By Mark Baber
November 12 – Movistar, which has been the main sponsor of the Spanish national team since the Euro 2012 championship in Poland and Ukraine, has extended its sponsorship to cover the period up to and including the Euro 2016 Championship in France.
The new two-year deal between Movistar, part of the Telefónica telecommunication empire, and the national squad was announced by Telefónica President Luis Miguel Gilpérez and national team manager Vicente del Bosque.
The new deal also covers the Spanish senior and under-21 women’s team as well as the image rights for Vicente del Bosque.
In August, Movistar TV launched the Movistar Futbol channel to show qualifying matches for the UEFA Euro 2016 championship and the company clearly retains a strong faith in the Spanish brand of football, notwithstanding the national team having fallen to 10th spot in the latest FIFA World Ranking.
Gilpérez said that “the spirit of the National Team and Telefonica have the same aim: achieve success. Our policy of sponsorship is to focus on our great projects, winning projects. If they were to ask to follow one project, it would be that of the Spanish National Team, everyone’s team.”
Del Bosque, the only football manager to have won the Champions League, the European Championship, and the World Cup, said: “For Telefonica to keep supporting us is very important.”
Present at the ceremony were luminaries including Spanish Football Federation President Ángel María Villar, Director of the National Team María José Claramunt, the Delegate of the Spanish squad Juan Luis Larrea, the technical staff of the national team, as well as the captains of the Spanish team Iker Casillas (arguably the greatest goalkeeper ever) Sergio Ramos and Sergio Busquets.
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