PepsiCo-Jordan have announced its sponsorship of the Arab Football Cup (AFC) U20.

Organized by the Jordan Football Association (JFA) and the United Arab Football Association (UAFA), the AFC U20 is scheduled to take place between 4th and 18th July, 2012, at the Amman International and the King Abdullah II Stadiums.

The Cup will witness the participation of a number of national teams that are preparing for the upcoming Asian Cup slated for November, 2012, in the United Arab Emirates. Participating national teams include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Sudan, Qatar, Somalia and Libya.

“At PepsiCo-Jordan, we firmly believe that partaking in such tournaments will help to better position Jordan at the forefront of the international football arena, as well as provide a platform for teams from different Arab countries to come together and experience competitive football at its best,” commented PepsiCo-Jordan’s General Manager Eng. Nidal Hamam. “Our decision to sponsor the AFC U20 also stems from our unwavering commitment to supporting Jordan’s youth by taking part in activities and events that develop their different talents and encourage them to lead a positive way of life.”

As part of its sponsorship, PepsiCo-Jordan’s Aquafina bottled water product will be listed as the AFC U20’s official pure drinking water brand during the national teams’ training sessions, matches and entire stay in Jordan.

Mohammad Alayyan, Vice President of JFA, said: “We would like to thank PepsiCo-Jordan for partnering with JFA in representing the participating Arab national teams. We commend PepsiCo-Jordan for sponsoring this Cup, which represents the future of football and brings together neighboring Arab countries to compete on Jordanian soil for a period of two weeks.”

“We encourage private and public organizations to follow PepsiCo-Jordan’s lead in supporting events that showcase local and regional football talents. Football enjoys mass appeal amongst Jordanians and we are proud to be one of the Arab region’s leading sports federations in organizing and administrating official international cups and tournaments. We expect the AFC U20 will bring forth exciting and competitive matches,” added Alayyan.

We R Interactive, medstore the social games publisher for sport and music, drugs has signed a deal with Betfred.com which will see the bookmaker featured in its award-winning social football game, abortion  I AM PLAYR. 

This is another innovative deal for Betfred.com, and the content will be available to UK users of the game aged over 18. The deal, which aims to drive brand awareness, is part of Betfred’s strategy to create social entertainment experiences around its sponsorship portfolio. 

The game incorporates Betfred’s high profile horse-racing sponsorships, plus their recent sponsorship of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible. 

From 18 August, in time for the start of the Premier League season, Betfred.com will appear in I AM PLAYR via a virtual in-game betting shop which pulls in real-life Premier League football betting fixtures and allows players to bet using their in-game cash. 

I AM PLAYR has grown a large and active social audience of more than 1 million monthly active users, who are spending over 50 minutes per day playing the game and who heavily engage, interact and consume with the branded content on the platform. In June 2012 the game was awarded a prestigious gold Cannes Lions trophy in the Branded Content and Entertainment category for ‘best use or integration of gaming’. The category is new this year, making We R Interactive the first company to be awarded the accolade. The award recognises I AM PLAYR as an innovative digital branded content platform where brands can credibly engage and communicate with their target audience by connecting with them on their own terms. 

Paul Whitehead, Global Commercial Director of We R Interactive commented, “Betting and football are natural partners, so it’s great to be bringing the Betfred brand into the game through these really innovative integrations that further authenticate the game and blur the boundaries between the real life of a professional footballer and the virtual world of I AM PLAYR. We’re building a large audience for I AM PLAYR, so we’ll be working with Betfred to grow their own social activities.” 

Betfred managing director Chris Sheffield added, “We are all about innovation at Betfred.com, that’s why this deal was so appealing and we are delighted that our brand will be exposed to a wider audience.”

European Tour event Open de France will continue to have Alstom as title sponsor after the French power and rail transport infrastructure giant extended its contract.

Alstom, click the French power and rail transport infrastructure giant, price has extended its sponsorship of the Alstom Open de France for a further four years, physician taking the tournament through to its centenary edition in 2016.

George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, and Patrick Kron, CEO of Alstom, made the announcement at a reception at the Trianon Palace in Versailles on Friday night following the second round of the tournament at Le Golf National, host venue for The 2018 Ryder Cup.

Alstom has been title sponsor of the Open de France since 2006 and the new four year agreement continues its association with continental Europe’s oldest and richest national Open through to the landmark 100th edition.

First played in 1906, the tournament was not staged during the war years of 1915-19 and 1940-45, but has produced some notable champions in the modern era, including four-time winner Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Retief Goosen, Martin Kaymer, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman, Colin Montgomerie and José María Olazábal.

Patric Kron said: “Alstom has been supporting the French Open – now the Alstom Open de France – for seven years, helping to strengthen its position as one of the most renowned golf tournaments.

