June 5 – The first football sponsorship fall-out from the cutting of diplomatic ties by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt with Qatar, has been the cancellation of Saudi club Al Ahli’s shirt deal with Qatar Airways.
Al Ahli FC signed the three-year deal with Qatar Airways in October 2014. That agreement was renewed just last month.
Qatar Airways also signed a two World Cup deal with FIFA last month, making the carrier the official airline of FIFA with immediate effect and taking in the Confederations Cup 2017 and 2018 World Cup in Russia, and running through to the end of the 2022 World Cup scheduled for Qatar.
Al Ahli announced the termination of the sponsorship contract between the club and Qatar Airways on its Twitter feed just hours after the diplomatic ties were cut and it became evident that a number of potential sanctions against Qatar were being considered, including the cutting of air and sea traffic.
A number of air carriers suspended flights to Doha after the announcement was made including FlyDubai and Etihad Airways.
Al Ahli said that it terminated the sponsorship deal following guidelines from the Saudi government.
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