Melbourne FC, the Australian Rules Football club, has landed a three-year sponsorship deal with Kaspersky Lab. It is the Russian IT company’s first major sports sponsorship deal.

The deal comes less than a week after Melbourne FC signed a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Hankook Tires in Australia. The Kaspersky logo will be displayed on the back of the players shirts. It was understood that if Kaspersky had outbid Hankook it would have been the front-of-shirt sponsor, pushing the tyre company to the back.

The combined sponsorship of the two companies will pump nearly US$2.5 million into Melbourne FC, which plays in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Harry Cheung, Kaspersky's Asia Pacific managing director, said that the deal represented a strong commitment to growing its business in Australia. Its sponsorship will include signage, coaches' sponsorship, website advertising and corporate hospitality.

Kaspersky is a global IT security company, currently number one in China, in the US market top two and is hoping to be number one in Australia as well.