Indian financial services company Bank of Baroda has agreed a deal to sponsor next year’s Fifa U17 World Cup national team football tournament, which will take place in India from October 6-28.
Bank of Baroda will serve as a national supporter of the event, which will mark the first Fifa tournament to be held in the Indian subcontinent.
State-owned Bank of Baroda becomes the first Indian company to sign on as a national supporter of the tournament. A further five national supporter slots are available.
Tournament director Javier Ceppi said: “This is a landmark event in Indian sport. As the first ever Fifa tournament to be hosted in India and with India as one of the participating teams, it is a unique opportunity to be partners in making football history in this country. By joining in at this early stage, Bank of Baroda will have the added advantage of 10 months of exposure in the build up to the Fifa U17 World Cup.”
Rakesh Kumar Bhatia, general manager of marketing and corporate communications at Bank of Baroda, added: “Partnering with the Fifa U17 World Cup India 2017 was a logical choice for us, as there will be no bigger sporting event in the country next year. It is truly an Indian crusade to make sure that this tournament succeeds and engages our complete population. We are sure that our strong banking network across the nation will help to make that happen.”
Nigeria is the defending Fifa U17 World Cup champion having defeated West African rival Mali in the final of the 2015 event in Chile.