Bank commits to football

STANDARD Bank has signed an eight-year deal with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to support African football.

In the new commercial agreement with CAF, Standard Bank has secured sponsorship rights as the official financial services sponsor to several tournaments.These include the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, a biennial event which will be held in Angola next year, the African Nations Championship (CHAN), the Orange African Youth Championship (Under 20) and the Orange CAF Confederations Cup.The Orange CAF Champions League also falls under the new deal until 2016.After successfully partnering the CAF Champions League and the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ghana in 2008, the new sponsorship agreement emphasises Standard Bank’s commitment to African football in the long term. Standard Bank will be the only African corporate sponsor to the Orange Africa Cup of Nations 2010, Africa’s premier football tournament.Under the agreement, Standard Bank will be a sponsor of the AFCON event from 2010 to 2016, as well as other CAF properties that include the CAF Confederations Cup and Champions League. The decision to partner with CAF over an eight-year period was driven by Standard Bank’s growing presence as a leading emerging markets bank on the African continent. Fifa 2010 World Cup ambassador Abedi Pele (above) will once again visit Namibia from October 12 to 14 and this time Standard Bank is taking him to the north of the country for a fun-filled soccer experience.