Simonds Farsons Cisk plc were unveiled as Gold Sponsor for the national teams for the next two years through its flagship brand Cisk Lager. This was announced during a press conference at the Centenary Hall on Wednesday.

Cisk will be joining a number of other sponsors and commercial and preferred partners in this type of sponsorship deals which prove more of a partnership in brand communications rather than the traditional type of sponsorships. FXDD (Europe) were appointed Platinum Sponsors of the national team earlier this year.

MFA President Norman Darmanin Demajo explained the concept of different levels of partnership the association has been working on. He said the association believed that a company of the stature and identity as Farsons would be the ideal partner in enhancing the image of the national team thanks to the excellent reputation Cisk has locally and abroad.

“With the newly adopted concept, rather than a basic sponsorship deal, the association would like to make a partnership in brand communication, whereby any exposure to either party will contribute towards enhancing the image of both entities and in promoting our National Teams, as well as creating opportunities for fan engagement which will in the end result in commercial opportunities for our partners,” said Darmanin Demajo.

The MFA President emphasised on fan engagement in all national team matches, not only the ‘big match’ against Italy. He revealed that the sale of Goal Cards, which were launched two weeks ago is doing well.

He concluded by saying that the MFA will be working on improving Match Day facilities as the association believes that Match Day Hospitality and Fan Engagement are now of utmost importance.

Simonds Farsons Cisk plc CEO Norman Aquilina explained that the company has been contributing to sports for several years and now it was almost an obvious choice to start a partnership with the Malta football national team. He said that it was an automatic decision to pair Malta’s best-loved beer with Malta’s best-loved sports.

Aquilina said that the two parties will be discussing possible activities and events for fan engagement.

Norman Darmanin Demajo and MFA Honorary Treasurer Antoine Portelli, Norman Aquilina and Simonds Farsons Cisk Director Michael Farrugia finally signed the two-year deal.

Photo: Copyright © domenic aquilina/MFA