RIO DE JANEIRO / SAO PAULO: The Brazilian football confederation is continuing to harvest sponsorship contracts ahead of its World Cup hosting next year writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Latest deal is the agreement to extend a deal with Sao Paulo-based Banco Itau. The extension was confirmed at a press conference attended by CBF president Jose Maria Marin and bank directors.

The current deal was due to expire on October 31, 2014, but will now continue until 2022, thus taking in the finals in Russia in 2018 and in Qatar in 2022.

The previous contract was worth a reported $13m and speculation has suggested the new deal is worth almost double.

Marin, who succeeded controversial Ricardo Teixeira in March last year, said: “We are on track. The extension of this agreement with an institution of the size and status of Itau is a vote of confidence in our work and the prestige of our squad.”

Itau is one of the CBF’s 13 commercial partners which include MasterCard, Samsung, Nike, Nestle, Gillette and Volkswagen. MasterCard and Gillette are former FIFA World Cup sponsors while Samsung is a main sponsor of the Olympic Games.

Nike, shut out of direct World Cup sponsorship by Adidas, has been a long-term sponsor of the Brazilian national team. A key player in its original agreement with the CBF was Sandro Rosell, who later returned to Spain to become president of Barcelona.

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