Tamoil sponsorship deal in jeopardy

A valuable Italian soccer-shirt sponsorship deal that would have the shirts Italian soccer team Juventus carry the trademark of Tamoil, the state oil company of Libya, is reportedly in peril due to the opposition of traditionalist government leaders in a North African nation.

Juventus, which is based in Turin, is one of Italy’s most famous, and most successful, soccer clubs. Its shares are traded on the Milan stock exchange. The Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company owns 7.5 percent of the Juventus’ shares, and sixty percent of the club is owned by Ifil, a holding company owned by the Agnelli family of Italy.

Saadi Gadaffi, son of Libyan leader Muammer Gadaffi and a representative of Tamoil in Italy, says that traditionalists at the top of his father’s government want to put a stop to the deal between Tamoil and Juventus, which is worth up to $311 million.

Gadaffi has given no concrete reasons for the government’s position, but he calls the government “backward” for the position they have taken. He claims that the prime minister is among those who oppose the contract.