22.10.2004 Fiat Auto is an official sponsor of the European Rugby Cup, the executive committee for the Heineken Cup, European Challenge Cup AND European Shield Cup trophies

Fiat Auto is an official sponsor of the European Rugby Cup (ERC), the executive committee for the Heineken Cup, European Challenge Cup and European Shield Cup trophies.

Three top-level sporting events in this year’s rugby season that will be followed by the Sky Italia, Canal +, RTE Sport and Sky TV television channels.

Apart from participating directly in its most natural sporting field – motor racing – Fiat has always shown an interest in and sponsored a wide range of sporting disciplines: from more popular sports like football, cycling, athletics and skiing to rather more elite disciplines such as canoeing, sailing, golf, horse riding, fencing and now, rugby.

In this sense the agreement signed with the European Rugby Cup (ERC) is a further demonstration of the company’s all-round commitment to sports played at all levels. And what is more, a Stilo 3-door model – one that epitomises the Fiat brand’s sporting spirit – will be on show at all games played in Great Britain.

Now coming up to its tenth edition, in Europe the Heineken Cup is considered the ‘Champions League’ of rugby. It gets underway on the weekend of October 22-24 with the participation of 24 teams from six countries (France, Italy, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales) for a total of 36 matches plus two semi-finals and a final, to be held for the first time in Scotland at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield stadium on May 22, 2005.

Among the Italian teams competing will be Benetton Treviso and Ghial Calvisano, respectively in pool 2 and 1. The former team – and current Italian champions – will take on Leinster Lions (Ireland), Bath (England) and, for the second year running, French team Bourgoin-Jailleu.

Ghial Calvisano has a tough pool too, lined up against London Wasps – the European and English champions – Biarritz Oympique from France and, in the opening match in the 2005 tournament for the team from Lombardy, Leicester Tigers at the Welford Road ground.

As for the 2004-2005 Challenge Cup, the draw made in Dublin last July established the line-up for the play-offs. The trophy, the first matches of which will kick off on October 22, sees a total of 28 teams in the preliminary round, 14 of which have been seeded, that will fight for the right to participate in the tournament where the top prize is qualification for the 2005 Heineken Cup.

The second stage will be played out between the 14 winners plus the two best seconds, that is, the ‘lucky losers’. Lastly, the 12 losing teams from the heats will participate in the European Shield Cup together with another four teams: Atletico Bera Bera (Spain), Valladolid RAC (Spain), CR Lisboa (Portugal) and Steaua Bucarest (Romania).