FIFA secured "crucial financial backing" from another Chinese company as "western groups continue to shun the 2018 and 2022 World Cups," signing smartphone maker Vivo in a €400M ($449.6M) sponsorship deal, according to Murad Ahmed of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Sources said that Vivo will pay about €60M-€70M ($67.4M-$78.7M) a year to sponsor tournaments run by FIFA through the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. It becomes the "third big Chinese company to sponsor the World Cup in the past year," after real estate and leisure conglomerate Wanda and consumer electronics brand Hisense. Endorsements from China have provided "welcome support" for FIFA, which has been "struggling to secure new commercial partners before next year's World Cup in Russia." It "lost several big sponsors," including Sony and Emirates, when their contracts expired at the end of the previous tournament in '14. FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said, "It's not always an easy business [to seek sponsorship] anywhere, but to have China as a partner of FIFA for the third time in less than a year demonstrates that football is a global sport, and that China will be an important client when it comes to football" (FT, 5/31). The AP's Graham Dunbar reported for now, China is helping fund FIFA while "traditionally strong markets" in North America and Western Europe have "steered away from the scandal-hit" body. Only sponsors from China and host nations Russia and Qatar have signed up for the World Cup since the '14 tournament and "confirmation one year later of American and Swiss federal investigations of corruption linked to FIFA." The int'l football governing body still has 22 vacant slots in a 34-sponsor program for the '18 tournament. A "revamped third tier of regional sponsorships -- designed to lure commercial partners globally instead of just in the host nation -- has so far attracted only a single Russian bank" (AP, 5/31). REUTERS' Brian Homewood reported FIFA "needs sponsorship to help reach its target" of a $100M surplus for the quadrennial cycle ending at the 2018 World Cup. It is also "under pressure to increase its revenue" after President Gianni Infantino "promised to increase payouts to its 211 member federations to develop the sport" (REUTERS, 5/31).
