Coca-Cola, China dairy giant sign Olympic sponsorship deal

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach (C) shakes hands with Coca-Cola President and CEO James Quincey (L) and China Mengniu Dairy CEO and Executive Director Jeffrey Minfang as they pose for photos during a press conference as part of the 134th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the SwissTech Convention Centre in Lausanne, on June 24, 2019. PHOTO | PHILIPPE LOPEZ |

What you need to know:

  • "This partnership will give another dimension to the promotion of the Olympic values around the world."
  • The agreement was unveiled in Lausanne ahead of the opening of the IOC session later Monday in which the IOC will choose the host city for the 2026 Winter Olympics, with two candidates in the running, Milan/Cortina of Italy and Sweden's Stockholm/Are.

LAUSANNE

Coca-Cola and Chinese dairy firm Mengniu have signed a deal to become joint sponsors of the Olympic Games from 2021 to 2032, IOC chief Thomas Bach announced Monday.

Neither the International Olympic Committee nor the two companies involved disclosed the size of the deal but the agreement is the first ever joint partnership under the Olympic TOP programme, the highest level of Olympic sponsorship, Bach added.

"Having our longest-standing partner, Coca-Cola, an iconic American brand, together with a young Chinese company, Mengniu, joining hands under the roof of our Worldwide TOP Programme is a great example of the unifying power of the Olympic spirit," said Bach.

"This partnership will give another dimension to the promotion of the Olympic values around the world."

The agreement was unveiled in Lausanne ahead of the opening of the IOC session later Monday in which the IOC will choose the host city for the 2026 Winter Olympics, with two candidates in the running, Milan/Cortina of Italy and Sweden's Stockholm/Are.