September 23 – Qatar Airways have expanded their portfolio in football, becoming the shirt sponsor of Belgian club KAS Eupen, despite a $639 million loss in the 2018-19 cycle for the airlines.
Qatar Airways is already a sponsor of AS Roma, Boca Juniors, FC Bayern Munich and Al Sadd SC and the airline has agreed a long-term partnership with KAS Eupen in Belgium. Qatar’s Aspire Academy will however remain the club’s title sponsor.
“Our professional team will wear the Qatar Airways logo on our jersey from now on,” said KAS Eupen board of directors representative Andreas Bleicher. “Our partnership is both incentive and commitment for us to stay in Belgium’s top flight league, to improve from our professional to the youth teams but also to continuously develop our club organisationally as well as related to our social engagement.”
“We are very pleased to announce this new partnership, which will see Qatar Airways become the main shirt sponsor of KAS Eupen from the 2019/20 season,” said Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker. “We are continually striving to boost our global sporting sponsorship portfolio, and this partnership is just one more example of our dedication to the sports sector and our belief in the power of sport to bring people together. Qatar Airways has strong ties with Belgium operating eight weekly passenger services to Brussels from Doha and 19 weekly all-cargo services to Liège.”
In 2012, Eupen played in the Belgian second division and with debts of about $4.6 million, was on the verge of insolvency. The club was saved by Qatar Sports Investments who purchased Eupen as a launchpad for players from the Aspire Academy.
The news of the partnership between Eupen and Qatar Airways comes after the airline announced a rise in losses to $639 million from $69 million in the face of the regional economic boycott led by Saudi Arabia.
Al Baker said that it was “a year of achievement in the face of adversity,” with his airline facing “challenges that are unparalleled in the airline industry.” He also insisted that “the underlying fundamentals of our business remain extremely robust.”
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1714059667labto1714059667ofdlr1714059667owedi1714059667sni@o1714059667fni1714059667