Infront Contributes More Than One Million RMB to Support Earth Quake Victims in China
Zug, Switzerland / Beijing, PR China, 2 June 2008 -
Infront Sports & Media, the exclusive marketing partner of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Chinese Football Association (CFA), announced today to allocate a sum of more than one million RMB (around 100,000 Euro) to support the people and region most affected by the massive earthquake on May 12 and the various aftershocks. Infront’s contributions are based on various key activities, some of which have alreadytaken place.
The donation of the international sports marketing group is comprised of personal donations by the Infront staff worldwide, a corporate donation and funds raised from two charity events, the Team China Football match versus Jordan on May 25 and a Team China Basketball game which took place on May 28 in Dongguan against the Memphis Tigers. During the game last Tuesday, which was jointly organised and financed by CBA, Infront and the local club New Century, another 4.3 million RMB were raised from spectators, sponsors und VIPs.
Infront’s contribution will be allocated to the Chinese Red Cross providing immediate help to the victims of this huge natural disaster in the Sichuan region. In addition, Infront also has a commitment to specific sports projects in the stricken areas once the focus turns to rebuilding. These projects will be conducted in conjunction with the Infront’s key partners, the CBA and CFA, and through the support of the relevant China Sports Authorities.
Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront Sports & Media said: "On behalf of the Infront Group, I would like to offer my deepest sympathies to all people affected by this disaster in Sichuan. One of Infront’s corporate missions is partnership and to that end, we believe it our responsibility to help people in need in those countries where Infront has regional subsidiaries and is a committed partner to national sport. We hope our efforts will help at the frontline of current activities with the most immediate impact as well as during the important rebuilding phase.”
Mr. Li Yuanwei, Executive Vice President of CBA, commented: “We are greatly concerned and still looking very closely at the situation in Sichuan. The joint efforts of the CBA and Infront have the aim to support the rescue teams working so hard to provide relief and assistance to the victims of the earthquake. We are really glad that our additional appeal for funds during the charity game in Dongguan was met with such great response and I would like to express our special gratitude to all who contributed for the people in need.”
Mr. Xie Yalong, General Secretary of CFA, added: “This is one of the rarest big disasters in China for many years. Together with Infront we will contribute to re-establish football related improvements in the region to enable sportive activities to continue when the time is right."
Mr. Xiao Tian, the deputy minister of sports and vice president of Chinese Olympics Committee, said: “We highly appreciate the donation from Infront and the efforts being made together with CFA and CBA to support the recovery in Sichuan.”
For further information, please contact:
Jörg Polzer
Manager, Communication & PR
Infront Sports & Media AG
Tel. +41-41-723 15 15
Fax +41-41-723 15 16
press@infrontsports.com
www.infrontsports.com