Ankur Dutta, the secretary of the Assam Football Association, displays the Assam football team jersey for the Santosh Trophy in Guwahati on Tuesday.
Guwahati, Apr 27 : The Assam Football Association (AFA) today struck a sponsorship deal with German manufacturer uhlsport for official balls and kits for the state teams for two years.
The AFA today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with uhlsport’s Jalandhar-based sole Indian distributor Delux Sports International, engaging the international brand of sports goods manufacturer as the official partner for two years.
The uhlsport balls will be the only brand on football turfs across the state during the period.
AFA secretary Ankur Dutta and Delux Sports International director Niraj Agarwal signed the MoU this afternoon here.
“The AFA is the first state association we have entered into a sponsorship deal with in India. I am quite impressed by the enthusiastic initiatives of the AFA in promoting football. We are going to provide the highest quality products to the AFA,” Agarwal said, after signing the MoU.
According to the MoU, the company will provide balls, kits and gear to the Assam age groups as well as senior teams and in lieu, the AFA teams will promote the brand sporting its products in all national and domestic events. The German company will hold clinics involving German experts with active co-operation of the AFA in Assam during the contract period, said Dutta.
The first time the AIFF used products of the company was last year when uhlsport balls were used for the Durrand Cup. The company’s goalkeeping gloves are popular among some of the leading keepers of the World Cup playing nations, claimed Agarwal. The 65th Santosh Trophy senior national tournament will be the first event where Assam will sport the uhlsport logo on its olive green jersey. The company will, however, miss its name promoted in the Assam team’s second jersey, white, which is an alternative, and does not come under the uhlsport sponsorship deal, Dutta said.
“We are happy that an international brand has come forward to sponsor our teams. This is going to boost the morale of our players. The quality of products they are providing are also far superior to the ones our previous partner Nivia had provided,” he said. The AFA had tied up with Nivia for a period of three years, which has expired.