Atletico has won nine Liga championships.

According to the AS sports daily, Miguel Angel Gil Marin went to Shanghai, China, to sign an agreement with a famous football team in China and afterwards he will fly to Hanoi.

Marin will go to China and Vietnam to seek funding for his club’s new stadium – La Peineta, which will be expanded from 20,000 to 73,000 seats by 2012.

Marin will meet with Vietnamese businessmen interested in buying ads or the stadium name. The Spanish newspaper reported that Vietnam Airlines, which wants to open air routes to Europe and the US, may become Atletico’s partner. Vietnamese oil and gas, telecom and banking corporations are also potential partners.

Gil Marin will also visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Atletico Madrid currently ranks the 18^th at the Liga after ten matches.

Selling stadium names has become a trend in modern football circles. Arsenal sold its stadium name to Emirates Airways of the UAE for GBP100 million for 15 years. Chelsea also hopes to sell the name of its stadium (Stamford Bridge) to Samsung.

In the last two football seasons, the name of Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai group has appeared on advertising boards during Arsenal’s matches.

VietNamNet/VNE