Two European companies are competing for winning the supply rights of the official ball of the Egyptian Premier League for the current season 2019/20, for the first time in Egyptian football history. Earlier negotiations started between the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) and the German giant Puma since they already sponsor the national football team's clothing. However, the departure of the EFA's previous board halted the talks. Mohamed Samir Zaher, head of the marketing department at the EFA, told Daily News Egypt that they have received two offers to sponsor the local football league and provide an official unified ball. The first offer was from Novavera Sport, which is licenced in Austria and prepares to produce FIFA-certified balls. The second offer came from Goal for Sports Marketing which has the commercial agency of SPORTA in Egypt. Zaher said that negotiations are still underway with the two companies. After reaching an agreement, the EFA is planning to provide 50 official balls to each club in the Premier League, with the possibility of distributing more balls to the Tier 1 clubs. Mahmoud Al-Assyouti, chairperson of Novavera, said he is finalising the procedures of opening the company's first football factory in the region. He puts the sponsorship of the Egyptian Premier League among his top priorities. The factory is set to open in October. It will have a production capacity of 1m balls in the first year. Al-Assyouti added that he discussed with the Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhy, last month providing balls to youth centres and institutions affiliated to the ministry. On the other hand, Mohamed Hemida, CEO of Goal, said that the company's offer to sponsor the local league was not formal and did not get into specifics. He is, however, expected to hold several meetings with the EFA's marketing department to present an official offer. He added that his company plans to provide a European-made ball for the Egyptian league, but it will be revealed once an agreement is reached with the EFA.
