June 6 – Bottlers Nepal Ltd, the sole bottlers of Coca-Cola in the Himalayan kingdom, have extended their sponsorship of the Coca-Cola Cup U-16 Inter-school Football Tournament for a further five years.
Bottlers Nepal Managing Director Salman Latif Rawn and All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) President Ganesh Thapa signed a Memorandum of Understanding that Bottlers Nepal will more than double the money they provide to the tournament, which they have sponsored since 2006.
Thapa said, “Bottlers Nepal will provide us Rs 4.5 million (£32,000) this year and five million rupees the next year. We will review the amount after two years.” He thanked the sponsors saying, “With such handsome sponsorship amount, Coca-Cola could have easily marked its name in major tournament. Being such recognized brand already, I appreciate Coca-Cola’s such effort in the development of Football in Nepal from the grass root level.”
The increase in sponsorship will mean that the tournament can be held in 45 districts, in both boys and girls sections and with about 1,500 schools (up from 538 last year) and 30,000 students participating and prize money increased for the winners.
Rawn said: “We are happy to take our partnership with ANFA to extend the deal for five more years. It is our initiation to develop the sports in the country from grassroots level.”
Shadab Khan, the country manager of Coca-Cola for Nepal and Bhutan, said, “Coca-Cola has been supporting healthy active living initiatives at the grassroots level across the world.”
Bottlers Nepal Limited, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Singapore Pte. Ltd, operates as the sole bottler of Coca Cola range of soft drinks and in 2010 was reported as enjoying a 67.8% share in Nepal´s carbonated soft drinks market.
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