Emirates to be AC Milan’s new shirt sponsor

BIG DEAL: The sponsorship deal is expected to be announced in Milan this week.(Getty Images - for illustrative purposes only)

Dubai government-owned Emirates airline is to sponsor the Italian football club AC Milan, a source close to the deal told Reuters.

The deal is said to be worth nearly $70m and will be a four year shirt sponsorship. The Dubai-based airline will replace the Austrian online group bwin and the Emirates logo is set to appear on shirt from July 2010 to June 2014.

Negotiations are believed to have begun when the club, which is owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, spent their winter retreat in Dubai in April last year.

The sponsorship deal is expected to be announced in Milan this week. However, the source denied media reports that the deal will include a stake in the club.

An Emirates spokesperson told Arabian Business: "We have been reviewing our sponsorship contract with AC Milan. We expect to announce the result of negotiations in the very near future."

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READERS' COMMENTS

Reply to Sayed Ali
Posted by MustaDXB, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Wednesday 10 February 2010 at 18:40 UAE time


Dear Sayed Ali, You are right there is a rule prohibiting that 2 teams have similar sponsors on their shirt and this scenario happened last year and guess. . . It was with Emirates sponsorship of Arsenal and Hamburg from Germany, beside those teams PARIS SG is also sponsored by same company. In that particular match one team was having Emirates on their shirt while other team Dubai on theirs. This arrangment was accepted.
But how is the return on those heavy investment ???

re: Potential Problem
Posted by Sayed Ali, Dubai, UAE on Wednesday 10 February 2010 at 07:34 UAE time


Just a quick point, but Emirates also is the sponsor of Arsenal Football Club, as well as their stadium being named Emirates Stadium. So what happens when in the UEFA Champions league when Arsenal is drawn against AC Milan? It's happened before, surely there are some rules that two opposing teams cannot have the same sponsor? Or maybe there isn't a rule. What is also likely to happen is two teams both being sponsored by Emirates have to play at the Emirates stadium if the match is prior to the final. That would confuse things even further. (Final is played normally in Barcelona)

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