Football: Barclays Banks renews partnership on two fronts |15 October 2015

Barclays Bank Seychelles has once again brought its support towards the development and promotion of sports in Seychelles through two sponsorships during a ceremony held in the boardroom of its Capital City office yesterday.

The first of the two sponsorships went the way of the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF). Barclays Bank is the official sponsor of the first, second and third division national leagues since 2007. This is the ninth year the bank has been sponsoring football competitions here.

Barclays Bank Seychelles managing director Johan Van Schalkwyk said: “It is always special to renew existing bonds and as nothing unites a nation like sports does, Barclays finds it necessary to contribute towards its development.”

A cheque for R572,220 was presented to SFF vice-chairman Roch Henriette who thanked Barclays for its continued support. He said the money will be used by the federation in its football development programmes.

“You are not only helping the SFF with this donation, but you are helping all the youth of Seychelles,” said Mr Henriette.

A second cheque was presented to the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) to help them to continue broadcasting live Barclays Premier League matches in Seychelles.

The SBC has been broadcasting live Premier League matches on Saturday evenings for a few years now and with the sponsorship from Barclays Bank Seychelles it will be able to keep screening these matches to Seychelles’ homes.

“The Barclays Premier League is one of our biggest properties and we therefore feel that we should help bring it to the Seychellois public so that they can enjoy it,” said Mr Van Schalkwyk.

It was SBC’s head of marketing, Cindy Wirtz, who accepted the cheque for R167,512. She was accompanied by three other SBC colleagues. It is the second time that Barclays has entered into such a partnership with SBC and the first was in 2012.

“We wish to thank Barclays Bank for the support as we look to keep bringing Barclays Premier League action to the public every weekend,” said Ms Wirtz.

It was also revealed that SBC will be looking to bring more live matches to our screens in the future once it completes its ongoing projects.

As for the Barclays’ sponsorship of the English Premier League, there are reports that the bank might not renew its sponsorship agreement which expires at the end of the current season.

With Sky and BT Sport paying a record £5.1 billion for TV rights from the start of the 2016 season, Barclays fears the cost of the next sponsorship will also rise considerably.

Meanwhile, Premier League clubs decided at their summer meeting that they can do without a title sponsor when the Barclays contract expires at the end of next season.

This follows the top flight turning down a £45 million-a-year offer from drinks brand Diageo, having wanted £60m.

The new approach will see more secondary partnerships but allow the competition to be known as 'The Premier League', a major statement in this sponsorship-driven age.
 
Barclays has sponsored the Premier League since 2001 when it first used the sponsorship to promote its Barclaycard brand.  

S. N.