It is one of the surest signs yet that crypto is going mainstream – an exchange in Turkey is sponsoring the country’s women’s and men’s national soccer teams, Cointelegraph Turkey reports.
The company’s 28-month deal with the Turkish Football Federation purportedly makes BtcTurk the first cryptocurrency platform to sign a sponsorship deal with a national soccer team, according to the official announcement.
Turkey’s national soccer teams don’t allow sponsor logos on their uniforms, but a BtcTurk logo will be featured on players’ training jerseys.
Last year, BtcTurk struck a sponsorship deal with the Turkish Super League team Yeni Malatyaspor.
BtcTurk CEO Özgür Güneri said, “We take great pride in being one of the ‘main’ supporters of our National Teams at the UEFA European Championship, which will be held in 2021 – the first time the games will be held in an odd-numbered year.”
When asked whether it will be possible to denominate player contracts in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, Turkish Football Federation president Nihat Özdemir said: “Contracts made between teams and players act as the basis in these situations. If both parties agree upon the terms of payment as crypto, then the payment can be made in crypto. If the contract allows, you can make the payments in Bitcoin, gold, or other values.”
Necla Güngör Kıragası, head coach of Women’s National Team, said, “Our target is to make Turkey one of the leading countries in women’s soccer in the near future. With the support of our new sponsor BtcTurk, I believe that we can achieve our target.”