UAE a key market for Chinese tech giant, with multi-year FIFA partnership targeting youngsters

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Global tech giant Alibaba Cloud, the computing arm of Alibaba Group, has identified the UAE as a key market for the company’s growth, with their multi-year FIFA sponsorship deal seeing them named official presenting partner for the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017. As part of the partnership, Alibaba Cloud logos feature across tournament branding, as well as being the official presenter of the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

“The UAE is an important market for Alibaba Cloud, with its strong momentum in digital transformation and a growing internet ecosystem,” said Simon Hu, Senior Vice President of Alibaba Group and President of Alibaba Cloud. “As the presenting sponsor, Alibaba Cloud has the honour of designing the MVP trophy, which I will have the joy of presenting after the final held at Zayed Sports City stadium on Saturday 16 December.”

The world leading cloud services provider has also been a strong supporter of the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017 Mobile Roadshow, a skill based challenge activation which has been touring the UAE’s schools, parks, malls and public spaces since May, and now makes up part of the Fan Village’s at Zayed Sports City stadium, Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed stadium, Al Ain – the two co-hosting stadiums of this year’s tournament.

“We hope to apply our cloud computing capabilities to sports and bring new aspects of fun and enjoyment to sports fans in the region. This year marks the beginning of Alibaba Cloud becoming the FIFA Club World Cup’s Presenting Partner. By leveraging the influence of FIFA in UAE we hope to give more people in the region, especially young people, access to the benefits of cloud technology from China,” Hu added.

The Mobile Roadshow has already attracted thousands of participants from across the UAE, with many more expected to take on the challenges over the course of the tournament, with semi-finals taking place in Al Ain on Tuesday 12 December – C.F. Pachuca vs Gremio - and in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday 13 September – Al Jazira vs Real Madrid C.F.

“Sports is a big part of modern life and football is one of the most popular sports in the world. By becoming a major partner of the FIFA Club World Cup, we hope to show how our technology can help such an exciting global tournament to evolve as a spectator phenomenon in the digital era, reaching a wider range of football fans and offering them a better viewing experience,” commented Hu, who is also Senior Vice President of Alibaba Group.  

This year’s tournament sponsorship further encourages technology ties between the UAE and China, which Alibaba Cloud is also looking forward to building on during next year’s tournament, which will again be hosted in the UAE, with the goal of making the tournament the most innovative yet.

“We are looking forward to exploring collaboration with the FIFA Club World Cup in a number of areas including cloud-based innovations which will ultimately contribute to engaging with a broader audience globally and help such an exciting global tournament to evolve as a spectator phenomenon in the digital era,” added Simon Hu. “We hope to leverage the influence of FIFA to give more people, especially young people, in the region access to the benefits of internet and cloud technology from China. The integration of technology in sports is becoming a trend in the digital age.”

Fans are encouraged to buy the final remaining tickets for the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017 at www.fifa.com/uae2017 .

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Website:  www.FIFA.com/ClubWorldCup
Facebook:  www.Facebook.com/FIFAClubWorldCup/

Official hashtag:  #ClubWC

In order to cater to every fan's needs, there are a variety of different ticket types available on FIFA.com/uae2017 – Category 1, 2 and 3, Corporate Hospitality and Private Boxes are available upon request. Visa is the preferred payment method of the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017.

In order to cater to every fan's needs, there are a variety of different ticket types available on FIFA.com/uae2017 – Category 1, 2 and 3, Premium and Private Boxes (HBZ only) are available upon request. Visa is the preferred payment method of the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017.

© Press Release 2017