Kia Motors announced today that it will be an Official Partner of the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007 as part of its status as FIFA Partner and official automobile of FIFA (in conjunction with its sister company Hyundai Motor). Kia is supplying official vehicles from its wide-ranging model line-up to the Women’s World Cup Organizing Committee and seeks to boost its brand recognition through commercial displays at the event venues and A-board advertisements in the stadiums.

The Women’s World Cup China 2007 is scheduled to kick off on September 10th with the champion to be crowned on September 30th. The matches will take place throughout China in the cities of Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin and Wuhan. The event marks Kia’s second sponsorship of a FIFA championship on the heels of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Korea that runs through September 9th.

Building on its current partnership with FIFA, Kia Motors has also committed itself to supporting the development of Chinese football as a whole by serving as an official partner of the Chinese Football Association until 2010. Kia will comprehensively support all levels of men’s and women’s football including the China National Teams, National Olympic Teams and Youth National Football Teams.

Yong-Hwan Kim, Senior Executive Vice President & COO of Kia Motors, said, “Kia Motors views the active participation in football marketing as an integral part of our vision to become a formidable player on the global automotive stage. In line our young and energetic brand identity we have made a strategic effort to ramp up our presence in major sports sponsorships to boost Kia’s brand awareness worldwide.

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