CFI Financial Group, a multi-asset broker with a strong presence in the Middle East, has expanded its investment in European football by signing an initial one-year sponsorship deal with the English football club, Sheffield United. Last year, the Dubai-headquartered firm signed up the current Manchester City coach, Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola, as its Global Brand Ambassador.

CFI Looks Beyond MENA

CFI announced the new partnership today (Friday), noting that it has become the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor or Principal and Official Financial Trading Partner. The agreement covers the upcoming Premier League 2023/2024 seasons.

“The agreement recognizes Sheffield United's place at the highest level of the English game, which has a global audience of over three billion through television, online, and social media,” CFI explained in a statement.

As part of the deal, the football club, which is fondly called the Blades, will wear CFI-branded shirts for the final pre-season fixture scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday). The club will play against VfB Stuttgart, a football club that plays in Germany’s first division, the Bundesliga.

Speaking about the agreement, Hisham Mansour, CFI’s Co-Founder and Managing Director, noted that “Sheffield United and the Premier League offer worldwide exposure for our business, and that is something we are very keen to embrace.”

CFI in MENA's Sports Industry

With 25 years under its belt, CFI is a top forex and contracts for difference provider, especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) where it runs several subsidiaries in Lebanon, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. It also operates entities in the UK and Cyprus.

To grow its brand in the online trading industry, CFI, which reported impressive growth across key metrics during the first quarter of this year, has entered several sports sponsorship arrangements in the MENA region. In April, the firm sealed a new partnership with the Jordan Football Association, becoming the exclusive brokerage partner of the body that governs football tournaments in Jordan.

The deal was reached a few months after CFI sponsored the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, which is an exhibition tournament for men’s and women’s singles. The tournament has been sponsored by Abu Dhabi since 2009.

Additionally, CFI previously sponsored the Lebanese Basketball Federation and Jordan’s national basketball team.