Barcelona planning trips to Asia

SINGAPORE, July 12 (Reuters) European soccer champions Barcelona are lining up two trips to Asia in a bid to reach out to new fans.

The trips were revealed following the signing of a new sponsorship deal with Singapore's Tiger Beer.

''We are planning, for Barcelona, not one but two trips to come to Asia next year,'' the Spanish club's international marketing director Javier Munoa said.

''South-east Asia is expanding and we want to give the fans plenty of opportunities to interact with the club,'' Singaporean newspaper Today quoted him as saying.

The sponsorship deal was sealed on Tuesday in Singapore and confirms Tiger as the official partner of Barcelona in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

As part of the deal, the Singapore brewers of Tiger will offer fans trips to watch the Spaniards at the Nou Camp and said meet-the-player sessions were in the pipeline.

Les Buckley, group commercial director of Asia Pacific Breweries, said the partnership was not simply a chance for European clubs to ''exploit Asia''.

''It is important that everybody plays their part and does their duty to raise the quality of the game (in Asia),'' he told the newspaper.

REUTERS DH KP0940