United Arab Bank (UAB) became the first and exclusive financial partner of FC Barcelona in the UAE.
And while that may not be enough to get the Catalan giants over to UAE for a friendly, as many as 1,000 fans in the country will get a chance to watch the club in action at the Camp Nou over the three-year tenure of the deal.
UAB is one of the fastest growing retail banks in the UAE, with profits of Dh260m for the first six months this year, representing a 35 per cent increase over the same period in 2012.
And it hopes the tie-up with a global superpower like Barcelona will boost their growth further. Speaking at a press conference to announce the sponsorship on Sunday, Paul Trowbridge, CEO, United Arab Bank, said: “It gives me great pleasure to be announcing our partnership with the most sought-after football club in history – FC Barcelona.
“With the club’s tremendous popularity amongst UAE football fans and a fan club boasting over 500,000 registered followers, the alliance creates a great platform for us to incentivise new and existing clients.
“Special products and services will be tailored and extended to our customers, with a range of FC Barcelona privileges including hospitality match tickets – to watch stars like Messi, Neymar, Xavi and Iniesta play at Camp Nou – in addition to Barca-themed banking products, official merchandise and more. We will also be unveiling more exciting details in the days to come.”
Also present at the occasion were high-ranking Barcelona officials Javier Faus, Vice-President, Economic and Strategic area and Manuel Arroyo Pérez, Director, Economic and Strategic Area (Media and Sponsorship).
UAB also kicked off the first of their Barcelona-related promotion. For the next 14 days, 14 fans who have registered at the bank’s dedicated website for the event, will be chosen and flown to Barcelona on an all-expenses paid trip to watch their home match against Real Sociedad on September 24.
On why Barcelona decided to make UAB their first financial partner outside of Spain and Andorra, Faus said: “We have chosen UAB for many reasons. These include its capacity for growth, being the fastest growing bank in the UAE, and the enthusiasm it puts into its projects.”
As for a future trip by the club to the UAE, Faus was honest in saying that seems almost impossible. “Things can change in the future, but right now, for all sponsorship deals that we do, it does not include an appearance by the team,” he added.
“If we did it with all the global sponsors we have, we’d be playing 30-40 days of exhibition matches, which is just not possible.”
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