AirAsia mulls Manchester United sponsorship

Kuala Lumpur (AP): Budget airline AirAsia is in talks with Manchester United about becoming the club's next shirt sponsor.

AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes said on his Internet blog on Monday he has been in London to meet with United officials about a potential deal. ``There is no doubt that this would be great for AirAsia and ... it is worth the money,'' Fernandes said.

``We would not be the global brand we are today if we hadn't invested early on,'' he added. ``The question is whether we need to anymore. And that's what I'll be examining.''

United has also reportedly been in talks with Indian business conglomerate Sahara. The Premier League club says any prospective sponsor would likely need to pay more than the 19 million pounds ($27 million; euro21 million) a year that the current deal with AIG is worth.

``To be honest, I don't know what the entire package would amount to, as prices would have come down,'' Fernandes said. ``But it must be stated that all our branding commitments ... have always been about the impact to our bottom line.''