Toyota Ups Sponsorship of Asian Football Confederation

Toyota City, Japan, November 29, 2014―Toyota Motor Corporation, a sponsor of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) national team tournaments since 2012, has entered into an agreement with the AFC to become an official AFC Partner and also sponsor AFC club team soccer tournaments, such as the AFC Champions League, the AFC Cup, and the AFC Futsal Championship. At the signing ceremony held in Manila on November 29, Toyota presented the AFC, which marks its 60th anniversary this year, with a Toyota "Innova" multi-purpose vehicle for use in furthering the AFC's activities.

As an AFC Partner, Toyota hopes to contribute to communities in the region including the Middle East and Australia, and raise the overall level of soccer in Asia by working to support AFC's grassroots activities aimed at encouraging and nurturing young soccer players at the local level.

Toyota has been involved in promoting soccer in Japan for 35 years through such activities as sponsorship of the Intercontinental Cup (commonly known as the "Toyota Cup") since 1980, and ownership of the team Nagoya Grampus, which has competed in the Japan Professional Football League (J. League) since the league's founding in 1991. Since becoming an official sponsor of the AFC Champions League in 2005, Toyota has expanded the sphere of its support activities to include the wider Asia region in coordination with regional management companies and distributors including sponsorship of the Toyota Thai Premier League (2013), the Myanmar National League (2014), and the Toyota Mekong Club Championship (2014). Toyota is also an official sponsor of the Copa Bridgestone Libertadores, South America's premier international club football tournament.