RIYADH: Al-Shabab Club FC have signed a sponsorship contract with Swiss sports drink company KA-EX for the remainder of the 2023 to 2024 Saudi Women’s Premier League season.
The deal was inked on Sunday by the Executive Director of the Women’s Football Department at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation Princess Reem bint Abdullah bin Mosaad, and the CEO of KA-EX Pedro Schmidt.
Princess Reem told Arab News: “I think bringing in sponsorships, not just nationally, but internationally, is very important. (First) to advocate for women’s football in Saudi, but also to provide opportunities for female players around the world to come and play here in Saudi.”
Schmidt said that Al-Shabab was the first club in the Middle East and North Africa region to sign a sponsorship deal with KA-EX.
“Saudi Arabia is the first Middle Eastern country to collaborate with KA-EX … if you think of it, it’s not a surprise. Just looking at what kind of talents you have attracted over the last few years. So, it probably makes sense that you also attracted maybe the best recovery drink out there,” he added.
KA-EX is considered one of the leading companies in the field of sports drinks, using a patented formula to relieve physical exhaustion.
“What it actually does is to accelerate recovery, especially within athletes, but also the general public. By improving the recovery of those athletes, they can obviously go from training day to training day more to their limits, also, thereby mitigating the risk of injuries.”
Princess Reem pointed out that with sponsorships and governmental support, the future of football in the Kingdom was bright.
She said: “We are developing football. Some might say we’re still in the beginning. But I think the pace that we’re going, the support that we’ve been receiving from the Ministry (of Sport) and from our government is going to help us reach our goals.”