Bank of Maldives has extended the official sponsorship of national football teams.

The country’s national bank extended its partnership with the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) as the official sponsor of football teams on Wednesday.

The signing ceremony was held at the National Football Stadium, where the agreement was signed by the CEO and Managing Director of BML, Tim Sawyer and the president of FAM, Bassam Adeel Jaleel.

BML, the official sponsor of national football teams since 2017, will continue to be the exclusive sponsor of the national Senior Men’s, Senior Women’s and Youth teams under the agreements. BML had extended the sponsorship during July 2019, by a further two years, which expires this year. The agreement signed on Wednesday will see the extension of the sponsorship by another two years.

BML is also the official banking partner of the 13th SAFF Championship, slated for October.

The bank’s CEO and MD, Sawyer expressed delight in having renewed the partnership, during an exciting period in time for football in Maldives. He said that BML remains committed to playing an important part in developing young football talent in the country, in addition to supporting the achievements of the national teams on the international stage.

Sawyer wished the National Football Team all the best for the upcoming SAFF Championship 2021.

Also speaking at the ceremony, FAM President Bassam expressed gratitude to the bank for their continued support to the national teams and BML’s enthusiasm to develop sports and young players. Adding that FAM is “proud” and “excited” to partner with BML once again, Bassam stated that Maldivian players are FAM’s pride and the results obtained are that of hard work, partnerships and support, not only on the field, also behind the scenes.

The official campaign for the 13th SAFF Championship was launched on September 13. The 13th SAFF Championship is scheduled from 1 - 13 October. Maldives won its bids to host the 13th SAFF Championship, scheduled for this October, in early August.

This is the second time Maldives will be hosting the highly-anticipated SAFF Championship. The first time was in 2008, where co-hosted with Sri Lanka. That time Maldives brought home the championship for the first time. The last SAFF championship was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2018 where Maldives and India made it to the finals. Maldives took home the championship that year as well.