First Chinese sponsor for World Cup

FIFA has signed a deal with Yingli Green Energy of China to be a World Cup sponsor. This will be the first time such a deal has been worked out with a Chinese firm and with a renewable energy resource company. Yingli will provide solar panels as part of the deal and help with FIFAs 'Green Goal' initiative in South Africa. Yingli which currently has a presence in China, United States, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, France and South Korea hopes to use the sponsorship deal to increase its global market. Yingli gets ticket, media and perimeter-board advertising rights as part of the global marketing package and will get a chance to display and demo its products in the fan zones during the June-July tournament. Moreover, it also has the right to place the Yingle logo next to the FIFA World Cup emblem in its promotional material.

FIFA secretary general Jérome Valcke said, "I am very excited to welcome such a world-leading renewable energy company and the first Chinese company to the FIFA family. We are looking forward to sharing ideas on how to go about making the world greener and cleaner through the love of football."

Yingli's chairman and chief executive Liansheng Miao said, "This sponsorship also signifies our response to the growing global demand to create a greener world through renewable energy. We are proud of our mission and the steps we are taking to make solar power an enduring and cost-effective technology for all humankind."