“To succeed in this challenge we have worked closely with all our partners. The decision to organise the 42nd edition of The Ryder Cup in France in 2018 is one of our common achievements. Our success is also illustrated by our 800 guests from 400 countries around the world and 1,000 Alstom shareholders and employees who are present at this year’s Alstom Open de France. We therefore consider that it was a natural step forward to maintain our support from 2013 onwards.”

O’Grady said: “The Alstom Open de France is one of the oldest and most prestigious tournaments on The European Tour International Schedule and we are delighted that Alstom will continue as title sponsor for a further four years, taking us through to the 100^th edition in 2016.

“This is a historic period in the development of French golf following last year’s announcement that Le Golf National will host The Ryder Cup in six years’ time, and the Alstom Open de France will undoubtedly play a hugely significant role in the build-up to 2018.

“Alstom’s continued sponsorship is therefore vital and we are extremely grateful to Patrick and his team for their magnificent support. We also salute the vision of Georges Barbaret and his unique stewardship of the French Golf Federation, and Yann Le Moenner, from ASO for their long-standing partnership in promoting this event.”

Georges Barbaret, President of the French Golf Federation, said: “The Open de France is the keystone of our sporting strategy. The commitment of Alstom as the title sponsor of the event guarantees the continuation of our development at the highest level. Our ambitions are big and this announcement makes me happy and confident for the future.”

Jean-Etienne Amaury, president of ASO, said: “I am very happy with the extension of the title sponsorship by Alstom. I feel proud of it for it is a positive signal for the development of the game of golf in France and of this event in particular.

“The Alstom Open de France attracts some 50,000 spectators each year and has a prize purse of more than €3,000,000, meaning we attract top international players, such as Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell. This is an excellent omen for the future of our sport, with The 2018 Ryder Cup in mind.”

Betfair have been announced as the new title sponsors of the Betfair World Matchplay, which will be held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool from July 21-29.

The world’s biggest online betting exchange are linking up with the Professional Darts Corporation for the first time through their support of the £400,000 tournament, which will be screened live on Sky Sports.

The field for this year’s Betfair World Matchplay will be confirmed on Sunday night following the European Tour event in Dusseldorf, with the world’s top 16 players joined by 16 qualifiers from the ProTour Order of Merit in competing in Blackpool.

“We’re delighted to welcome Betfair as the title sponsors for the Betfair World Matchplay,” said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

“They’re a brand known worldwide and we’re excited about their association with one of the biggest tournaments in darts.

“I firmly believe that the 2012 Betfair World Matchplay will be the best yet in the tournament’s history, with record sales of tickets accompanied by a fantastic line-up of players.

“The standard of play on the PDC circuit keeps rising all the time as our stars keep pushing each other in their quest for glory, and after seeing nine-dart finishes in Blackpool in each of the last two years I’m sure we’ll be in for another thrilling tournament.”

Matt Robinson, Betfair’s International Director, said: “We’re excited to sponsor the Betfair World Matchplay at a time when darts continues to grow in popularity as a sport.

“It’s fast become one of the most watched events on television and we look forward to providing fans with all the excitement only the Betfair World Matchplay can deliver.”

This year’s Betfair World Matchplay sees Phil Taylor bidding to win a record-equalling fifth successive title, to match his own unbeaten run from 2000-2004, and his 13th title at the Winter Gardens.

Respect Your Universe (RYU) has announced that top UFC Fighters Gleison Tibau and Rafaello Oliveira will be representing RYU as brand ambassadors at UFC 148 Silva vs. Sonnen II on July 7th, one of the biggest UFC Fight Cards of the year.

Taking place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena at 10:00 p.m. EDT with television coverage on Pay-Per-View, Oliveira vs. Izquierdo will be starting off the Under Card show with Tibau vs. Nurmagomedov as the last fight on the Prelims.

Gleison Tibau is a Brazilian Lightweight with a 25-7 Mixed Martial Arts win/loss record and currently trains with American Top Team out of Florida. Some of Tibau’s career highlights include when he took on Jason Dent at UFC 68 and dominated the fight, winning by decision. After taking a one-fight hiatus, Tibau returned defeating Jeff Cox and then took on undefeated Terry Etim and won the fight by decision. At the TUF 9 Finale, Tibau fought Melvin Guillard where he lost a very controversial fight by a split decision. At UFC 104, Tibau defeated Josh Neer landing a total of ten takedowns during the fight and later also won his second straight fight, stopping Caol Uno via TKO in 2010 at UFC Fight Night 21.

Rafaello Oliveira is also a Brazilian Lightweight with a 14-5 Mixed Martial Arts win/loss record who trains at the Knoxville Martial Arts Academy in Tennessee. At UFC 108, Oliveira defeated John Gunderson via unanimous decision and most recently faced Andre Winner in March 2010 at UFC Fight Night 21, replacing an injured Cole Miller. Oliveira was defeated by Andre Winner via unanimous decision and was subsequently cut from the UFC. In May 2011, Oliveira was re-signed by the UFC and faced Gleison Tibau in May at UFC 130 where he was submitted for the first time in his professional career, being tapped out by Tibau with a rear-naked choke in the second round.

