by Shamir Osman
04:46 AM Mar 09, 2011 SINGAPORE - While the times are slowly changing, it is still a rare occurrence when a multinational corporation knocks on the door of a young boy in Singapore, offering to kit out the aspiring athlete in its famous brand.
In an acknowledgement of the progress being made here, this time in football, Nike announced yesterday that they have signed three players from the hugely popular bronze-medal Youth Olympic Games squad of 2010.
The two-year deal will see Nike provide personal training products and casual apparel for skipper Jeffrey Lightfoot (picture), forward Hanafi Akbar and midfielder Ammirul Emmran. Jeffrey has also been selected as Nike's local athlete ambassador for the CTR360 boots, the same pair Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta wore when he scored the winning goal in last year's World Cup Final.
Nike declined to reveal the monetary value of the sponsorship deal with the 15-year-olds, who will probably play for the Singapore under-16 team in this year's Lion City Cup, which will be held here in June.
In recent years, Nike have backed talented young footballers in the country. Hariss Harun - Singapore's youngest international when he turned out for the Lions aged just 16 years and 217 days - was already a Nike athlete before Radojko Avramovic gave him his big break. Current Courts Young Lions players Shahfiq Ghani, Safuwan Baharudin and Safirul Sulaiman were also signed when they were 15.
In an acknowledgement of the burgeoning potential in the country, Canon have also jumped into the local sports scene, signing a four-year sponsorship agreement with the Singapore National Olympic Council last year
Speaking to MediaCorp yesterday, Jeffrey said: "This is inspiring, knowing that I'm under Nike along with the likes of players like Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas. There will be hype and expectations that come with this sponsorship and I just hope to play my best and keep working hard. That's what got us this contract in the first place."
Grateful for the boost, Ammirul said: "This will help my family and me save a lot of money on football boots and equipment ... I think us getting this sponsorship will also motivate our team-mates to train harder to get something similar for themselves."
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