Serbian Football Club Red Star Belgrade Looking To Increase Gazprom Sponsorship

Serbian football club Red Star Belgrade is "in talks with Russia's natural gas company Gazprom to sign a new sponsorship deal" in a move aimed to "overhaul the finances" of the "troubled" club, according to Jaroslaw Adamowski of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. Under the current sponsorship contract, Gazprom spends €4.5M ($5.8M) per year with the Serbian side. However, the Belgrade-based club is looking to extend the deal until '17 and "increase the amount" by a further €1M ($1.3M) per year. Red Star General Secretary Zvezdan Terzic said that the club's debt is estimated at between €48M ($61M) and €50M ($64M). With the "planned increase in sponsorship revenue," Red Star would reportedly be able to pay "outstanding salaries to its employees" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 10/16).