trophy Tour where the exhibition allows fans to interact with the famous trophy up close and will feature a replica centre circle and ‘The Changing Room’ where special exhibits will be available.

Tune Group is the Principal Partner for Professional Games Match Officials (PGMO) for three seasons beginning from 2010/11. PGMO is the body responsible for providing and managing all professional match officials in English football and uniquely works with all three major English governing bodies – the Premier League, the FA and the Football League – to provide match officials for their competitions.

Tune Group is also the exclusive partner of Premier League’s leading international grassroots project Premier Skills, organised in partnership with the British Council. Premier Skills is currently running an ‘Introduction to Refereeing’ course as part of “Premier Skills Phase 2” which will focus on introducing community organisations to the rules of the game. It will re-unite the Phase 1 sports coaches who have already demonstrated their ability and commitment to apply what they have learnt by running football coaching programmes in their own local communities. Phase 1 was launched in Malaysia in October 2009.

The course is taking place from 17 July to the 22 July 2011 at Garden International School and is being led by Keith Hackett, an international FIFA referee and former head of the body responsible for all professional referees in England – the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMO).