Great stuff to be honest. Would love to see Madrid play. Liverpool played at the MCG last year infront of 95k
http://www.afr.com/Page/Uuid/42a58b44-2 ... eGift=TRUE
A big international football tournament featuring famous clubs such as Manchester City and Real Madrid will be played in Australia next year under an agreement set to be struck by Nine Entertainment Co.
The Australian Financial Review understands a deal is imminent to play three matches of the off-season International Champions Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next July.
This year’s ICC tournament was played in July and August in the United States, with English Premier League club Manchester United beating Liverpool in the final in Miami.
Other teams taking part included Inter Milan and AC Milan from Italy, Real Madrid and Greek side Olympiakos.
The 2015 tournament will be expanded to also have a presence in Asia, with matches also being playing in Beijing alongside those in Melbourne.
Nine, though its Nine Live entertainment division entered into a joint venture with sports consultancy TLA Worldwide in June to bring the ICC tournament to the Asia-Pacific Region for three years from 2015.
The chairman of TLA, Bart Campbell, is also the chairman and part-owner of NRL side Melbourne Storm. The ICC event is owned by Relevent Sports, a division of RSE Ventures Inc.
Mr Campbell and a consortium of investors, including BRW Rich List member Gerry Ryan, hold a 20 per cent stake in A-League club Melbourne City. The remaining 80 per cent is owned by Manchester City.
The ICC matches in Melbourne, first revealed by the Financial Review in July, are also being backed by the Victorian state government through its Victorian Major Events Corporation.
The matches have preliminary approval from Football Federation Australia, which organised last week’s A-League All Stars match against Italian giants Juventus in Sydney.
