Liberty Seguros wants to stop sponsoring

By Monika Prell

The Liberty Seguros company does not envision sponsoring a professional cycling team or any other sport event again. Luis Bonell, the president of the insurance company in Spain, affirmed that the company will dedicate itself to advertising campaigns, where they will emphasize the virtues and the "personality" of the brand.

According to Bonell, the sponsorship of the team served to spread the name of the company in Spain. But after the investigation of Manolo Saiz in May of 2006, Liberty Seguros announced the termination of its sponsorship, and explained that "as a sponsor, Liberty Seguros always wanted a clean culture and no tolerance in doping matters." The company considered that the consequences Saiz's link to Operación Puerto "are damaging our name and the name of cycling."

According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, Liberty Seguros will maintain some sponsor activities in parts of Spain like Galicia or Alicante, but this will be more for the promotion of smaller sports events.

Administrator of Liberty Seguros Portugal, José António G. Duarte de Sousa, confirmed to Cyclingnews, the company will maintain the sponsorship of the Portuguese team Liberty Seguros, because they have nothing to do with the Spanish team or Manolo Saiz, so that the sponsorship is assured until the end of 2008.