TORONTO, ON - December 09, 2014 /CNW/ - Scotiabank today announced that it has become the Official Bank of CONCACAF and the league's first official partner.

As part of this agreement, Scotiabank will also become the title sponsor of the Champions League and the Caribbean Nations Cup and a sponsor of the Gold Cup.

"We want to thank CONCACAF for welcoming Scotiabank into their football family," said John Doig, Scotiabank's Chief Marketing Officer. "Scotiabank operates in most of the CONCACAF markets and we're proud of the deep roots we have in these regions -- supporting customers, businesses and communities across these countries going back more than 180 years."

The multi-year agreement also includes support for multiple CONCACAF youth tournaments including the 2016 Olympic qualifying events and the men's and women's under-20, under-17 and under-15 tournaments, starting with the CONCACAF Men's Under-20 championship kicking off in Jamaica in January 2015. The newly-named Scotiabank Champions League tournament will resume in February of 2015.

"Football is a shared passion for our customers and employees. We're all fans of the game and dedicated to supporting football across North and Central America and the Caribbean," added Doig. "Through our support for cricket in the Caribbean, hockey in Canada and baseball in the Dominican Republic, Scotiabank has expertise in supporting sports at the elite level and the grassroots level in our communities. We are excited to work with CONCACAF to do the same with football."

Through Bright Future, Scotiabank's global philanthropic program, we are able to have a lasting impact on our communities through a variety of initiatives spanning arts and culture, education, environment, social services, health and, especially, through sport. Organized sports play an important role in building stronger communities and being part of a team is a living example of how we're better together. At Scotiabank we believe it's important to build teamwork and camaraderie in sport -- and that it's truly important to have a team to believe in.

About CONCACAF
CONCACAF -- the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football -- is one of six continental confederations of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), and serves as the governing body of football in this part of the world. It is comprised of 41 national associations, including three regions -- North and Central America and the Caribbean basin -- ranging from Canada in the north to Guyana, Surinam and French Guyana in the south.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada's most international bank. Through our team of more than 86,000 employees, Scotiabank and its affiliates offer a broad range of products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking to over 21 million customers. With assets of $806 billion (as at October 31, 2014), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York (NYSE: BNS) Exchanges. Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.