“UFC 148 is one of the biggest and most anticipated UFC fight nights of the year and we couldn’t be more excited to have Gleison Tibau and Rafaello Oliveira representing RYU,” said Rocky Bice, Brand Ambassador for RYU.

In addition to Tibau and Oliveira representing RYU at UFC 148, RYU will also be visible in various elements throughout the Pay-Per-View coverage and on-site at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. During the Pay-Per-View coverage, RYU will be seen three times in their locker room cam visits and a part of the closed captioning throughout the night. In addition to this, RYU will have several in-venue commercials shown with an event announcement prior to the Co-Main event. In addition to this, RYU will also have a website takeover on UFC.com on July 8th for the day following UFC 148, when the new RYU Men’s Fall Collection will be available for the first time.

RYU is an official sponsor of the UFC and will be visible in various elements throughout the UFC events in 2012 including logo displays and live announcements during bouts along with television promotions and placement on the UFC website including their webstore.

Telecommunication giant, Bharti Airtel, will sponsor the entire 97 edition of the Colombo Championships 2012.

The tournament is scheduled to be competed from July 7-21 and will be contested at the most prestigious tennis arena. The matches of the tournament will be contested from 3pm – 9pm on weekdays and 8am -9pm on weekends.

Suren Goonewardene, the Chief Executive Officer of Bharti Airtel, Sri Lanka commented: “It gives us great pleasure to be associated with the SLTA, which has been growing in popularity over the years, acknowledging the best tennis players Sri Lanka has produced and the Colombo Championships which is one of the only two ‘super’ grade ranking tennis tournaments in Sri Lanka. Tennis transcends to all age groups of the society and while we see this partnership as a wonderful opportunity to help foster talent and build them up to international standards, we hope to continue our fullest support towards the growth of tennis in Sri Lanka.”

Suresh Subramaniam, President of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association, also commented on the partnership that will prove to be very beneficial in flourishing the sport in this part of the world and stated that the tournament is one of the premier tournaments in Sri Lanka and requires all the craziness to be incorporated in it that will attract large amount of visitors to the stands. The tournament will also incorporate high prizes for the participants and winners that will help capturing the interest of some high profile tennis stars.

The tournament will feature Boys’ and Girls’ singles as well as doubles championships. It will also incorporate Mens’ and Womens’ singles and doubles event as well. Veterans will also contest in the championship and wheelchair participants will also be given an opportunity to grab some hefty prize money as well. 650 players from all across the globe entertained the local crowd in the previous edition of the tournament contested in 2011. So, the same or higher turnover is expected this year that will definitely help tennis grow in Sri Lanka.

Am Samstag, discount 30.07.2012, vor Beginn der Tour de France in Lüttich, unterzeichneten Argos und BudgetEnergie, einen Partnerschaftsvertrag. Mit der Partnerschaft beginnt Argos die kürzlich angekündigten neuen Geschäftsstrategien umzusetzen und stellt sich als Energieversorger auf dem europäischen Markt dar, der eine große Bandbreite an Produkten und Leistungen des Energiemarktes bieten kann. Um die Partnerschaft auch nach außen hin zu zeigen, ist das BudgetEnergie Logo auf den neuen Trikots des Argos-Shimano-Teams zu sehen, das am Samstag bei der Tour de France startete.

Die Partnerschaft mit BudgetEnergie ermöglicht es Argos grünen Strom an Unternehmen und Haushalte zu liefern. Die derzeit bestehenden und wachsenden Netzwerke von Argos Tankstellen in den Niederlanden und den umliegenden Ländern bieten einen zusätzlichen Vertriebskanal.

Argos ist der größte unabhängige Anbieter auf dem westeuropäischen Mineralöl- und Energiemarkt. Das Unternehmen ist in allen Segmenten des Öl- und Kraftstoffverbundes vertreten. Die Niederlande, Belgien, Luxemburg, Deutschland, Frankreich und die Schweiz sind die Kernländer, in denen Argos arbeitet. Außerhalb Europas ist das Unternehmen in Brasilien, Singapur und China aktiv. Der Jahresumsatz liegt derzeit bei mehr als 11 Mrd. Euro. Argos bietet die gesamte Wertschöpfungskette vom Hersteller bis zum Verbraucher. Weltweit sind ca. 750 Mitarbeiter in mehr als 25 Ländern tätig.

