Pirelli, the Italian tyre manufacturer, will be the title sponsor of the Super League, the top tier of Chinese soccer, after agreeing a three-year deal with the Chinese Football Association worth more than US$6.5 million.

The move is the latest from a company seemingly determined to use soccer to break the Chinese market. Pirelli is the long-term sponsor of Italian giants Inter Milan, and has regularly displayed its name in Chinese characters on the Serie A champions' shirts. Pirelli recently increased its operations in the Shandong province of China.

The 2009 Super League will be broadcast throughout China after agreeing a new deal with Chinese Central Television, and Pirelli's cash is just the latest in an influx of investment in the league. In recent years, Chinese soccer has been dogged by betting and bribery scandals, but the government has announced a strict new policy to eliminate such problems from the game.