LONDON: Barclays obviously believes it has an enduring diamond in its sponsorship of the Premier League; the bank has extended its mainline backing until 2016 in a three-year deal worth £40m a year from 2013.

The current partnership, which expires at the end of the 2012-13 season is worth £27.5m-a-year. The increase per year is thus £12.5m and another cash-laden signal of the recession-defying value of the top-level game after the Premier League’s success last month in securing a 70pc increase in its TV rights.

The deal gives Barclays global title sponsorship of the league which claims to reach into 650m homes in 212 countries. In addition it also provides exclusive worldwide marketing rights for the bank, plus extensive advertising rights, tickets and hospitality.

Barclays, whose has taken a battering over the Libor interest rate-fixing scandal, first partnered the league back in 2001 in succession to Carling. The bank was fined $435m last week by US and UK regulators for making false reports of its borrowing costs from 2005 to 2009.

Next season, the 21st since the league was founded in 1992, kicks off on Saturday, 18 August

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