Scotiabank last year signed a four-year deal to become CONCACAF's official bank, and while there is nothing in the U.S. Department of Justice's indictment of FIFA execs "to suggest that bribes were paid as part of the Scotiabank deal," the bank is still "caught in the middle of what has become the biggest investigation in sports," according to Robertson & Nolen of the GLOBE & MAIL. Traffic Sports USA, whose founder was indicted in the DOJ's investigation, "approached Scotiabank last summer about sponsoring the 41-country CONCACAF." After that approach, the bank "ran background checks on Traffic, speaking with companies that had brokered sponsorships with Traffic before." Scotiabank claims that the company "checked out." Scotiabank "is not saying how much it spent on the CONCACAF deal, but industry insiders suggest that it is likely worth upward" of C$10M. The scandal "has already triggered one clause in Scotiabank’s contract, requiring CONCACAF to produce an emergency 'reputational plan,' which will outline how the federation plans to protect the bank’s reputation from the fallout of the FIFA scandal." If that plan "doesn’t satisfy Scotiabank, the next step would be to demand financial compensation." Beyond that, cancellation of the sponsorship "is also a possibility, but one that the bank does not want to entertain, since it still covets the soccer market." Other sponsors related to soccer, including FIFA sponsor Visa, "have threatened to pull their backing in the wake of the crisis" (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/7).
