Messi becomes Huawei’s global ambassador

BARCELONA, Spain:

World-leading information communication technology and telecoms firm, Huawei, scored big with the signing of Lionel Messi the only football player in history to win the FIFA World Player of the Year/FIFA Ballon d'Or five times as their global ambassador yesterday.

The announcement was made here in Barcelona, Spain, at the Fairmont Rey Juan Carlos I Hotel.

While some global media have been speculating that the deal struck with the super-star forward will cost Huawei around eight million euros annually, the Asian-based organisation's officials chose not to reveal an exact figure.

They indicated, however, that they want to secure a long-term partnership with the world's top-rated footballer, who is considered by many to be the greatest of all time.

MESSI AN INSPIRATION

Huawei also believes Messi's passion inspires millions worldwide to strive for excellence and connect with people and considers the partnership "the perfect fit" and comes under the theme 'connecting greatness'.

"Lionel Messi will help our brand to encourage people to focus, persevere and breakthrough; to connect with greatness, especially in Europe, Asia and Latin America, where Huawei puts great devotion," said Kevin Ho, president, Handset Business, Huawei Consumer BG, at yesterday's press conference.

Ho stressed that Huawei will seek to be number one in mobile phone sales in more than 170 countries, including Jamaica and the Caribbean.

"We both honour the path we walked to what we have achieved and with each new challenge, we renew our commitment to find the path to success," he added, while reiterating that his organisation's belief that sport is a great way in which people enrich their lives, and through football in particular, which it considers a strong avenue.

In the last few years, Huawei has invested in several teams - such as America, Santa Fe, Sporting Cristal, Arsenal, Atletico de Madrid, and AC Milan.

Their brand ambassadors include Robert Lewandowski and Alexis Sanchez, and now the biggest of them all, Lionel Messi.

"You have to sacrifice and go all in; always looking forward to achieving greatness. The day you think there are no improvements to be made, you have to keep working for reaching other achievements," Messi said yesterday.

Tyrone Liu, CEO, consumer business group for Huawei Latin America, said: "We are happy to announce our collaboration with an extraordinary individual who inspires people all over the world to pursue their dreams, to face challenges to become better with each day, a man who shares a lot of the same values with the Huawei brand."