FIFA President Blatter to kick-off Arabian Sponsorship Forum
December 9, 2009
Arabian Sponsorship Forum organisers today announced that FIFA President, Mr Joseph S. Blatter will make the opening key-note speech of the Forum on Monday 14th December at 10am. Following President’s Blatter’s address, FIFA Secretary General Mr. Jerome Valcke, will take part in a Question and Answer on sponsorship with Forum host, BBC presenter Sir Matthew Pinsent.
On the back of their recent collaboration with Hollywood star Charlize Theron at the FIFA World Cup draw in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday, Blatter and Valcke have arrived in Abu Dhabi where they are overseeing Abu Dhabi’s first FIFA Club World Cup from December 9th - December 19h.
Jamie Cunningham, Managing Director of Professional Sports Group, the organisers of the Forum, is delighted that the FIFA President and General Secretary are opening the Forum. “Their addition to an already strong line-up of international sponsorship experts and rights holders makes the inaugural Forum an absolute must-attend event for any company considering sponsorship as part of their commercial mix in the Arabian Gulf 2010. We are sincerely grateful to President Blatter and the FIFA organisation for their valuable time during such a busy week here in Abu Dhabi.”
President Blatter has held his role as FIFA President since 1998. Prior to that Blatter worked as Secretary General (1981 – 1998) and Technical Director (1975-81) for football’s global governing body. A graduate in business and economics from the University of Lausanne, Blatter corporate experience prior to FIFA involved roles with Longines Watches (Director of Sports Timing and Relations), the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation (General Secretary) and the Valaisan Tourist Board (Head of Public Relations).
Frenchman Jerome Valcke was appointed as Secretary General by the FIFA Executive Committee on 27 June 2007. Valcke joined FIFA in the summer of 2003 as the director of Marketing & TV. Before that, he had worked for Canal+ (1984 - 1997), Sport+ (1997 - 2002) and Sportfive (2002 - 2003). Valcke began working for Canal + as a journalist in 1984 and became assistant director of its Sports Service in 1991. Canal + then put him in charge of its brand new Sport + channel in 1997, and he held that post until 2002, when Sport + became part of the merger that produced Sportfive. He worked as Chief Operating Officer at the new entity for a year, before joining FIFA as Director of Marketing & TV in June 2003.
Joining Blatter and Valcke as Keynote Speakers for the event on Monday will be Giles Morgan, Head of Global Sponsorship from HSBC; Sundar Raman, Chief Executive of the Indian Premier League in a case study with Shashank Awasthi, Executive President of UltraTech Cement, the shirt sponsor of the Bollywood owned Radjistan Royals IPL team; and Sir Keith Mills, Deputy Chairman of the London Olympics Games Organizing Committee, owner of America’s Cup Team Origina and Founder of Air Miles. On Tuesday, the key-note speakers are Philippe Le Floc’h, Marketing Director of UEFA; Nick Fry, CEO of the newly rebranded Mercedes GP Team and Peter Kenyon, former CEO of Chelsea and Manchester United.
The 2009 Arabian Sponsorship Forum is a two-day conference created to stimulate both corporate interest in sponsorship and undergraduate/graduate careers in the industry. It is held under the patronage of HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister for Higher Education and Research and is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and SportsCare Program. As part of the Forum, there will be the region’s first Arabian Sponsorship Awards on December 14th.
Tickets for the Forum are still available online from www.arabiansponsorship.com. For more information, please visit www.arabiansponsorship.com or call Emma Kettle on +971 (0) 506576925.
Professional Sports Group was founded in 1996 and has established itself as one of the leading sports marketing companies in Europe and the Middle East. With offices in the UK and the Abu Dhabi, PSG has four divisions; Marketing, Events, Sponsorship and Representation. Through each of these, Professional Sports Group is uniquely placed to deliver world-class service for brands, sports personalities and rights-holders. For further details, see www.profsports.com.
