CAIRO: Mansour Chevrolet and General Motors Egypt announced a LE 76 million sponsorship deal with Al Ahly sports club Tuesday at a press conference, making Chevrolet the club's official car for the next three years. The deal is the first of its kind in Egypt and was reached through Al Ahram Advertising Agency. The club had organized a tender for advertising agencies to snatch the highest sponsorship deal. "It is an honor for the club to cooperate with one of the largest car manufacturers in the world, General Motors, who were also the first sponsor to advertise their logo on the club's jersey back in 1974, said Hassan Hamdy, chairman of Al Ahly club. "Sports marketing is a major source of income for the club, whose leading players and managers continue to achieve great success. Any sponsor would be honored to work with Al Ahly, Hamdy said. Rajeev Chaba, CEO and executive director of General Motors Egypt, said that the deal reflects the historic relationship between Al Ahly and General Motors. "We are very happy to be associated with Al Ahly; it is a very proud moment for General Motors, Chaba said "We have a lot of things in common; the heritage [connecting] Al Ahly and General Motors dates back to more than 100 years; we both believe in long term relationships and we both believe that we are number one in everything we do, he added. Sponsors who have been hit by the global financial crisis started to cancel their sponsorship deals and some clubs in England, which have the richest football leagues in the world, are considering takeover offers. General Motors was also affected by the crisis, with over 25,000 job cuts worldwide and plants shutting down. "We believe in investing in the brand, so when the recession is over, we will come out stronger, Chaba told Daily News Egypt. "We are celebrating Mansour achieving the best car sales in Egypt and Africa, General Motors being the largest car distributor internationally, and at the same time Al Ahly standing strong at the height of African football, said Adel Khedr, executive director and general manager of Mansour Automotive. "The cooperation between the world's strongest car and the best club in Africa is a key point in our history that comes within the context of our belief in supporting sports and the right of every one to practice and enjoy sports, he said. "Ahly fans were those who made our brand name back in 1974 when we started operating in Alexandria and they were one of the factors of our success in having a large customer base in the market, Khedr added. The press conference was attended by Mahmoud El-Khatib, vice president of the club, as well as Ahly players Ahmed El-Sayed and Osama Hosny. "Mansour automotive and General Motors saw that Al Ahly has the largest fan base and it is the most successful club in Egypt so they wanted to take advantage of that as the easiest way to reach a mass market, Adly El-Qeey, marketing director at Al Ahly, told Daily News Egypt. El-Qeey expected the club's proceeds to double in the coming years since it recently established different sources of revenue starting from the satellite channel and ending with this deal. Although El-Qeey refused to disclose any new prospective projects, he did confirm that a lot of new marketing ideas are underway, one of which is a museum. Khedr and Chaba were both given honorary Ahly jerseys, each bearing their names.
