Caitlin Dillon
Doha, Qatar – Qatar Airways reports that it has reached a sponsorship agreement with the South American Football Confederation, CONMEBOL. The agreement was signed today in Doha by H.E. Mr Akbar Al
Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, and Mr José Astigarraga, Secretary General of
CONMEBOL.
Through this agreement, Qatar Airways
will be the official airline of the CONMEBOL club competitions in South America
for the next four-and-a-half years, with immediate effect, until 2022. Included
in this time-scale is the CONMEBOL Libertadores, the most prestigious tournament
in South American football, as well as CONMEBOL Sudamericana and CONMEBOL
Recopa.
"Qatar Airways is delighted to become the
official global airline partner of CONMEBOL, the South American football
confederation. This partnership will provide Qatar Airways with maximum
exposure in South America, while strengthening our global sponsorship
portfolio. As an airline, Qatar Airways believes in bringing people together
through sports. Through this sponsorship, we hope to again unite the world in
its love for football," said H.E.
Mr. Akbar Al Baker, Executive Director of the Qatar Airways Group, at today’s
press conference.
“Naturally,
we are delighted to partner with Qatar Airways, the world’s fastest growing
airline, to bring our continent closer together through a sport, and build a
brighter future for all of south American football. We are looking forward to
working together for these four years, starting today. And for us, it is a
really big honour to have Qatar Airways as a sponsor for our three most
important tournaments," added Astigarraga, speaking on behalf of CONMEBOL
President, Alejandro Dominguez.
Qatar Airways has a large investment portfolio, which includes
some of the world's leading sports institutions. Currently,
Qatar Airways is the official airline of FIFA until 2022. Qatar
Airways also has strong existing links in South America. In
2016, through a strategic investment, the Qatar Airways Group acquired a 1