David Owen: Why Turkish Airlines boss finds delight in Dortmund

A summer Thursday on the shores of Lake Geneva. I am in a salon in Lausanne’s plush Palace hotel talking to Temel Kotil, President and chief executive of Turkish Airlines.

We are just days away from the curtain being drawn on the airline’s sponsorship of Manchester United, arguably the world’s favourite football club (Aeroflot have become the club’s sponsor). Yet I don’t think I have ever met a business leader so bursting with enthusiasm about the effect sporting partnerships can have on multinational companies.

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United Flying High with Aeroflot as Russian influence grows

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By Andrew Warshaw
July 9 – Russia’s growing commercial influence in European sport, and football in particular, has been underlined with the announcement that Manchester United have made state-controlled Aeroflot their airline partner.The five-year deal runs until 2018 when Russia stages the World Cup and marks the latest in a string of Russian ownership and sponsorship agreements.

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Nigerian football’s finances to be strictly scrutinised

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By Mark Baber
Nigerian football, never far from controversy, faces increased scrutiny after the country’s  House of Representatives Committee on Sports called for a total review of the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) agreements with sponsors and the Sports Minister set up a panel to investigate the recent bonus row.

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