Editing Pirelli (section)

===Football===
Pirelli has a history of sponsoring football teams. Pirelli is well known for its long-term primary sponsorship of the Italian football club [[Inter Milan]] between 1995 and 2021. Pirelli previously appeared as a sponsor on the shirts of the Maltese football club [[Valletta F.C.|Valletta]] for a short time. In reference to Brazil striker [[Ronaldo (Brazilian footballer)|Ronaldo]]’s usual [[goal celebration]] of both arms outstretched, Pirelli ran a 1998 commercial in which he replaced the figure of Christ from the [[Christ the Redeemer (statue)|''Christ the Redeemer'']] statue that towers over his home city of [[Rio de Janeiro]] while in an Inter Milan strip.<ref>{{cite news |first=Gianluigi|last=Colin |title=Pirelli e le metamorfosi della pubblicità|language=it|url=https://www.corriere.it/cultura/17_giugno_21/pubblicita-con-la-maiuscola-fondazione-pirelli-corraini-5efebe1c-569c-11e7-a35b-7a875278503a.shtml |date=21 June 2017|access-date=19 September 2018 |work=Corriere Della Sera |archive-date=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919171612/https://www.corriere.it/cultura/17_giugno_21/pubblicita-con-la-maiuscola-fondazione-pirelli-corraini-5efebe1c-569c-11e7-a35b-7a875278503a.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> It was controversial with the Catholic Church.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Squires|first=Nick|date=9 June 2014|title=World Cup 2014: Brazil furious over Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro in Italian football colours|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/10886269/World-Cup-2014-Brazil-furious-over-Christ-the-Redeemer-statue-in-Rio-de-Janeiro-in-Italian-football-colours.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906154918/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/10886269/World-Cup-2014-Brazil-furious-over-Christ-the-Redeemer-statue-in-Rio-de-Janeiro-in-Italian-football-colours.html|archive-date=6 September 2019|access-date=20 October 2020|website=Telegraph}}</ref>

Pirelli's sponsorship of football teams is not limited to Europe, South America is a key market and as a result, successful clubs have also been sponsored by the tyre company. The [[Brazil]]ian team [[Palmeiras]], [[Uruguay]]an team [[Peñarol]] and [[Argentina|Argentinian]] side [[Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield|Vélez Sársfield]] all had Pirelli as a shirt sponsor. When English football club [[Burton Albion F.C.|Burton Albion Football Club]] built their new stadium in 2005, Pirelli became the title sponsor of the new ground. This was because the new stadium, named [[Pirelli Stadium]] lies next to the Pirelli factory in [[Burton-upon-Trent]], [[Staffordshire]], England. In 2009, Pirelli became the title sponsor of the [[Chinese Super League]] (CSL), China's top-tier football league. In 2012, the company became a major sponsor of the [[Russian Cup (football)|Russian Cup]].