South Korea's Samsung has extended its top sponsorship contract as an Olympics worldwide partner to 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday. Samsung, who first signed up as a top sponsor with the IOC in 1998 and was a local sponsor at the 1988 Seoul Olympics as well, will support all Games up until and including Tokyo 2020. "We are delighted to be able to continue our partnership with Samsung," said IOC President Thomas Bach in a statement. "The funding generated by the TOP Programme directly supports the staging of every Olympic Games, as well as every one of the National Olympic Committees, enabling athletes from all over the world to prepare for and compete at each Games." The 2016 summer Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro while the 2018 winter Olympics will be staged in South Korea's Pyeongchang. Although it does not reveal contract details of its sponsorship agreements, the deals with its top sponsors generate an estimated 100 million per quadrennium. Other major sponsors, including McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Panasonic and Atos have signed up until 2020 or beyond. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/108636.aspx
