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Qatar expands into Indonesian soccer
The organizer of the Indonesia Super League (ISL) PT Liga Indonesia and its commercial partner BVSports announced a change in the leagueâs official name to the Qatar National Bank (QNB) League just a day prior to the kick off of the delayed soccer tournament
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he organizer of the Indonesia Super League (ISL) PT Liga Indonesia and its commercial partner BVSports announced a change in the league's official name to the Qatar National Bank (QNB) League just a day prior to the kick off of the delayed soccer tournament.
PT Liga Indonesia announced on its website on Friday that the QNB Group had obtained exclusive title partner rights for Indonesia's senior soccer competition from 2015 until the end of 2017.
'We are still using the ISL internally, but commercially the tournament's name has been changed to the QNB League. It's just like the English Premier League, which is now changed to the Barclays Premier League due to the bank's sponsorship,' PT Liga Indonesia corporate secretary Tigorshalom Boboy told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
He added that it was not their intention to make the announcement so peremptorily. 'It just happened that we signed the agreement on Thursday before we made the joint announcement on Friday.'
He declined to reveal the value of the deal, saying only that PT Liga's commercial partner BVSports was in charge of all the commercial rights regarding the ISL.
'This is a historic step for Indonesian soccer. Support from the QNB Group for three seasons will help the league to develop. QNB is an international banking brand with a proven track record in soccer,' president director of BVSports Hari Widodo said in a statement.
Oil-rich Qatar has been aggressively investing in international sports in the last few years. After completing a buyout of French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain in 2012, Qatar also donated US$4.6 million to two Israeli soccer clubs, Bnei Sakhnin and Maccabi Ahi Nazareth FC.
'This [agreement] is part of our development plan in Asia. This prestigious sponsorship will improve our visibility and profile in this key international market. We have been in Indonesia since 2011 and improving soccer popularity throughout the nation will help place the QNB League as Indonesia's best sports platform,' said QNB Group general manager group communications Yousef Darwish.
In the first matches of the QNB League on Saturday, Persela Lamongan was beaten 0-2 by visiting Barito Putra at Surajaya Stadium in Lamongan.
At Marora Stadium in Serui, Papua, host Perseru Serui gained full points after defeating visiting Bali United Pusam 2-0.
At Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Soreang, West Java, Persib Bandung secured its first win of the season over Semen Padang 1-0.
