BAE Systems announces major sports sponsorship with the Bahrain Athletics Association

The deal reflects BAE Systems’ wish to give something back to the community, as an international company that is celebrating its fourth anniversary in Bahrain.

The agreement means BAE Systems is now an official partner of the Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA), with a commitment to provide essential equipment and coaching, and to fund two major events in the athletics calendar.

Simon Keith, Managing Director Middle East, of BAE Systems said:

”Active involvement in the communities we serve is a core element of what we do – last year our employees across the globe raised $16m for good causes, and our global community investment was $16.4m. It is important to be an integral part of the community, playing a responsible role and giving something back. This is the first of a number of projects we are looking at that will increase our community involvement and develop our corporate responsibility activity.”

Mark Simpkins, General Manager of BAE Systems in Bahrain, continued: “We’ve supported a number of sports-related events since opening our Bahrain office four years ago, and we’re excited to be stepping up our involvement in this way. While this is currently a one year deal, it is our ambition to become a long term partner of the BAA, so we can play a part in nurturing the talent of Bahrain’s top athletes, whilst also helping to find and develop the athletes of tomorrow. We also wanted to support something that appropriately mirrored the BAE Systems values of high performance and dedication – so athletics is a perfect fit for us.”

Under the terms of the sponsorship agreement, BAE Systems will provide specialist equipment for the National Stadium, including electronic timing and finish line photographic equipment; a bus to transport the athletes and an assortment of athletics equipment for clubs. The sponsorship will also fund two annual athletics championships, due to take place this Autumn; the Ministry Championships, under the joint patronage of the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Guard, and the National Schools Championships.

Vice President of the BAA, Mohamed Jalal explained why this partnership is so important: “Our relationship with BAE Systems will enable us to build upon our current success; the future of Bahrain athletics is very much linked with young people, and we are now looking to utilise some of the resources this partnership will provide to invest in equipment, transport and technical equipment all that go towards running a world class team and infrastructure.”

The funding will also provide coaching to athletes of school age; the distribution of approved coaching manuals and ongoing support for the BAA’s Talent Development Programme and its Elite Athlete Programme.

Bahrain’s golden girl, Ruqaya Al Ghasra said how important it was that further investment be ploughed into athletics in Bahrain. The 24 year old won gold in the 200m and bronze in the 100m at the Asian Games in Doha, and she hopes her win will provide a further boost to women’s athletics in the Kingdom.

As the business continues to grow in Bahrain, BAE Systems is keen to create long term links with the community through well matched partnerships like this one. A commitment it intends to continue as it looks to the future.