English Arsenal in a deal with Israeli tourism authority

The Premiere League club has agreed to a two-year stadium advertising deal with the Israeli tourism authority for the club’s new stadium. The deal however, has not gone over well with the club’s main sponsor, United Arab Emirates airline Emirates.

The GBP 350,000 deal, includes advertising space inside the stadium, access to the club’s website, database and magazine to promote Israel as a holiday destination. The tourism authority will also be able to use the new stadium, to be called Emirates Stadium, for events, possibly a friendly match.

A spokesman for the Israeli tourism ministry said: “The purpose is to broaden Israel's appeal to sun and fun-seekers.” UAE does not have official diplomatic relations with Israel. In response to the deal, the “Khaleej Times” quotes an official spokesperson of Emirates Airlines as saying, “We are obviously not happy. We will do our best to persuade Arsenal not to renew its deal with Israel.” The paper went on to quote the spokesperson as saying, “The “Khaleej Times” quotes Emirates Airlines spokesman as saying, “We have an agreement that bars Arsenal from signing other airlines. Beyond that, we do not have any say on their deals.”

Emirates is Arsenal’s largest sponsor at more than GBP 3 million a year. The Israeli tourism ministry has previously looked at tying up deals with Italian Serie A club Juventus, but the deal fell through after another sponsor, Libyan oil company Tamoil, rejected the move.