Clubs caught up in sponsorship row
| DATE: 2010-03-16 | PRINT |
In a press release issued on Monday, FAM said the the logos violated article 18 of the Dhivehi League regulation.
Gahthan Haleem, CEO of VB said the club did not apply for the permission, as it was not practiced past three years. VB was not informed to seek permission, he added.
“We have not applied for permission to display sponsor logos on jerseys, for the past three years. So we have not applied for the permission, even this year. But if there is any regulation of FAM that makes it mandatory for us to get permission, we have to conform to it. We have now applied for the permission,” he added.
Officials of Victory were not available for comment, as the team is in Vietnam to play the AFC Cup.
While VB put the logo of telecom service provider Wataniya, competitor to Dhiraagu that sponsored Dhivehi League for the next three years, Victory has STO’s logo on its jerseys.
Ali Azim, President of FAM said that the association’s issue was over displaying a rival logo.
“We are doing this to protect the League sponsor. The issue is only that VB’s jersey contains the logo of a rival company to Dhiraagu. For instance, if Coca-cola sponsors the League, MyCola’s logo cannot be put on jerseys,” he added.
Dhiraagu was awarded the title sponsorship, broadcasting rights and rights of signboards of Dhivehi League in a Rf10.4 million deal.
Azim said the association would not take any action against the sponsors this year, as the clubs have already secured sponsorships when the Dhiraagu deal was signed.
“When we agreed with Dhiraagu it was too late and it would have been difficult for the clubs to get other sponsors. In a competitive environment, they [Dhiraagu] would not want any other communication partner’s involvement. But we informed the clubs that they can use other communication partners this year, but not from next year onwards,” he continued.
Wataniya sponsored Dhivehi League football tournament last year. However, the company only settled the sponsorship money last week, after disputes with FAM.
Gahthaan said VB would be looking into the matter.
“I believe that the issue is due to [lack of] communication. FAM’s agreement with the clubs only states that the clubs cannot promote the League under another company’s name. We are not trying to promote the League under the name of another company. So the matter is a communication issue,” he said.
He further said the agreement with FAM does not prevent VB from signing a sponsorship agreement with Wataniya.
“VB believes that sponsorship agreement can be made with Wataniya, even under that agreement,” he added.
Azim, however, said FAM had notified VB, before the club signed the agreement with Wataniya.
| DATE: 2010-03-16 | PRINT |
In a press release issued on Monday, FAM said the the logos violated article 18 of the Dhivehi League regulation.
Gahthan Haleem, CEO of VB said the club did not apply for the permission, as it was not practiced past three years. VB was not informed to seek permission, he added.
“We have not applied for permission to display sponsor logos on jerseys, for the past three years. So we have not applied for the permission, even this year. But if there is any regulation of FAM that makes it mandatory for us to get permission, we have to conform to it. We have now applied for the permission,” he added.
Officials of Victory were not available for comment, as the team is in Vietnam to play the AFC Cup.
While VB put the logo of telecom service provider Wataniya, competitor to Dhiraagu that sponsored Dhivehi League for the next three years, Victory has STO’s logo on its jerseys.
Ali Azim, President of FAM said that the association’s issue was over displaying a rival logo.
“We are doing this to protect the League sponsor. The issue is only that VB’s jersey contains the logo of a rival company to Dhiraagu. For instance, if Coca-cola sponsors the League, MyCola’s logo cannot be put on jerseys,” he added.
Dhiraagu was awarded the title sponsorship, broadcasting rights and rights of signboards of Dhivehi League in a Rf10.4 million deal.
Azim said the association would not take any action against the sponsors this year, as the clubs have already secured sponsorships when the Dhiraagu deal was signed.
“When we agreed with Dhiraagu it was too late and it would have been difficult for the clubs to get other sponsors. In a competitive environment, they [Dhiraagu] would not want any other communication partner’s involvement. But we informed the clubs that they can use other communication partners this year, but not from next year onwards,” he continued.
Wataniya sponsored Dhivehi League football tournament last year. However, the company only settled the sponsorship money last week, after disputes with FAM.
Gahthaan said VB would be looking into the matter.
“I believe that the issue is due to [lack of] communication. FAM’s agreement with the clubs only states that the clubs cannot promote the League under another company’s name. We are not trying to promote the League under the name of another company. So the matter is a communication issue,” he said.
He further said the agreement with FAM does not prevent VB from signing a sponsorship agreement with Wataniya.
“VB believes that sponsorship agreement can be made with Wataniya, even under that agreement,” he added.
Azim, however, said FAM had notified VB, before the club signed the agreement with Wataniya.
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