Turkish football club Galatasaray explores potential sponsorship deal with Kuwait Airways

Turkish football club Galatasaray said it is in early stage talks with Kuwait Airways for a potential sponsorship deal.

If the two parties reach an agreement, it would mark the first major deal between a Gulf airline and a Turkish football club.

“Our negotiations with the international airline company Kuwait Airways are still at the starting point,” Istanbul-based Galatasaray said in a stock exchange filing to Borsa Istanbul.

“Since the day we took office, we have been working on strengthening our relations with our existing business partners and on new collaborations. In this context, our work with various institutions, which has reached different stages, continues,” the Galatasaray Sports Club Association said.

Kuwait Airways said a delegation visited the club “to discuss ways of commercial co-operation between the two parties”, according to a tweet on its official account. However, it denied that any deal had been signed so far.

When approached for further details on the talks, Kuwait Airways referred The National to its tweets.

the pictures circulated are of a visit by a delegation to the club to discuss ways of commercial cooperation between the two parties.We call on everyone to investigate accuracy and take information from its sources.

Companies in the Gulf, notably airlines, have struck several major sponsorship agreements with some of the world's biggest sports clubs over the years.

Emirates has signed several deals with AC Milan, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Greece's Olympiakos, Portugal's Benfica and French club Lyon.

The deals reflect Emirates' continued strategy of extending its reach and visibility through the sport, the airline said.

Aside from partnerships with some of the biggest clubs in European football,