Emirates partners up with FIFA

Emirates Airline has taken the top spot any company can take in football sponsorship and become a FIFA partner, a position which will run for seven years.

The partnership means that the Dubai-based airline, which is currently an official partner of the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany, will have an association with all FIFA events until 2014.

Emirates passengers will also benefit from the partnership as it will give the airline the exclusive right to broadcast matches of the 2010 and 2014 FIFA world cups on its in-flight entertainment system.

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, commenting on the deal, said: "It is part of Emirates plan to become a global brand and household name and association with the most high-profile sporting event in the world is one part of Emirates' strategy to achieve that aim."

Emirates is reportedly one of the world's fastest growing international airlines and it projects that by 2014 the company could have grown to twice its current size.

Emirates is the international airline of United Arab Emirates and launched 21 years ago it is still owned entirely by the government of Dubai.

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