Adidas has hinted at pulling out of the FIFA World Cup sponsorship if FIFA were found guilty of breaking laws. The world governing body for football is facing a probe into bribery and illegal money transfer allegations. The German sportswear and sports goods brand has reportedly said that they “would have a problem” if FIFA is found to have broken the law.
Some FIFA executives have been facing allegations of taking bribes to influence the decision processes for future tournaments. An inquiry is pending into the illegal money transfers.
Adidas chief executive has reportedly suggested if the accusations are found to be true, the brand might have to reconsider its sponsorship deal with FIFA. “We expect from our partners that they abide by the laws”, Adidas boss Kasper Rorsted has reportedly told Bild am Sonntag. “If a partner is convicted we have a problem with that. We then have to solve that.”
Earlier this month, FIFA has revealed the official match ball for the 2018 Russia World Cup Finals.
A prosecution witness has testified that Mexico’s Grupo Televisa and Brazil’s Globo were part of a $15m bride to one of the FIFA executives to secure media rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cup tournaments.
For the past two years, FIFA has been attempting to regain some trust from the world of football after entering the biggest crisis in their history. In 2015 an indictment in the United States was focused towards several dozen of the organisation’s officials on corruption-related charges.
Since then, the overseers of world football have instated Gianni Infantino as the president of the governing body following his election in February 2016 after the demise of former head Sepp Blatter, who was disgraced in December 2015 after being found guilty of a series of rule breaches, including a conflict of interest and dereliction of duty.
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