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Oman Air and Chelsea FC ‘terminate sponsorship deal’

By Gavin Gibbon
Lauren James of Chelsea FC celebrates a goal against Manchester City in the FA Women's League Cup semi-final. Oman Air is absent from the list of sponsors on the club's website MI News/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
Lauren James of Chelsea FC celebrates a goal against Manchester City in the FA Women's League Cup semi-final. Oman Air is absent from the list of sponsors on the club's website
  • Deal announced last July
  • Was to run for three years
  • Airline also sponsors Oman’s FA

A sponsorship deal between Oman Air and English Premier League club Chelsea FC has reportedly been terminated less than a year after it was signed.

The three-year agreement was believed to be worth about £2 million ($2.5 million) a year and was announced last July.

The partnership, which made the flag carrier the club’s global airline partner, included co-branded livery, joint promotional content and corporate social responsibility campaigns.

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Abdulaziz Al Raisi, CEO of Oman Air, said last year that the deal offered “an unparalleled opportunity” to show Oman to the world.

However, the agreement has now been terminated, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph that cites unnamed sources.

Oman Air is absent from the list of sponsors on Chelsea’s website.

AGBI has contacted the airline and the football club for comment.

The Telegraph report suggests the deal was terminated despite Chelsea’s battles to meet financial regulations imposed by the Premier League and Uefa, European football’s governing body.

Premier League rules allow clubs to make a loss of £105 million over three years and the Telegraph has reported that Chelsea needs to raise at least £100 million by June 30 to avoid being sanctioned. These reports have been denied by the club, however.

Oman Air has had a decade-long sponsorship deal with the sultanate’s football association.

It also supports Oman Sail, Oman Golf Association, Oman Desert Marathon and Oman’s Paralympic team.

In June last year German football club Bayern Munich announced it was not renewing its $50 million five-year sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways.

The decision was made by mutual consent, the pair said.

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