World Cup gets Emirates lift

Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, this week became a sponsor of one of the world's biggest sporting events in an agreement making it official airline of Rugby World Cup 2007 in France.

The agreement sees Emirates extending its sport sponsorship portfolio even further, making it one of the largest and most impressive in the world.

Emirates is developing a sophisticated activation programme to bring this sponsorship to life in different sport.

Gary Chapman, Emirates president Group Services and Dnata, said: "Rugby is a game that we are passionate about and we are excited to carry on supporting the global development of the game.

"The Rugby World Cup is a phenomenal event, always played in fantastic spirit and with the audiences that it attracts... it is a perfect fit for our brand."

Dr Syd Millar, IRB and Rugby World Cup Limited chairman, said: "Rugby World Cup Limited is delighted that Emirates has joined the impressive list of tournament sponsors for Rugby World Cup 2007."

Emirates has a strong affiliation with rugby. They sponsor the IRB referees and match officials, four tournaments in the IRB Sevens World Series and the Edinburgh Sevens in Scotland. Emirates are also the shirt sponsors of the England and Samoa Sevens teams. In Australia, Emirates sponsors the Western Force championship.

Emirates has an impressive global sports sponsorship portfolio and in addition to rugby, they are also a strong supporter of football as sponsor of Arsenal FC and their home ground the Emirates Stadium, Paris SG, Hamburg and an Official Partner of FIFA.

Emirates are also heavily involved in golf, cricket, horse racing and sailing.