BudgetEnergie ist ein Online-Händler von Energie (Gas und Strom) und Teil der Budget Company. BudgetEnergie liefert 100% grüne Energie und positioniert sich, durch intelligente und innovative Vorschläge, als Neuling auf dem Markt der Energieanbieter. Durch das zurückführen der Produkte zur Basis und dem Verkauf über das Internet bietet BudgetEnergie seinen Kunden Komfort, Übersicht und einen nachhaltigen Nutzen.

Lotus F1 team have announced today that it will join forces with The Dark Knight Rises, anesthetist the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight motion picture trilogy, allergist this weekend at Silverstone for the 2012 British Grand Prix.

To celebrate the partnership both Lotus F1 Team cars – in addition to the team’s garage, erectile buy driver helmets and overalls – will feature the film’s iconic logo throughout the Grand Prix weekend. The legendary Tumbler vehicle will also be performing an on-track display with the Lotus F1 Team car and drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean.

The display will take place on Thursday 5th July at 12pm on track at Silverstone (start/finish line) for Formula 1 accredited media, followed by a brief Q&A and photo call with both drivers, including the legendary motorcycle from the Dark Knight films, the Bat-Pod. For the remainder of the weekend, the Tumbler will be on show at the Sky display stand in the grounds of Silverstone.

Josh Berger, President and Managing Director, Warner Bros Entertainment UK & Spain, said: “We are delighted to be working together with Lotus F1 Team. We wish them every success this weekend. Formula 1 fans are often Dark Knight fans too, so we are confident this partnership will be warmly received around the world.”

Eric Boullier, Lotus F1 Team, Team Principal, added: “This season we have been the dark horses in the championship fight, so this partnership with The Dark Knight Rises is a fantastic match. Our car, the E20, looks superb with the Batman branding and we are looking forward to seeing the reaction of our numerous fans when it takes to the Silverstone circuit this weekend. We are certainly hoping for an epic conclusion for The Dark Knight Rises E20 in the Grand Prix.”

Tekno Autosports Commodore driven by Jonathon Webb will carry backing from Sargent Security in this weekend’s Sucrogen Townsville 400 as the start of a four-event sponsorship deal with the company.

The deal will also include the Coates Hire Ipswich 300 at Queensland Raceway, therapy the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and the Sydney Telstra 500.

The national security services provider is no newcomer to Australian motorsport. It sponsors the Australian GT Championship, vialis 40mg Dick Johnson Racing’s VIP Petfoods Falcon and has been involved with Paul Morris last year in the Dunlop Series.

Ironically, capsule Webb has already competed in the red and black of Sargent Security this year – he borrowed Morris’ Dunlop Series car for the non-championship Grand Prix event at Albert Park after his regular, Triple Eight-built Commodore was badly damaged at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

“The team at Sargent Security approached us a couple of weeks ago flagging interest in a potential partnership,” said Webb, who sits 17th in the V8 Supercars Championship heading into this weekend’s Sucrogen Townsville 400.

“We are excited to have them join us and look forward to getting some great results both on and off the track for them.”

 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has agreed an eight-year extension with the Adecco Group re-emphasising its firm commitment to the IOC Athlete Career Programme (IOC ACP). 

The deal, ailment signed by IOC President Jacques Rogge and Adecco Group CEO Patrick De Maeseneire at the IOC’s headquarters in Lausanne, allergist ensures that athletes around the world will continue to receive a wide range of assistance aimed at helping them transition smoothly into life after sport.

Adecco, stuff who are one of the world’s leading provider of human resources solutions, worked with the IOC to implement the ACP in 2005 and since then the programme has provided career development and job placement services to more than 10,000 Olympic athletes from over 100 countries. The programme is based on providing athletes with three key tools: education, life skills and employment. They are also a Tier Two sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics.

“The extension is another example of how committed the Olympic Movement is to athletes,” said President Rogge. “Athletes are the heart of the Olympic Games and the IOC strives to make sure they are well looked after, both during their athletic careers and after. We are very happy our friends at Adecco will continue to support the IOC Athlete Career Programme and help athletes make the transition from competing on the field of play to competing in the labour market.”

“The Athlete Career Programme is embedded in Adecco’s core values of team spirit, entrepreneurship, customer focus and responsibility. Every day our 33,000 colleagues make sure that around 700,000 people have a good job to help them develop their careers. Integrating athletes into the work force is part of our focus. Together with the IOC, we recognise athletes’ transferable skills such as passion, persistence and flexibility. We see it as our duty to assure they have a future after their sports careers. So far, we have supported 10,000 athletes around the globe. We are proud to provide HR services to the Olympic Movement and to be a partner to elite athletes,” said Adecco’s CEO Patrick De Maeseneire.

The IOC Athlete Career Programme is developed and delivered in over 30 countries by the Olympic Movement – including National Olympic Committees, International Federations and National Federations – in cooperation with Adecco.

Athletes at this summer’s Olympic Games are encouraged to learn more about the IOC ACP, which will have a strong presence within the Athletes’ Village.