FIFA sponsors Continental and Sony have joined the fray in voicing concern about the corruption crisis engulfing football's world governing body.
Earlier this week sponsors such as Emirates, Coca-Cola and Adidas publicly expressed their concern at the allegations of corruption and vote-buying for the 2022 World Cup bidding that has rocked FIFA. A number of big brands are aligned with FIFA in massive sponsorship deals that make FIFA the richest sports body in the world.
German automotive brand Continental is a global sponsor of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the FIFA Confederations Cup, and also has other football sponsorship deals such as with Major League Soccer in the US, the German Bundesliga team Hanover 96 and the German Cup. In a statement to AdNews, Continental said it will “continue to support professional soccer in the future, but how we do this is yet to be decided. Therefore, we cannot approve of anything that negatively affects the reputation of professional soccer, the World Cup 2014 or the characteristics of this sport.”
Sony is a FIFA partner, the highest level of association available with the sports body. Sony told AdNews: “As an official FIFA partner, we are continuing to focus on our support of the 2014 World Cup and the ongoing development of the sport around the world. We do not wish to comment on the publicly debated allegations against FIFA at this point in time, however, we expect FIFA to quickly take the necessary measures to provide clarity and resolution to this matter.”
Visa is also an official FIFA partner. Visa told AdNews that the current situation is “clearly not good for the game and we ask that FIFA take all necessary steps to resolve the concerns that have been raised”.
“Our focus is on our sponsorship of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and other tournaments before then,” Visa said in a statement.
“As a sponsor we are not involved in the bidding process or other administrative issues faced by the governing body. This matter does not concern or impact our sponsorship rights related to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.”
Jamie Gilbert-Smith, strategy director for sports marketing agency Octagon, believes than when brands look to sponsor football they "see an opportunity to engage and connect to fans and participants of the beautiful game rather than necessarily a direct link with FIFA themselves".
"It is the game of football and the World Cup itself that is the product and platform, not FIFA’s brand endorsement per se," he said.
"That said, if this negativity starts to affect the return on investment that partners receive from their sponsorship then they will be concerned. If it affecting the global reach of the World Cup, or the way their hero athletes talk about that iconic property then brands start to see material harm to their investments. But let’s remember there are strong and valuable benefits in associating your brand with The World Cup and many of our clients have reaped the reward of leveraging those assets. It is after all the biggest sporting event on the planet – Americans may argue otherwise – providing an incredibly powerful opportunity for sponsors to engage the massive fan base and audience with unique and scarce assets that come with the World Cup IP".
Overnight Sepp Blatter was re-elected as FIFA president for another four-year term.
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