Irfan, Ikhsan Fandi seal CIMB deal

SINGAPORE – In a boost to the fledgling careers of Irfan and Ikhsan Fandi — sons of retired Singapore football star Fandi Ahmad -- leading Malaysian bank CIMB have come onboard as their sponsors.

The deal, which was announced today, will be for one year and worth a “six-figure” sum to help in their education and football training at Universidad Catolica, a first division club in the Chilean capital Santiago.

The agreement to sponsor Irfan, 17, and Ikhsan, 15, officially starts tomorrow (Aug 1), and will be reviewed again after a year.

“We are very proud of what Irfan and Ikhsan have achieved at such a young age and we hope that this sponsorship will propel these two Singaporean homegrown talents to excel on the local and regional stages, and to flourish in the international arena as well,” said Mak Lye Mun, the chief executive officer of CIMB Bank Singapore and country head of CIMB Group Singapore.

Fandi added: “There are no short-cuts to making champions and this is truly a breakthrough in Irfan and Ikhsan’s developments as footballers. Our family is extremely thrilled to have the support of an ASEAN player like CIMB and we look forward to a successful partnership.”