OREANDA-NEWS. February 05, 2015.  Emirates, a global connector of people, places and their football passions has announced that it will be sponsoring the 30th GCC Club Cup. The annual tournament brings together 12 Clubs from six GCC nations: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. First organized in 1982, the event is currently in its 30th edition.

Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Divisional Senior Vice President Commercial Operations Centre, commented on the new sponsorship: “We see our support for this highly viewed event as an opportunity to connect with football fans across six countries in the GCC who are looking forward to cheering on their favourite clubs. This tournament will also provide us with an excellent way of communicating with football fans, as well as generating brand exposure in the nine key markets that we operate.”  

The sponsorship deal gives Emirates visibility at multiple local stadiums during the 33 matches with branding as well as advertising opportunities on key signboards. The airline will also receive hospitality rights.

It is estimated that the tournament will draw in over 200,000 spectators and will reach 20 million people watching the key TV networks that cover the event.

Emirates flies to nine points in the six GCC countries participating in the tournament. The airline carried over 4.3 million passengers last year from all nine points. Dubai is a popular tourist attraction for many GCC nationals, registering over one million Saudi visitors last year.

The GCC Club Cup is yet another addition to Emirates’ sponsorship portfolio made of top sporting clubs, tournaments and high profile cultural events worldwide. 

Emirates’ football sponsorship portfolio includes: Arsenal FC, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Paris Saint Germain (PSG), Hamburger SV, Olympiacos FC, Benfica, Arsenal Soccer Schools Dubai, the New York Cosmos and The Emirates Cup. 

Emirates is also the Official Airline and Partner of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the governing body of Asian football, and has sponsorship rights to all its tournaments, including the AFC Champions League, AFC Cup and the AFC Challenge Cup, and the AFC Asian Cup as well as a number of women’s and youth events.