The Lions' bus and its envoy of bikers

IAH's COO Richard Chua (right) lifting the cup with the Lion's Captain, Aide lskandar

IAH's COO Richard Chua (left) with FAS President, Prof. Ho Peng Kee

The Inter-Company Championship Cup brought home

IF Infocomm Asia Holdings had any say in it, the line between real life and online football will soon be blurred.

The online games company, who will be releasing top Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games such as Granado Espada, Hellgate: London and Emil Chronicles Online this year all across South East Asia, was recently the main prize sponsor for the reward to the Lions, Singapore’s national football team, for their winning the Asean Football Championship.

Other new sponsors, including Singapore Power, Nike Singapore, Unisteel Technology, Pacific Andes Holdings, ST Telemedia, NTUC Income Insurance and Jay Gee Enterprises-Levi’s, join long-term partner Asia Pacific Breweries-Tiger Beer.

The amount represented the biggest cash prize any individual corporation has given to the Lions for winning this trophy.

They beat teams such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, traditional rivals Malaysia and Asean powerhouse Thailand to retain their Asean crown.

Virtual Realworld Soccer?
The link between online games and real-world football has been non-existent in the past, but Infocomm Asia Holdings is determined to breach that gap.

Said its Chief Executive Officer Roland Ong, “There is a real link between the online games media and real-world football. And not just for online football games, but for all online games, because of the competitive nature of these games and the ‘stars’ they create. As football is the number one sport in South East Asia, we see the fan base as one which would also be interested in such games.”

The relationship, added Mr Ong, is a mutually beneficial one.

Through its reach of some 20 million gamers in South East Asia, Mr Ong is also confident that the sport will benefit from its association to online games.

“Online games is the new media, and IAH can reach out to each gamer personally. By working closely with the respective football authorities, the sport can reach out to potentially millions of new fans across the region,” said Mr Ong.

On Feburary 10, at the celebration ceremony held at Vivocity, IAH’s Chief Operating Officer Richard Chua received a token of appreciation from the Speaker of Parliament Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, for IAH’s support of the Lions. Mr Chua also lifted the Cup with the Lions’ captain, Aide Iskandar; as well as goalkeeper Lionel Lewis, whose saves in the tournament were crucial in helping Singapore win the trophy for the third time since the championships begun in 1996.

Football Passion Runs Deeper

The IAH team at their fortnightly soccer game
Business is not the only link IAH has with the football world.

Mr Ong himself is very passionate about the game. While he was establishing the on-line game industry in China, Mr Ong also found time to bring the Inter-Company Championship Cup to his then organization, personally leading his team to victory. Today, IAH has bi-weekly football matches where the entire company roughs it out in the field.

One of IAH’s directors, Mr Zhu Jun, who is also chief executive officer of The9 Limited, one of China’s biggest online game companies, recently purchased majority shares in China’s number one football club, Shanghai Shenhua. Also a football fanatic, Mr Zhu intends to consolidate the best of China’s football stars (Mr Zhu already owns another top football team, Lian Cheng) and take on the footballing world.

IAH will work together with Mr Zhu to foster closer footballing ties between China and Singapore, as well as the rest of the Asean countries.