Fifa president Sepp Blatter will make the opening key-note speech at the Arabian Sponsorship Forum on Monday, and will be followed by Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke, who will take part in a question and answer on sponsorship with forum host and BBC presenter Sir Matthew Pinsent.

The two Fifa executives are in Abu Dhabi to oversee the Fifa Club World Cup from December 9th - December 19th. Joining Blatter and Valcke as keynote speakers for the Arabian Sponsorship Forum on Monday will be Giles Morgan, head of global sponsorship from HSBC; Sundar Raman, chief executive of the Indian Premier League in a case study with Shashank Awasthi, executive president of UltraTech Cement, the shirt sponsor of the Rajasthan Royals IPL team; and Sir Keith Mills, deputy chairman of the London Olympics Games Organising Committee. On Tuesday, the key-note speakers are Philippe Le Floc’h, marketing director of UEFA; Nick Fry, chief executive of the newly rebranded Mercedes GP Team and Peter Kenyon, former chief executive of Chelsea and Manchester United.

Jamie Cunningham, managing director of Professional Sports Group, the organisers of the Forum, was delighted by the addition of Blatter and Valcke to the programme. "Their addition to an already strong line-up of international sponsorship experts and rights holders makes the inaugural Forum an absolute must-attend event for any company considering sponsorship as part of their commercial mix in the Arabian Gulf 2010." he said. "We are sincerely grateful to president Blatter and the Fifa organisation for their valuable time during such a busy week here in Abu Dhabi."

The 2009 Arabian Sponsorship Forum is a two-day conference created to stimulate both corporate interest in sponsorship and undergraduate/graduate careers in the industry. It is held under the patronage of HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister for Higher Education and Research and is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and SportsCare Program. As part of the Forum, there will be the region's first Arabian Sponsorship Awards on December 14th. Tickets for the Forum are still available online from www.arabiansponsorship.com.