Geneva, Mar 21 (EFE).- Shareholders and employees are the biggest losers from the fall of Credit Suisse, a bank that will be completely absorbed by its national rival UBS before the end of the year, but another possible victim will be sports, where the entity of Zurich sponsored important events, especially in Switzerland.
With 167 years of history, the bank has invested especially in recent decades to place its name and its logo of two sails in stadiums and billboards of competitions, but now that the sailing ship has sunk, many wonder if many of the events that sponsored are in danger.
Starting with the Swiss football league, whose official name is currently “Credit Suisse Football League” since in 2021 the bank signed a contract to become the main sponsor of the tournament.
The Swiss Football Association has sponsorship guarantees from Credit Suisse until June 2024
The Swiss Football Association was consulted on the matter at the weekend, saying it had obtained guarantees from Credit Suisse that the sponsorship would continue until the end of the contract, in June 2024.
The contract contributed between 10 and 11 million francs per year (also between 10 and 11 million euros) to the highest soccer competition in Switzerland, and according to what the president of the federation, Dominique Blanc, pointed out on Monday to the Tribune de Genève newspaper, “for now everything continues as normal, the contracts are still valid and will be respected until the end”.
Another sport with an important presence of Credit Suisse is tennis, where the greatest Swiss celebrity, the now retired Roger Federer, has been an ambassador for the brand since 2009 and with his financial help promoted the Laver Cup, the tournament between stars from Europe and the rest of the world that so far has played five editions in four countries.
Credit Suisse has sponsored this tournament since 2018, a year after its creation, and its contract ended this year, although in this case it does not appear as the main sponsor but as one of a list that includes Rolex, also Swiss, but also multinationals from other countries like UPS, Uniqlo or Mercedes.
The Crans-Montana golf tournament, one of the world’s oldest sports sponsorships with the Swiss bank
One of Credit Suisse’s oldest sports sponsorships is its support for the Crans-Montana golf tournament, an alpine town also known for ski fans, where the Zurich bank has been present since 1984.
“He was our second sponsor after Omega, the contract that bound us to him is valid until the 2024 tournament, but our tournament is not in danger, there is no reason to panic,” the competition director told Tribune de Genève. , Yves Mittaz.
In addition, Credit Suisse has been associated with the Spanish golfer Sergio García, as the bank’s corporate website highlights.
Another competition sponsored by the bank is the international horse show in Geneva, where Credit Suisse has been present at various times since the 1990s: as in previous cases, its organizers do not believe that their economic stability will suffer, but they do believe that they will be forced to to seek new financial support.
Since 1976, it had also sponsored the White Turf, a popular winter race for horse-drawn skiers.
In the motor world, its presence has been less than that of other multinationals, but since 2010 it has supported the Monaco Grand Prix for vintage cars.