Pony International has signed a multi-year deal with one of Asia’s top soccer teams, East Bengal Club of India, to be the team’s exclusive outfitters beginning with the 2005-06 soccer season.

The deal marks the first club team soccer deal signed by Pony to go with several individual sponsorship and national soccer team deals Pony has signed in 2005. East Bengal is a burgeoning power, with several million fans loyally following the club across Asia. The team has won India’s National Football League (NFL) title three times in the past five years and was victorious at the 2003 ASEAN Club Championships. It is also a 16-time winner of the oldest football tournament in Asia, the Durand Cup.

“We are looking forward to working together with a team that is growing its brand exponentially on a daily basis,” says Killick Datta, CEO of Global Brand Marketing, Inc., the majority owner of Pony International. “East Bengal has become the hottest team in India and a major player in Asian soccer through their fan base and success on the field. We are excited to see them wear the Chevron during the upcoming season. This deal is the first of many to support the Pony brand launch in India in 2006.”

PONY joins United Breweries Ltd’ brand Kingfisher, as one of the team’s main sponsors, and will be supplying the team with uniforms, performance apparel and footwear in time for the kick-off of the 2005-06 Kolkata League season. The team will work with PONY’s design and development teams during the coming months and will wear PONY’s high-end soccer cleats manufactured in Italy.

Pony’s soccer boots went into production this spring and will hit retail later this year in the U.S. through its exclusive retail partner Eurosport and across the world.