By Mark Baber
May 21 – UEFA has signed an agreement with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) which becomes the seventh official sponsor of UEFA’s national team competitions, including the UEFA European Football Championships.
SOCAR is one of the world’s largest oil companies and ranked the 68th largest company in the world with a valuation of $20 billion.
As part of the agreement SOCAR will be included in the commercial programme for this summer’s UEFA European Under-21 Championship and UEFA Women’s EURO 2013 final tournaments.
SOCAR also becomes an official sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament and acquires rights in connection with the European Qualifiers for EURO 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup as well as official sponsor of the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship due to take place in Azerbaijan.
The oil company joins six other Euro 2016 global partners – Coca-Cola, adidas, McDonald’s, Hyundai/Kia, Continental and Carlsberg – on UEFA’s premium sponsorship platform. SOCAR’s other sponsorships include the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan and top tier club Neftchi Baku,
Guy-Laurent Epstein, the marketing director of UEFA Events, said: “We are very pleased to welcome SOCAR as an official partner of the UEFA national team competitions, including the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship and the 2014–17 European Qualifiers. This comprehensive sponsorship platform will offer SOCAR a unique opportunity to promote their brand and drive engagement with their target audience.”
Azerbaijan has been showing a growing interest (if not activity) in sports internationally and the UEFA sponsorship is the first major European move into the area by a company from the country. SOCAR’s vice-president of marketing and investments, Elshad Nasirov, said: ” Sponsorships across sport are a very significant point for us, and for SOCAR to be associated with such a large-scale and exciting competition as the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship is very important. This sponsorship provides us with a unique platform to raise the international profile of SOCAR, and reflects our vision of establishing and building a premium brand in the energy sector.”
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