Dubai: Pleased with the returns on investment, title sponsors Barclays are in the process of carrying out a review of their support to the annual Dubai Tennis Championships.
"The review is being done by a bunch of people right now and we will know the outcome in the near future," Vinit Chandra, Chief Executive, Emerging Markets Global Retail & Commercial Banking, Barclays, told Gulf News.
"The more important thing is that this year the tournament has been a true success and we have been witness to such a fantastic event in Dubai. I am so excited about the way our customers have reacted, the company and our colleagues and the communities we deal with have responded," Chandra added.
Three years back, Barclays signed an agreement with tournament organisers and owners Dubai Duty Free accumulating the naming rights of the event from the 2008 event. "We are extremely excited about this tournament. We really believe in sports and we believe in this excellence through fair play. In terms of sponsorships, it's pretty simple for us. We take it as it comes. We don't think too much in the future. We've committed to this tournament for three years and since this ends this year, we will go ahead with a review and then it will be made known," he stated.
Extension
As part of the agreement, Barclays also has a clause wherein they can extend the sponsorship by another two years. "Our experience with this tournament has been terrific. It's unfortunate that a couple of seeds could not come and play in the first week, but we've still had some amazing tennis. We really don't comment on our future sponsorships. That's us as a bank and we will take it as it comes. And when it comes to an end, we will review everything and we will make a business call," Chandra said.
Barclays has quite a solid portfolio of sports events worldwide, the major ones being golf events including the Scottish Open, the Singapore Open and the PGA play-offs, and then there is the Barclays Premier League and the season-ending ATP Men's Tour Final at the O2 Arena in London.
Commitment
"But this tournament is our commitment to Dubai and our promise to our colleagues and the communities we serve. We believe in this and it's a bold statement from the bank," Chandra stated.
"This tournament has been organised with exactly the same precision and quality as any of the grand slams. It's excellent and fantastic and hats off to the organisers," Chandra lauded.
"I really can't ask for more. There is only one thing that I would ask for and that is to have every single top ranked player coming here and playing," he shrugged.
