Yanmar extends Dortmund backing as Japanese star prepares to leave
08 Jun 2012
German 1.Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund has agreed a one-year extension to its sponsorship deal with Japanese company Yanmar, despite the impending departure of Japan national team star Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United.
The 23-year-old midfielder signed for Dortmund in 2010 from Yanmar-owned J. League club Cerezo Osaka, with the diesel engine manufacturer commencing its sponsorship of the club to coincide with his arrival. Kagawa is poised to make a summer switch to Barclays Premier League giant United after a deal worth a reported basic £12 million was agreed this week. However, Yanmar will maintain its backing of Dortmund through to June 30, 2013 after citing “very positive experiences” from its association with the club.
“Yanmar is honoured and proud to continue the sponsorship with the German champions and DFB Cup winner in the 2012-13 season,” said the company’s senior manager, Osamu Sugano. “We hope that the BVB can in the future produce similarly outstanding performances as in the past two seasons.”
Yanmar will now continue in Dortmund’s ‘champion partner’ portfolio alongside Brinkhoff’s, Sparda-Bank, Sprehe, Seat, Signal Iduna, Hankook, Q.Cells and Wilo. Carsten Cramer, Borussia Dortmund’s director of marketing and sales, added: “We are pleased that Yanmar, a Japanese company and a leader in its sector will continue on our side, especially since the importance of the Bundesliga is growing continuously in Japan.”
