Doha: Qatar Airways announced yet another football sponsorship deal on Wednesday by unveiling a four-and-a-half-year agreement with CONMEBOL to become the South American football confederation’s “official global airline partner”.

The sponsorship agreement will run until the end of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The agreement was signed at a ceremony that took place in Doha today at the Oryx Rotana hotel, attended by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, and the Secretary General of CONMEBOL, José Manuel Astigarraga, and Qatar Football Association Board Member Ahmed Al Buainain.

“Qatar Airways is delighted to become the official global airline partner of CONMEBOL,” said al-Baker.

“This is another big sponsorship that we are doing in football.”

Baker said that the “milestone” deal would help bolster the brand of the airline and the country.

Astigarraga called it a “super, fantastic agreement”.

“(It will) build a brighter situation for all of football,” he said.

“For us, it’s a really big honour to have Qatar as a sponsor.”

It is the latest deal in a rapidly growing football sponsorship portfolio for Qatar Airways.

The airline is also a shirt sponsor of Argentinian giants Boca Juniors, Italian side Roma and has a deal for sleeve sponsorship with Germany’s biggest team, Bayern Munich.

Qatar Airways is also the “official airline” for world governing football body, FIFA.

Qatar’s sporting and trade relationship with South America is also growing.

Baker confirmed that Boca Juniors will play in Qatar early in 2019 — talks are ongoing for Argentinians to play in a potential tournament.

Also next year, Qatar’s national side will play in the Copa America in Brazil.

As part of the agreement, Qatar Airways will be the sponsor of CONMEBOL’s professional football club competitions across South America, including the Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores, South America’s most prestigious football competition, as well as the Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana and the CONMEBOL Recopa.

CONMEBOL is the continental governing body of football in South America and is one of FIFA’s six continental confederations. The entity is responsible for the organisation and governance of South American football’s major international tournaments. Described as the “toughest qualifiers in the world”, CONMEBOL national teams have won nine FIFA World Cups, and CONMEBOL clubs have won 22 Intercontinental Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups.

Source: The Peninsula Qatar