Visa threatens to end relationship if soccer鈥檚 ruling body fails to act
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VISA has told FIFA it could end its sponsorship if soccer’s governing body does not act fast to restore the reputation of the game after senior officials were arrested on corruption charges.
The statement was the strongest so far as sponsors lined up to express concern about the scandal engulfing the world’s most popular sport and their customers took to social media to threaten a boycott of brands associated with FIFA.
Sponsors are trying to balance the growing sensitivity of consumers to corruption, human rights abuses and environmental issues against their relationship with the organization that holds the keys to a billion soccer fans worldwide.
“Our disappointment and concern with FIFA in light of today’s developments is profound. As a sponsor, we expect FIFA to take swift and immediate steps to address these issues within its organization,” Visa said.
“This starts with rebuilding a culture with strong ethical practices,” it said. “Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship.”
US prosecutors issued an indictment on Wednesday accusing nine officials from soccer’s world governing body and five sports media and promotions executives of bribes involving more than US$150 million over 24 years.
Airline Emirates and Japanese electronics maker Sony announced in November they would not renew deals with FIFA, although rivals Qatar Airways and Samsung are reportedly in talks to replace them.
Emirates and Sony were among FIFA’s six main partners who together paid of US$177 million in 2014 for the right to advertise in World Cup stadiums and use the FIFA trademark.
A source familiar with the Sony decision said suspected corruption was one factor behind Sony’s withdrawal although the main reason was the high cost of the sponsorship deal.
Sponsors have long faced risks to their brands from sports scandals ranging from doping to match fixing to misbehavior of top players on and off the pitch.
Sponsors including Nike Inc dropped American cyclist Lance Armstrong in 2012 after he was banned for doping, but Germany’s adidas decided last year to stick with Uruguay’s Luis Suarez after FIFA banned him for nine matches for biting an Italy defender.
“Brands have to take a longer-term view. Any sport is littered with controversy on and off the field,” said Paul Smith, founder of sports marketing research group Repucom.
“What fans care about most of all is the game itself rather than the business of the game. Being a sponsor of FIFA implies you are a sponsor of the game, not of the organization.”
FIFA’s longest standing partners are adidas and Coca-Cola.
Adidas has provided the World Cup match ball since 1970 and has a partnership lasting until 2030, while the current deal for Coca-Cola, which has had a formal association since 1974 and has advertised in World Cup stadiums since 1950, lasts until 2022.
That perhaps explains why they stopped short of threatening to cut ties like Visa, the world’s largest credit and debit card company, which only became a FIFA partner in 2007 and recently extended the relationship until 2022.
US Attorney General Loretta Lynch declined to comment on whether there was any liability for companies that had won marketing rights.
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