IAAF Agree Sinopec Worldwide Sponsor

December 21, 2010

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) have announced a deal with China’s largest oil refiner, Sinopec to become a worldwide sponsor in a deal brokered by the IAAF’s worldwide marketing partner, Dentsu.

Sinopec will become the worldwide Official Partner of the IAAF and its World Athletic Series until 2015 in the category of ‘oil and natural gas’. The company is the 7th largest corporation in the Fortune 500 list in 2010.

Sinopec will also directly provide additional financial support to the IAAF for its Continental Programme along with Samsung and Adidas. This recent initiative has been introduced to support IAAF’s Area Associations and Member Federations with the sponsorship of IAAF Official Partners.

Sinopec has a recent history in the athletics world having been title sponsor of the IAAF/Sinopec World Half Marathon Championships and an official partner of the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup, which were held in Nanning, China, and Split, Croatia respectively.

The IAAF now has seven confirmed Official Partners for the 2011 World Championships, Daegu, Korea (27 Aug to 4 Sep) with the deal providing further evidence of the internationalisation of the IAAF’s sponsorship portfolio.

President Lamine Diack said: “In our pursuit in growing the excellence of the sport of Athletics in all continents of the world, I am delighted to be associated with such a prestigious partner, especially with the staging of two out of our next three World Championships in the continent of Asia. I am sure that Sinopec will add a lot of value to the world athletics family and this partnership will go a long way to strengthen our presence in China and Asia.”