First National Bank (FNB), which is heavily invested in South African soccer, announced on Thursday that it will sponsor the 2010 Fifa World Cup to the tune of $30-million (about R216-million).
FNB is the first South African corporate to sign up officially as a national supporter of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
FNB will also be Fifa’s official South African bank for the event, which is being staged on the African continent for the first time.
The announcement was made on the eve of the unveiling of the official emblem of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, which marks the launch of Fifa’s four-year-long Win in Africa with Africa campaign.
“This deal marks an important moment on our joint journey to the first Fifa World Cup on African soil. The fact that FNB, a renowned South African company, has joined the sponsor family of the 2010 Fifa World Cup shows yet again how much the event is supported by the South African economy,” said Fifa President Sepp Blatter, before adding, “We are looking forward to a successful relationship.”
FNB takes on the role of the official bank of the 2010 Cup to provide full-service banking, including commercial and corporate transactional banking, foreign-exchange transactions, as well as on- and off-site ATMs at various locations serving the two Fifa competitions in South Africa — the 2010 World Cup itself and the 2009 Confederations Cup.
The sponsorship comes with a package of advertising, promotional and marketing rights for both competitions in the financial-products category within South Africa.
“From a national perspective, FNB’s involvement in the 2010 Fifa World Cup will contribute to ongoing national efforts to grow South Africa’s economy and at the same time represents a major contribution to this unprecedented nation-building exercise,” said FNB CEO Michael Jordaan, speaking from Germany where the 2006 World Cup is currently taking place.
FNB said it was fully committed to helping to ensure that the 2010 World Cup is a success.
It said that recent media speculation that South Africa could lose its hard-earned host status to Australia due to inadequate preparations could not have come at a more inappropriate time for the country, fuelling as it did the emotions of those “nay-sayers” who lacked confidence in South Africa’s ability to successfully host an event that was regularly referred to as a the greatest show on earth.
“While FNB’s sponsorship is a logical extension of the bank’s deep roots in South African football since 1986 when we helped to fund the construction of the FNB stadium, it further demonstrates FNB’s unwavering confidence in local football authorities to organise and stage a successful 2010 Fifa World Cup.
“FNB is unequivocal in its support of the SA 2010 Fifa Local Organising Committee, the South African government and the people of South Africa in their relentless strides to welcome the world to our shores,” the bank asserted.
Fifa President Sepp Blatter made it clear earlier this week that the 2010 competition will be held in South Africa, with the chief executive of the Local Organising Committee, Danny Jordaan, asserting that the country was ahead of schedule with its preparation for the world showpiece. — I-Net Bridge