FIFA "signed a sponsorship deal covering the next four World Cups with a company controlled by China’s richest man but that also has links to Sepp Blatter, the disgraced former president of world football’s governing body," according to Atkins & Kynge of the FINANCIAL TIMES.
Wanda Group joins adidas, Coca-Cola, Gazprom, Hyundai and Visa as a FIFA “partner” in the first sponsorship deal it has signed since agreeing to a deal with Russia’s largest oil and gas company in '13. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed but FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the deal with Wanda would help the organization “massively.” Wanda Group Chair Wang Jianlin described football as “one of the most attractive sports globally” and said he “had the highest trust in FIFA and its newly established organizational structure under the lead of President Gianni Infantino.” Sports marketing consultancy Synergy CEO Tim Crow said, "China and corporate China wants to become a major football power, and I think that this [the FIFA deal] is further evidence of that. I would hazard a guess that more and more FIFA partners will come from the east rather than the west because there is no doubt the FIFA brand has more work to do, even if it can come back" (FT, 3/18).
ONE OF THE BIGGEST: The BBC's Bill Wilson wrote Wanda Group "operates in a number of sectors including property, retail, sport, hotels, film and stores." The deal lasts until '30.
The financial size of the partnership "has not been revealed, but it is believed to be one of the biggest" in FIFA's history.
FIFA's top five sponsors -- Coca-Cola, Gazprom, adidas, Visa, Hyundai -- paid some $180M to the governing body between them in '15. One of the companies Wanda owns is Infront Media, a sports marketing firm "which owns the media rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups across 26 Asian territories" (BBC, 3/18).
CHANGING TIMES: REUTERS' Brian Homewood wrote Infantino said that a "wind of change was blowing" through FIFA after announcing the sponsorship deal.
A source close to the deal said the sponsorship amount by Wanda will be "hundreds of millions of dollars."
Wanda said that "it will hold a press conference on Monday to give more details."
Infantino: "I’m very aware of the potential situations that can exist when you have partners who may have subsidiaries, who have other commercial relationships as well. In these circumstances, it’s even more important to do the right thing and to make sure that the contracts that you sign are really checked and we make sure that they are compliant with the highest standard" (REUTERS, 3/19). BLOOMBERG's Tariq Panja wrote the influx of cash "is welcome." FIFA said Thursday that costs associated with the scandal, including legal fees, led to a loss of $122M in '15, the group’s first year in the red since '02.
FIFA’s coffers are likely to be boosted further in the coming weeks, with Infantino saying that further deals were "on the horizon" (BLOOMBERG, 3/18).
