Atletico Madrid will promote Baku’s hosting of the inaugural European Games in 2015 as part of the Spanish Liga football club’s commercial partnership with Azerbaijan’s tourism authority.
Baku 2015’s official logo was revealed on Saturday and later in the evening was worn on the front of Atletico’s shirts as the club thrashed Getafe 7-0 to retain second position in La Liga.
The new look kit is a part of the strategic sponsorship that Atletico signed with Azerbaijan last year.
Atletico’s shirts had previously been emblazoned with the words ‘Azerbaijan Land of Fire’, the country’s tourism motto, in order to promote the brand of Azerbaijan.
Along with Atletico, the Baku 2015 brand will also be worn by Azeri-owned French Ligue 2 club RC Lens for the remainder of the 2013-14 season.
Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sport, Azad Rahimov, said: “For the first time Europe has its own multi-sport event and we want to spread the message to sports fans across the continent. There are few ways of doing this that is as impactful as on the shirt of a football team, the main identifying element of a club.
"Our collaboration with Atletico, with its players now wearing the Baku 2015 logo with pride, is built on a shared passion to bring people together in a celebration in sport. That’s what these Games – and our desire to host them in Baku – are really about.”
Baku 2015 will see more than 5,400 athletes from the 49 Olympic nations of Europe compete in 18 sports, including new formats such as basketball 3×3. Beach soccer will also feature for the first time in a major multi-sport European event.