Referees sign sponsorship deal
AirAsia have announced it is to sponsor the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).



The exclusive deal will see AirAsia - the leading and largest low cost carrier in Asia - sponsor all the professional football referees in England for three years.

The PGMOL was established in 2001 and is responsible for the training, development and monitoring of an elite group of 19 Referees and 50 Assistant Referees, as well as a national list of 57 Referees and 182 Assistant Referees.

The AirAsia logo will appear on the sleeves of all referees officiating in matches in competitions including Barclays Premier League, the Coca-Cola Football League, the Carling Cup, the FA Cup, the FA Vase and the Johnsons Paint Trophy.

dedication and commitment

Kamarudin Meranun, Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia said: "AirAsia prides itself on a reputation for reliability and dependability, and these qualities are reflected in the work of the PGMOL and its referees whose dedication and commitment to fair play are crucial to the success of English football."

Keith Hackett, General Manager of PGMOL, said: "The PGMOL is thrilled to have AirAsia as a sponsor. Their involvement will enable us to continue to improve our training methods, our investigations of new technology and our development of up-and-coming referees to ensure that the standard of refereeing in England remains some of the best in the world."

The AirAsia logos will appear on the referees' sleeves for the first time at the Community Shield match on Sunday, between Manchester United and Chelsea, refereed by Mark Halsey.

Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive officer, said: "With nearly 50 matches being played every week and an average audience of nearly 100m viewers every week across 200 territories this sponsorship is certainly a powerful global branding tool for us in enhancing our brand awareness."

After Man U..Then Ref..Good Work..Then Bring the Ref To Malaysia...Hahaha..After the failure to bring Man United here..

hopefully the quality of refereeing wont' be affect by them .. haha ..

Ref sponsored ? Hmm..

I thought there was an incident involving a ref, not too long ago, in the Italian League I think. The ref was appearing in commercials... or was sponsored by the same company that was sponsoring one of the teams in Italian League, & he was supposed to officiate in a game involving that team. Obviously the other team was crying foul la...

Now if all the refs in EPL are sponsored by AirAsia, then who's gonna be the ref in matches involving Man U ? Ref from Msia I suppose ?

so,ref in EPL will wear red kit?

Nothing will happen la. Last season Fly Emirates sponsored the refs and Arsenal, Arsenal doesnt get special treatment. Hope the profesionalism of the refs still there. BTw, Airasia not even a main sponsor for Man U. So I dont think anythng will happen.

Oh I'm really proud to hear Malaysian company sponsor this big event

This post has been edited by slacx: Aug 3 2007, 11:18 AM

Another topic for Mourinho to evaluate

How much did this cost Fernandez?

This post has been edited by Soulsareworthless: Aug 3 2007, 11:50 AM

Wouldn't this be similar to Italy and AC Milan sponsorship? Remember Collina and AC?

Wasn't that a personal sponsorship? Just for Collina.