UNITED CONNECT WITH AIRTEL

Bharti Airtel, Asia's leading integrated telecom services provider, today announced a five-year partnership with Manchester United.

This partnership will enable Airtel customers across India, Sri Lanka and the Seychelles will get exclusive access to rich and exclusive United content on their mobile phones.

In addition, Airtel users will get opportunities to participate in training sessions with Manchester United Soccer Schools coaches, to attend matches at Old Trafford and travel into Europe with United to UEFA Champions League games.

The announcement was made at Old Trafford by Sanjay Kapoor, Deputy CEO, Bharti Airtel in the presence of United's David Gill (CEO), Richard Arnold (Director of Commercial), Sir Alex Ferguson and players Darren Fletcher, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.

“We are very excited to partner with Manchester United, a powerful global brand with huge following across the world and in India,” said Sanjay Kapoor, Deputy CEO, Bharti Airtel.

“Football is definitely seeing a growing interest amongst the young population in India. Therefore, we are making a pioneering effort to bring to them rich football content on their mobiles, a fantastic opportunity to be part of the world’s leading football club through participation in Soccer Schools, and also an opportunity to watch matches across Europe.”

David Gill said: “Manchester United is delighted to announce the partnership with Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecommunications company and one of Asia’s emerging global brands. This partnership demonstrates the enduring strength of the Club internationally.

"We are very proud to have Bharti Airtel as the first Indian company to partner with United. This major partnership will bring the action and the passion of United directly to the millions of our fans across India and other Asian countries."

On whether the partnership could help develop Indian football, Sir Alex Ferguson said:

"Cricket may be India's number one at the moment but I think football is accelerating fast behind it as an emerging sport.

"I hope that maybe some day we will see a young Indian boy in the red strip at Old Trafford because one thing that’s always true of young people is that if you give them an opportunity, they surprise you. Hopefully more young players in India will now get the opportunity to become part of a strong sport.”

The rich and exclusive United content for Airtel customers will include video highlights of Barclays Premier League and UEFA Champions League matches, classic goal clips, match reports and editorial features plus a range of popular downloads including mobile games, ringtones, animations and wallpapers. 

Manchester United FC are one game away from becoming the first team to retain the UEFA Champions League after Cristiano Ronaldo led a devastating display at Arsenal FC that swept Sir Alex Ferguson's side into the final in Rome.

Early advantage
Leading 1-0 after last week's first leg, early goals from Ji-Sung Park (8) and Ronaldo (11) left Arsenal reeling and all but booked United's place at the Stadio Olimpico on 27 May. The visitors' effervescence was summed up by their third goal a minute past the hour as Ronaldo, Park and Rooney were all involved in a lightning counterattack that ended with the Portuguese finding the roof of the net. United's night ended on a sour note, however, as Darren Fletcher collected a late red card for a foul on Cesc Fàbregas, Robin van Persie converting the resulting penalty to give Arsenal the scantest of consolations. What made the difference for United over the two legs – and how keenly will Fletcher's absence be felt in the final?

Making history
AC Milan were the last side to win two successive European Champion Clubs' Cup finals, in 1989 and 1990, but no team has managed the feat since the UEFA Champions League era began in 1992. Indeed, Juventus were the last defending champions to reach the final the following year, but lost the 1997 showpiece to BV Borussia Dortmund, while Valencia CF were runners-up in 2000 and 2001. How good are this United team – and can they go on to make history? What have been the secrets of their success? And how does Sir Alex Ferguson go on producing sides that are in contention for the top prizes year after year?