Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) South Africa hosted its first ever 2019 Standard Chartered Cup five-a-side football tournament in Johannesburg on Saturday, where the winning team, Aberdare Cables, walked away with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to Anfield – the home of Liverpool Football Club (LFC).
Competing were 10 client teams and two staff teams from SCB. The winning client team gets a fully paid trip to Liverpool in England early next year to watch a LFC match live and also receives a training session from one of the Liverpool legends.
Standard Chartered Bank and LFC earlier in 2019 announced a four-year extension to their main sponsor agreement, taking the Bank’s partnership with the Club through to the end of the 2022/23 season, making it the second-longest sponsorship deal in Reds’ history. The Bank first signed up as the Club’s main sponsor in July 2010.
Since 2019 Standard Chartered is also the main sponsor for the Liverpool Ladies Football Club – demonstrating the bank’s commitment to sport for both genders.
Over the last eight years Standard Chartered and Liverpool FC have used their partnership to support a number of the Bank’s sustainability and community investment programmes. The annual ‘Perfect Match’ game – where LFC players swap the Standard Chartered logo on their shirts for the Seeing is Believing logo – has raised more than USD480,000 to tackle avoidable blindness. This year for the first time the Standard Chartered logo was swapped for the Futuremakers logo – the bank’s new global campaign to help the next generation learn, earn and grow. Futuremakers will be raising USD50 million by 2023 to tackle inequality and increase economic inclusion for young people across the company’s markets.
The local tournament took place on Saturday 23 November at Randburg Sports Complex.
Addressing the media at the launch, Kweku Bedu-Addo, CEO for South and Southern Africa at Standard Chartered Bank, said that Liverpool FC is one of the world’s best known football clubs and Standard Chartered is proud to be associated with it.
“We are delighted to hold the Standard Chartered Cup tournament in South Africa for the first time and I’m sure this is an event that will continue to be popular and grow in the future. This tournament is hinged on the Bank’s Liverpool FC sponsorship. Liverpool FC has a large number of fans across Standard Chartered’s core markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and the sponsorship provides the Bank with an opportunity to accelerate visibility of its brand and improving recognition across key markets around the world.”
Geraldine Matchaba, Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand & Marketing for Standard Chartered Bank South Africa thanked clients of the bank for their continued confidence in the brand. She said the SC Cup tournament represents a great opportunity for clients to get a once-in-a-lifetime chance experience.
She added, “We are delighted to hold this tournament and to provide an awesome “money can’t buy” opportunity for our clients to visit Anfield and receive training by one of the Liverpool legends. This is the Bank’s unique way to thank our clients and stakeholders who have remained loyal to the Standard Chartered brand.”
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