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FRANKFURT - Deutsche Telekom is ending its sponsorship of professional cycling immediately to distance its brand from the doping scandals that have blighted the sport, it said in a statement today.
"We arrived at this decision to separate our brand from further exposure from doping in sport and cycling specifically," said Hamid Akhavan, Chief Executive of Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit.
Deutsche Telekom ended sponsorship of both the men's and women's teams. It had been sponsoring cycling since 1991.
The company said it had been negotiating with Neuer Strassen Sport, the operator of the T-Mobile Team, over terminating a contract that was set to run until the end of 2010. Both parties had agreed to keep the details confidential, it said.
- REUTERS
