Jun. 06, 2014
Toyota Catches Football Fever
With the eagerly anticipated 2014 FIFA World Cup kicking off in Brazil next week, Toyota is celebrating the world's most popular sport a little closer to home.
Toyota Motor Asia Pacific, together with the football federations of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, is launching the inaugural Toyota Mekong Club Championship, scheduled to take place on October 31 and November 2 at the Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Domestic playoffs will be held in each of the four nations, with one team from each progressing to the championship event.
This latest sponsorship expands Toyota’s commitment to promoting football worldwide, which already includes the FIFA Club World Cup, AFC Asian Cup and Toyota Thai Premiere League.
The new Toyota Mekong Football Challenge will serve to inspire young football talents to pursue their dreams in the sport.
On the occasion of the tournament launch, Kyoichi Tanada, Managing Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation commented: “We feel that the passion and energy of football resonates with Toyota’s constant pursuit in innovation to bring ever better cars to our customers.”
Update: We Have a Winner
The inaugural Toyota Mekong Club Championship has come to an end, with Becamex Binh Duong FC from Vietnam crowned champions.
On November 2 at the Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam, the final match between Becamex Binh Duong FC and Ayeyawady United FC, representing Myanmar, took place in front of a capacity crowd of some 18,000 spectators.
The winning team was presented with 75,000 USD in prize money while the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award went to Nguyen Anh Duc, captain of the Vietnamese team.
On the eve of the finals, players from four teams participated in a football clinic in central Vietnam with hundreds of schoolchildren.
http://www.toyota-global.com/events/sports_sponsorship/soccer/
A message from Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda:
http://www.toyota-global.com/events/sports_sponsorship/soccer/message.html