In the Year of the World Cup, Al Wahda FC Banks on European Stars to A...

With the FIFA World Cup about to be held in Qatar, Asia has become the epicentre of world football. But Qatar is not the only country due to benefit from an event that will capture the attention of the entire planet. The United Arab Emirates aims to take full advantage and boost the growth of its football league. One of the clubs that has been quickest to understand this wealth of new options is Al Wahda FC.

Al Wahda is one of the strongest of the teams based in Abu Dhabi and competes in UAE football's top flight, the UAE Pro League. It has also been a regular fixture in the AFC Champions League, in which the club had its best year in 2007, when it reached the semi-finals.

Commercial expansion is fuelled by success on the pitch. Therefore, Al Wahda made a commitment to signing some well-known European players to drive the club forward. And the country to which it turned for these quality overseas players was Portugal. The strong link with Portuguese football was forged with Carlos Carvalhal as manager even thoug he was replaced by former Sevilla manager Manolo Jiménez and key players such as Pizzi, Adrien Silva ,Fábio Martins. All three have enjoyed long and successful careers in the top leagues in Europe. 

Pizzi played for some leading clubs before he came to Asia: Atlético Madrid, Deportivo La Coruña and Benfica. He was also a member of the Portuguese team which became the first UEFA Nations League winner in 2019. For his part, Adrien Silva played for Sporting CP, Leicester City, Monaco and Sampdoria before arriving in the UAE. But his greatest achievement was winning the UEFA European Championship with Portugal in 2016.

Al Wahda's move to sign players from Europe was planned not only for football reasons, but also as part of an astute marketing strategy.

Football has become extremely popular in this part of Asia, so brands that are able to seize market opportunities will be well positioned to attract fans in this region. Of course, the fact that the FIFA World Cup – the sport's showpiece event – is going to be staged in Qatar will also focus unprecedented attention on this part of the world.

Indeed, brands are preparing special campaigns, in many cases their biggest in recent years, because they know there will be hundreds of millions of spectators all over the world eager to consume the daily football coverage. And the latest studies conducted by leading agencies confirm this.

In an age of countless distractions in which it is difficult to capture the public's attention, spectators of sporting events place emphasis on sponsorship. This is very important, because most fans perform multiple tasks while watching a game. 56% of fans actively inform themselves about the sponsors, and according to 67%, those that run campaigns in football become more attractive to their audience.

Compared with the general population, followers of this sport are more likely to be influenced by sponsorship initiatives. This directly affects how they perceive a brand and the likelihood of them consuming a sponsor's products.

And since no resource can be ignored, Al Wahda FC is also ready to reap the benefits of the virtual world. The club has more than 100,000 followers on its official social media channels. It is striking, and at the same time attractive from a marketing perspective, that most of these followers come from countries as distant as they are dissimilar: Austria, Iran, Greece and Ghana, according to SimilarWeb data.

This has not gone unnoticed by the leading players in the market, for Al Wahda FC's partners include top international brands linked with sport and the automotive industry, as well as a well-known beer which also sponsors some of the main tournaments around the world. Through Sponsor.Online, the club offers assets linked with its official shirt, providing brands with an excellent opportunity to associate their image with football.

Within the context of an expansion plan, the UAE is a strategic area for the growth of any brand in the Arab world. In football, Al Wahda FC offers a unique chance to form commercial alliances, link up with new audiences and therefore reach millions of potential consumers.