BEIJING, China — China's richest man said more Chinese companies are likely to join his Dalian Wanda Group Co. in becoming top FIFA sponsors and help the country's chances to host the World Cup for the first time.

Another Chinese company will probably sign up as a partner “within a very short time,” and yet another may do so within a year, Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin, who last week struck a 15- year agreement with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday. He didn’t identify the other companies.

Having multiple sponsors “will help China bid to host the World Cup,” Wang said. “That’s for sure.”

Increased influence with FIFA would bolster China’s plans to elevate its standing in soccer as it seeks to build sports into a 5-trillion-yuan ($771 billion) industry in the country by 2025. The deal also builds on Wang’s push to enlarge his sports business, which has been the focus of his expansion plans along with entertainment.

Under FIFA regulations the earliest China could host the tournament would be 2030.

Wanda became FIFA’s sixth partner, the highest sponsorship level, after BP Plc’s Castrol oil brand, Johnson & Johnson and tire maker Continental AG didn’t renew their agreements in the wake of a corruption scandal that led to the ouster of longtime president Joseph “Sepp” Blatter. The other remaining partners are Adidas AG, Coca-Cola Co., Gazprom, Hyundai Motor Group and Visa Inc.With Wanda in the mix, there are two partner slots still open.

“We hope to find in this sponsorship contract a huge opportunity for Chinese soccer and for the development of Wanda’s soccer business,” Wang said. Western companies that chose not to renew their sponsorship agreements “will surely regret it,” he said.

The FIFA agreement is the latest in a string of sports-related deals for Wanda recently. In addition to taking a 20 percent stake in Club Atletico de Madrid last year, Wanda also bought Infront Sports & Media AG, a sports marketing company headed by Philippe Blatter — nephew of Sepp — that does millions of dollars worth of business with FIFA. Wanda also bought Ironman organizer World Triathlon Corp.

For FIFA, the influx of cash is welcome. The association said Thursday that costs associated with the scandal, including legal fees, led to a loss of $122 million in 2015, the group’s first year in the red since 2002.

By Zhang Dingmin; editors: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam and Young-Sam Cho.