Following New York (2014) and Shanghai (2017), Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are opening their third overseas office in Bangkok, the club said yesterday.
The Thai capital is a hub for the Southeast Asia region, which the German side plan to develop as their next focus market outside of Germany after the US and China.
Bayern intend to use their Bangkok office to intensify direct contact with people who love football, to develop partnerships and to expand existing partnerships for the promotion of youth football.
From Bangkok, numerous supporters in Southeast Asia, as well as fans in India and Oceania, can be reached with greater ease.
The Bangkok office will be led by Maximilian Haschke in his position as the club's head of Southeast Asia.
"Football is the number one sport in Thailand and the whole of Southeast Asia. Around a quarter of the entire global population lives in the region, and we would like to inspire these people even more for FC Bayern," Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn said in a news release.
"Our aim is to achieve a sustainable and lasting interaction with the local fans.
"We are very much looking forward to many joint projects with the millions of football-loving supporters in the region of Southeast Asia."
Haschke said: "I am very excited about our new Bangkok office in this rapidly growing region. We want to bring Mia san Mia [the club's motto which means "We are who we are" in Bavarian] to Southeast Asia.
"Locally, we will exploit all opportunities to expand FC Bayern's presence, strengthen our partnerships and support the young players in the region with our footballing programmes."