Doha’s Hamad International Airport has expanded its partnership with Bayern Munich to become the German Bundesliga football club’s sleeve sponsor.
The logo of HIA, which is operated by Qatar Airways and serves as a platinum partner of Bayern, will appear on the sleeve of the team’s shirts from the 2017-18 season.
The length of the agreement was not formally disclosed but the AFP news agency said that a six-year contract had been signed.
The two parties first teamed up in January 2016 and Andreas Jung, an executive board member at Bayern, said the sleeve sponsorship formed part of the initial agreement. The airport’s branding also features on the club’s training kit.
Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: “The strengthening of this fantastic sponsorship between Qatar’s award-winning airport and FC Bayern München, truly demonstrates the State of Qatar’s role as a global leader in sports.
“The HIA-Qatar logo on the sleeve of every FC Bayern München jersey helps display the importance that we as a nation place on sports as a means of bringing people together. The HIA-Qatar enhancement of its sponsorship has also further aligned itself with our nation’s ambitious national vision.”
The German Football League (DFL) announced in December 2015 that clubs would be free to pursue sleeve sponsors for the 2017-18 season after electing to end its central marketing approach for branding on that area of teams’ shirts.
Logistics service provider Hermes held rights to the area under a four-and-a-half year contract that expired at the end of the 2016-17 season, with its branding having appeared on the sleeves of all players in the top-tier Bundesliga and second-tier 2.Bundesliga.
Defending Bundesliga champion Bayern begins the 2017-18 season with a home match against Bayer Leverkusen on Friday.