The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) today announced their partnership with sportswear brand Kelme for the 2021 to 2024 rights cycle.
Kelme joins the AFC family of sponsors as the Official Global Supporter of AFC national team competitions and will provide sports apparel and accessories for the AFC’s national team competitions from 2022 to 2024, and the official match ball for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023™.
The partnership encompasses major AFC competitions, including but not limited to the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar™ featuring the Continent’s top-12 football nations, and Asia’s flagship national team competitions – the AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ – which will be played in ten state-of-the-art venues across China PR, and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022™ as well as the AFC U23 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2022™.
“Kelme have established their presence as one of the world’s leading sporting apparel companies and we thanked them for their belief and confidence in the AFC and Asian football.
“The AFC’s commitment to delivering world-class competitions is stronger than ever and together, we are confident of creating a mutually beneficial partnership that will enable both the AFC and Kelme realise our shared ambitions.”
Ke Yongxiang, President of Kelme added: “We are very pleased to partner with the AFC, with who we will collaborate closely to promote football development in Asia and the rest of the world. For decades, football has been at the core of our brand and we are dedicated to continually challenging ourselves to drive innovation and to supply high-quality equipment to the sports industry. We are looking forward to collaborating with the AFC on the upcoming national team competitions including the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar™ and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023™.”
This partnership deal was secured and will be managed by the AFC’s exclusive commercial partner Football Marketing Asia (FMA).
The partnership includes rights to a comprehensive set of tailored digital promotional content and innovative advertising formats.
Patrick Murphy, Board Member, and CEO at Football Marketing Asia commented: “We are delighted to welcome Kelme to the family of AFC national team football sponsors. Kelme’s strong football heritage makes it a wonderful fit with AFC competitions, being a brand-driven at its core by innovation and a desire to promote football in Asia and beyond.” – www.the-afc.com
