Sela Sport comes on board as LaLiga's new commercial partner for the Middle East and North Africa

LaLiga has struck an agreement for Sela Sport to become its official and exclusive commercial partner for the Middle East and North Africa, where the firm will work on marketing the Spanish institution's commercial rights across a variety of channels. The deal was signed by Adolfo Bara, LaLiga's Managing Director of Sales, Marketing and Sponsorship, and Dr Rakan Al Harthy, Sela Sport's President and CEO.

"This is a very important agreement for LaLiga, because the Middle East and North Africa are strategic territories for us. It is paramount for LaLiga to constantly get closer to its fans all over the world and we're sure that this new partnership will contribute towards that. LaLiga is the best league in the world and we've got to join forces with the best in every domain," said Bara, LaLiga's Head of Sales, Marketing and Sponsorship, during the signing ceremony.

For his part, Sela Sport CEO and President, Dr Rakan Al Harthy stated that: "We're very proud of this agreement between LaLiga and Sela Sport, which will help our strategic growth and transformation from a regional firm into a global company. It gives us great pride that LaLiga has chosen Sela Sport as a strategic partner for their growth in the region. This is a perfect fit because we are talking about not just the best league in the world, but the most popular one in MENA, so we hope that this will be a long-lasting partnership that we are very excited to be working on."

A trailblazer in its field, Sela Sport is a sports marketing and management company founded in 1995. It manages the commercial rights of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, the Saudi Professional League and the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), among others. Sela also owns the exclusive commercial rights of the three biggest football clubs in Saudi Arabia in addition to Al Ahly Egypt, while its other ventures have included organising games such as the Ittihad FC v Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid v Al-Nassr FC exhibition matches. Sela Sport’s properties in the MENA region serve more than 70 million fans annually.

MENA is a key market for LaLiga, whose interest in engaging more closely with the Arab world is evidenced by the recent launch of an official Twitter account in Arabic, @LaLigaArab. LaLiga, which also has over 3.24 million Facebook followers in the Arab countries, boasts a global audience of some 2.5 billion people in more than 180 countries. All of these figures are growing by the day.

The signing of this agreement is another step in LaLiga's ambitious ongoing internationalisation process. One of the first projects under this remit was the opening of an office in Dubai in 2014 to enable the institution to redouble its efforts on the ground in the Middle East and North Africa. LaLiga also has bases in China, the United States, South Africa, Nigeria, India and Singapore, as well as a commercial office in Mexico.