By Chrysanthus Ikeh
The over $100m football corruption involving 14 top officials including Vice President of FIFA, Jeffery Webb and others already arrested, has alerted sponsors of the world’s football governing body, raising fears of withdrawals as a result of the corruption scandal.
In a statement, one of FIFA’s biggest sponsors, VISA has threatened a reassessment of its sponsorship with FIFA based on how the corruption scandal is handled while Coca Cola has said the ‘serious allegations’ have ‘tarnished’ the World Cup tournaments concerned.
Read all statements from FIFA partners below…
VISA
‘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.
‘This starts with rebuilding a culture with strong ethical practices in order to restore the reputation of the games for fans everywhere.
‘Visa became a sponsor of FIFA because the World Cup is one of the few truly global sporting events with the power to unite people from around the world through a common love of football.
‘Our sponsorship has always focused on supporting the teams, enabling a great fan experience, and inspiring communities to come together and celebrate the spirit of competition and personal achievement – and it is important that FIFA makes changes now, so that the focus remain on these going forward.
‘Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship.’
HYUNDAI
‘As a company that place the highest priority on ethical standards and transparency, Hyundai Motor is extremely concerned about the legal proceedings being taken against certain FIFA executives and will continue to monitor the situation closely.’
COCA COLA
‘This lengthy controversy has tarnished the mission and ideals of the Fifa World Cup and we have repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations.
‘We expect Fifa to continue to address these issues thoroughly. Fifa has stated that it is responding to all requests for information and we are confident it will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities.’
ADIDAS
‘We are fully committed to creating a culture that promotes the highest standards of ethics and compliance, and we expect the same from our partners.
‘Following today’s news, we can therefore only encourage FIFA to continue to establish and follow transparent compliance standards in everything they do.’
MCDONALDS
‘McDonald’s takes matters of ethics and corruption very seriously and the news from the U.S. Department of Justice is extremely concerning. We are in contact with FIFA on this matter. We will continue to monitor the situation very closely.’
