Sahara signs Rs 50-crore sponsorship deal with Hockey India

NEW DELHI: Cricket's loss is hockey's gain, it seems. Two days after snapping ties with BCCI, Sahara India Pariwar on Wednesday signed a new five-year sponsorship deal with Hockey India, giving a major boost to the national game ahead of the all-important Olympic qualifiers which will be held in the Capital later this month.
The company said it would sponsor the men's and women's national teams as well as junior ones for a period of five years.The sponsorship amount over the period is 170 per cent higher than the amount given by Sahara to the team in the previous deal.
Though they did not divulge the sponsorship amount, sources said Sahara would be paying over Rs 50 crore over the next five years.
Sahara was sponsoring hockey since 2003 before their contract expired in July last year. They renewed it for six months through an interim arrangement with Hockey India.
Sahara had started off by sponsoring the men's team for Rs 2.5 crore in 2003 and extending it to Rs 3 crore after taking into the fold the women's as well as junior teams.
"It's our national game and we are proud to be associated with it and are elated to continue our patronage and support of the game. We will achieve greater laurels and success in the sport of hockey in the coming years and Sahara India Pariwar is committed to the development of the sport at all levels," Sahara chairman Subrata Roy said in a statement on Wednesday.
The corporate giants, meanwhile, maintained that apart from the sponsorship money, it would continue to help players in different ways. "We will continue to encourage players by helping them, whenever required, in their endeavour," Sahara's corporate communication chief Abhijit Sarkar said.
The company said that the sponsorship was part of it's plans to promote sports at the ground level. "In addition to this, Sahara has adopted Indian boxing, wrestling, archery, shooting, track and field as well as tennis, supporting a total of 95 sportsmen in the six disciplines who are potential medal winners, until after the 2012 London Olympics," it said in a statement.