Sport | Football
City line up sponsorship deal with etisalat
Both sides ink memorandum of understanding to work towards long-term relationship
- By Duane Fonseca, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 November 11, 2009
- Image Credit: Ravindranath/Gulf News
- Manchester City's Sylvinho shows schoolchildren the finer aspects of the game at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi: Etisalat is set to sign a three-year sponsorship agreement with Manchester City.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will see both organisations working together to rapidly develop a customised programme to drive a long-term relationship based on mutually agreed outcomes.
The MoU was signed by Manchester City FC chief executive officer Garry Cook and etisalat chief marketing officer Eisa Al Haddad in the presence of chairman of Manchester City, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, and etisalat chairman Mohammad Hassan Omran.
The MoU precedes a full three-year strategic sponsorship agreement to be formalised later this year.
Meanwhile, with Abu Dhabi backing the club and a little more hard work, City defender Sylvinho feels the Midlands outfit can force its way into the league of the Big Four in England. Sylvinho is one of the top names to join City since it was taken over by Abu Dhabi United Group last year.
The former Brazil star was signed up to bolster a side whose management is aiming to conquer not just at home but in Europe as well.
City bought a number of top players in the summer including former Arsenal stars Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, Manchester United's Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz of Blackburn and the Blues' new signings have delivered almost immediately with City presently ranked sixth, just two points adrift of Tottenham, who are ranked fourth on 22 points.
Sylvinho has played at some of Europe's top clubs including Barcelona, with whom he won the Champions League in 2006 and 2009. He also spent two seasons with Arsenal. He refused to compare his time at his former clubs but insisted the air within the Manchester City dressing room is one that is peppered with optimism.
Friendly match
City are due to face the UAE national team in a friendly in Abu Dhabi tomorrow, and Sylvinho added: "You cannot compare clubs [Manchester City, Arsenal and Barcelona]; it's a different country, different club. Barcelona are perhaps the biggest club in the world right now and Man City are on the way to getting there. We have a few good players coming through the system and we're working hard to achieve our goals. It is difficult, but the people running the club are nice and we have to improve things because the EPL [English Premier League] is quite difficult."
Sylvinho conducted a football clinic for schoolchildren alongside City teammate Pablo Zabaleta at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi.
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