Emirates to continue international referee sponsorship

The multi-million pound sponsorship agreement will see the continuation of the successful branding of all IRB match officials across all international test matches and the full family of IRB tournaments from the record-breaking IRB Sevens World Series to the inaugural IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy and Junior World Championships which will make their debut this year. The announcement continues Emirates' strong support of the global game.

Commenting on the new agreement, IRB Chief Executive Officer Mike Miller said:

"The IRB is delighted to be continuing its association with Emirates Airline for at least another four years. Emirates has been a committed supporter of Rugby for many years and the IRB has enjoyed a successful relationship with the Airline over the past three years, not just through sponsorship of the IRB's match officials, Awards and Yearbook, but also through Emirates commitment to Rugby World Cup."

"This new deal underlines Emirates continuing commitment to Rugby and further highlights Rugby's enormous global attraction and appeal."

Gary Chapman, President Group Services and Dnata, Emirates Group, said: "Emirates is proud to continue its sponsorship of the IRB's match officials, IRB Awards and the IRB Yearbook. Emirates has an extremely successful partnership with the sport of rugby and we are looking forward building on this success in the coming years. In addition to this sponsorship renewal, we have recently announced that Emirates will be the Principal Partner of the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009, which will be played in Dubai at a brand new sporting venue that we are currently building."

Rugby is an important part of Emirates' extensive top class portfolio of sport sponsorships around the world. In addition to sponsoring the IRB match officials, Awards and World Rugby Yearbook, Emirates has a prominent Rugby profile through its official sponsorship of Rugby World Cup 2007, the IRB Sevens World Series tournaments in Dubai, South Africa, England and Scotland Sevens and the England and Samoa Sevens teams. Emirates has also been appointed Principal Partner of Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in Dubai.