A group of 26 of the 33 recently rescued Chilean miners were hosted by Manchester United as special guests to watch the Premier League match against Arsenal.
Team manager Alex Ferguson took time out from match preparations to welcome the miners to a Manchester United training session and together with a host of first team stars posed for photographs with the men, as well as signed autographs.
The men were freed last October after two months trapped underground. The 26 miners, including former professional footballer Franklin Lobos, were invited to the game by Bobby Charlton, a director and ambassador of United.
They visited the United gym, where the squad was preparing for its match against title rivals Arsenal. Stars including Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Nani and Javier Hernandez signed the men’s shirts and posed for pictures.
Omar Reygadas said they were honoured to be at Old Trafford. The 56-year-old bulldozer operator said: “It’s the theatre of dreams and we have only seen it on television.”
American insurance services giant Aon has a four-year shirt sponsorship deal with Manchester United, through which it aims to use the club’s global appeal to help it make inroads into emerging markets.
Aon is thought to be paying £80 million over four years to have its logo on shirts, and Greg Case, chief executive of the Chicago-based company, said: “From a business point of view, this partnership is something we are very excited about. We are trying to build a global capability for Aon and the global reach of Manchester United makes it an incredibly powerful partnership for us.”
Aon originated in 1982 when Ryan Insurance Group merged with Combined Insurance Corporation. In 1987 the company was introduced to Wall Street as Aon, which is a Gaelic word meaning ‘oneness’.
The 1980s and the subsequent decades were marked by strategic acquisitions and organic growth that provided the foundations for the firm’s emergence as a global player.
Aon is exclusively represented in Malta by Mediterranean Insurance. Brokers Ltd.