La Liga BBVA becomes La Liga Santander

IANS

Madrid, July 22 (IANS) The Spanish Banco Santander has acquired the sponsorship rights of La Liga for the upcoming football season, with La Liga BBVA changing its name to La Liga Santander.

During the presentation of the new sponsor on Thursday, La Liga president Javier Tebas said Banco Santander has everything the league championship is looking for as a structure that can help continue the internationalisation of the Spanish soccer industry, reports Efe.

The bank's head, Rami Aboukhair said Santander has 120 million clients and 13,000 branches all over the globe, especially in 10 countries with a long football history, namely Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Poland and Spain.

Tebas said profit was not the main reason behind signing the contract but it was the support to be provided by the bank to help internationalise the championship.

--IANS

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