Posted: May 2, 2007

Athletics: IAAF Signs VTB As Official IAAF Partner

Monte-Carlo - The IAAF is pleased to announce a major new sponsorship agreement with the Russian bank VTB who will become an Official IAAF Partner. Following negotiations held between Russia's leading sports marketing agency, Sportima representing VTB and the IAAF's global Marketing partner Dentsu, the IAAF has been able to secure the first ever sponsorship agreement with an International Sports Federation by a Russian Corporation. VTB, the second biggest bank in Russia, has acquired the sponsorship rights to the IAAF's most important competition, the World Championships in Athletics (2007 Osaka, JPN, 2009 Berlin, GER and 2011 Daegu, KOR editions), as well as to the World Indoor Championships (2008 Valencia, ESP and 2010, venue tbd). In addition, VTB will now have title sponsorship rights for the IAAF World Athletics Final (2007 & 2008 in Stuttgart, GER; 2009 -2011 venue tbd) and the next edition of the IAAF World Cup, which will take place in Split, CRO in 2010. IAAF President Lamine Diack said today: "I am delighted that the IAAF can now announce the first of what I expect will be a number of significant sponsorship agreements with Russian companies. Russia has always been a powerhouse of our sport, producing hundreds of star athletes over the past decades, but now, the fast expanding Russian marketplace is also turning its attention to the appeal of international athletics. This agreement demonstrates that the sport of athletics is a perfect partner for Russian companies who are aggressively expanding internationally." VTB’s Chairman and CEO Andrey L. Kostin said: “I am really glad to note that VTB and the International Association of Athletics Federations have entered a stage of intensive cooperation which, I hope, will be most fruitful and rewarding. The Bank as a sponsor of the IAAF is absolutely sure that our cooperation will spread world-wide and, especially, in Russia”.