Italian Super Cup to be played in Beijing in 2009

Next year's Italian Super Cup will be played at Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium on Aug. 8, the Italian Soccer League said on Tuesday.

It will be the fourth time the season's traditional curtain raiser between the Serie A champions and the Italian Cup winners is disputed abroad after Juventus won it in New York and in Tripoli in 2003 and 2002 and AC Milan prevailed in Washington in 1993.

The 2009-10 season will start on the weekend of Aug. 23, a League spokeswoman said, a week earlier than usual, in order to finish on May 16 and give Marcello Lippi's Italy team time to prepare for their World Cup defence in South Africa.