Russia's Alfa Bank Named First Regional Sponsor Of 2018 World Cup

FIFA, "which has struggled to find commercial partners since it was battered by a corruption scandal last year," named a Russian bank as the first of up to 20 regional World Cup sponsors on Monday, according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS. FIFA said that Alfa Bank would "activate sponsorship initiatives" around the 2018 World Cup, which is being hosted by Russia, "although it did not say how much the deal is worth." The int'l body added that under a new commercial strategy for the World Cup, "up to four packages were being offered for regional sponsors" in each of five regions it listed as Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa, and Asia. FIFA was "thrown into turmoil last year after criminal investigations were launched into the sport" in the U.S., where several dozen former officials have been indicted, and Switzerland. FIFA's commercial structure allows for six to eight top-tier partners, of which China's Wanda Group became the sixth when it signed a deal in March (REUTERS, 7/18).