Major sponsor Visa has told FIFA that it "could cut ties" with football's scandal-tarnished governing body if the credit card company "is not satisfied with the reforms being implemented," according to Rob Harris of the AP. Visa Vice-Chair Ellen Richey "disclosed details of the renewed warning to FIFA" at a British parliamentary hearing. Richey appeared alongside execs from McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch, "who stopped short of issuing the same threat" over the futures of their sponsorships. Visa has "reservations about the large number of people with existing ties to FIFA who are formulating governance changes." The only independent member of FIFA's reform committee is Chair François Carrard. Richey: "We have certainly also informed FIFA on multiple occasions that if we are not satisfied in that regard we will reassess our sponsorship." Legislators expressed concern about how sponsors' cash "was being used by FIFA." Coca-Cola Dir Peter Franklin, whose company has sponsored FIFA for more than 40 years, said, "We have asked (FIFA) those (expenditure) questions and we will continue to. We pay our fee according to our contractual obligations and we have asked for confirmation the money was being spent appropriately" (AP, 10/28).
ADIDAS EXPOSED: In London, Charles Sale reported adidas, which has global kit deals with the England cricket team, ManU and Chelsea, was "exposed again on Wednesday" over its "failure to distance" itself from FIFA. Four of FIFA's sponsors -- in the top tier of backers with adidas -- appeared before the DCMS select committee. The representatives from Visa, Budweiser, Coca-Cola and McDonald's claimed they had "all invited adidas to support their joint condemnation of FIFA," but to no avail (DAILY MAIL, 10/28).
