Both companies have been unenthusiastic about the changes football’s governing body wants to make to contracts and agreements concluded until 2030.
THE FIFA found itself embroiled in a pickle with two of its main sponsors ahead of the upcoming 2025 Club World Cup which will be played in the United States with 32 teams and will have Inter Miami with Lionel Messi as host.
World football governing body maintains dispute with Adidas and Coca Cola for sponsorship rights to the competition. Both cases have been presented to the Zurich Arbitration Center and respective hearings are expected in the coming weeks, as reported by The Guardian.
According to the publication, this disagreement refers to the fact that FIFA announced a single sponsor for the event despite the fact that the companies maintain current ties in relation to the World Cup, which changed format to include more teams.
The body led by Gianni Infantino sought to negotiate new contracts despite the fact that Adidas and Coca Cola have signed agreements until 2030 worth around $70 million for each four-year cycle and n would not have been willing to participate in a tender process.
“Experts have accused world football’s governing body of prioritizing the tournament and its projected new revenue streams over existing relationships with some of its most loyal sponsors. Bank of America, sponsor of the 2026 World Cup, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia are among the sponsors reportedly approached to sponsor the Club World Cup. », Specifies the publication.
In this context, a FIFA spokesperson stated that “we are recruiting or are in advanced negotiations with a number of partners for the new FIFA Club World Cup, and will announce the first major partnerships next month. Market interest is very strong and deals being negotiated include both new brands and existing FIFA sponsors. », continues The Guardian.
For its part, a spokesperson for Adidas, sponsor of the World Cup since 1970, declared that “as a long-standing partner of FIFA for all its tournaments, we continue our work and planning for a FIFA Club World Cup 2025 successful.”
And from Coca Cola, present since 1978, they noted that “as one of FIFA’s oldest commercial partners, we value our relationship and remain focused on continuing our successful partnership together and on renewing and engagement from fans around the world.
It should be noted that last Wednesday, THE FIFA announced that Chinese consumer electronics company Hisense will be its first sponsor of next year’s Club World Cup . The company will display advertising on assistant referees’ video controls during the tournament, which is scheduled to run from June 15 to July 13.
Source: Latercera
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