Four years of Asian Football for ING

Regional - ING Group has signed a four-year sponsorship agreement with the Asian Football Confederation, starting from September this year.

The sponsorship, which runs through to the end of 2012, sees ING associated with the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, the Asian qualifiers for the 2012 Olympics, the AFC Under-19 and Under-16 Championships in 2010 and 2012, the AFC Women's Asian Cup and the AFC Futsal Championship, covering more than 300 national team games.

Hans van der Noordaa, ING's chairman and CEO for insurance and investment management in APAC, said the last year's sponsorship with AFC raised brand awareness in key ING markets including China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia.

"We are confident this contract will really benefit ING's brand awareness and help us build our business in the region further as the sport continues to develop in Asia," he said.

The global financial services group started working with AFC in September 2005 to sponsor the qualifying rounds and finals of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup in SE Asia. Its other sports marketing effort includes the sponsorship of the Dutch national football team.

Nick Mould, president of the World Sport Group, said the sponsorship is testament to the power and effectiveness of Asian football as an integrated marketing platform and will benefit from coverage through various media channels, which aids brand recognition.