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Argentinos Juniors set first with stadium sponsor

Buenos Aires’ Estadio Diego Armando Maradona has become the first stadium in Argentina to sign a naming-rights partner after an agreement was reached with financial services company Autocredito.

The stadium is the home of Argentinos Juniors and is named after Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, who made his professional debut at the ground in 1976. The venue will now be known as Autocredito Diego Armando Maradona.

Although stadium sponsorship deals are commonplace around the world, this is the first such agreement in Argentina. Autocredito already served as Argentinos Juniors’ shirt sponsor and it has now opted to step up its support of the club and its home stadium.

The stadium sponsorship deal will initially run until December 2019. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“The club was in a complex position and we had to find a way to generate genuine resources and use a lot of creativity,” club president Cristian Malaspina told the Associated Press news agency. “I’m proud of generating genuine resources for the club that can help us continue to grow.”

The agreement has generated a mixed response among Argentinos Juniors fans. “I’m totally against it,” one fan, Alberto Perez, told the Associated Press. “The name of a stadium is an attribute to our club, especially the name Diego Armando Maradona. This stains the name.”

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