Addis Ababa Cycling Federation (AACF) announced on Tuesday that it has secured a 500,000 birr annual sponsorship deal from the East Africa Bottling Share Company, producer of Coca Cola.
The signing agreement between Coco Cola and Addis Ababa Cycling Federation (AACF), which was held at its headquarters, will be renewed every year, the federation announced.
According to the AACF patron, Nebiyou Samuel, this is a milestone sponsorship deal. “We are very glad to announce that we got 500,000 birr from our sponsor East Africa Bottling SC for one year. It is for the first time that we received this much money to carry out the cycling tournament that takes place every year,” Nebiyou told reporters.
Nebiyou added that the general manager of East Africa Bottling Share Company, Xavier Selga, is dedicated to invest in the youth believing that the future belongs to them. “One best way of investment is in sports,” Nebiyou said.
AACF president, Rezene Beyene, said that the annual tournament will be called the Coca-Cola Addis Ababa Cycling Tournament. “This is a great inspiration for the cyclists of Addis who are in desperate need of materials and other tools to enhance their capacity,” Rezene said.
It can be recalled that Coca-Cola has launched grassroots level football games for the 2016 Copa Coca-Cola National Tournament. The competition reaches a total of 27,000 teenagers and has engaged 450 teams from Addis Ababa with 220 girl teams and 230 boy teams at the Abebe Bikila Stadium. On June 3rd, 2016, Gambella was the first of 11 regions under the grassroots level program with a total of 80 teams evenly split between the two genders who have respectively gained the privilege of moving on to the regional phase.
