March 21 – While Barcelona teammate Neymar is contemplating his €45.9 million fine for tax evasion in Brazil, Lionel Messi – no stranger to multiple tax fraud allegations himself – was signing on another sponsorship deal, this time with Chinese telecoms firm Huawei.
Huawei has appointed Messi as a global brand ambassador with the aim of helping the company build its marketshare in the European, Asian and Latin American markets.
No figure was announced for the deal.
President of the mobile phone company, Kevin Ho, said: “Lionel Messi will help our brand to encourage people to focus, persevere and breakthrough; to connect with greatness, especially in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, where Huawei is devoting its efforts.”
The company’s European head, Walter Ji, said: “We are delighted to have found such a perfect counterpart in Lionel Messi, especially as the Western European region is so passionate about football.”
Ji added that the company has been “investing heavily in innovation and talent to produce exactly the premium devices consumers ask for – this has put us among the top 3 smartphone providers worldwide and we are not stopping here.”
Huawei use of sports marketing is based around its #ConnectingGreatness campaign which has various sponsor partnerships with football clubs in its key markets, including leading clubs in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, as well as European clubs Arsenal, Atlético de Madrid and the AC Milan.
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