Hours after
news of the ‘hijacking’ accusations broke, Coca-Cola became the first major
sponsor to call for Fifa to put its house in order
Goalkeeper Tim Krul of the Netherlands and Costa Rican player Giancarlo Gonzales during the penalty shootout of the Fifa World Cup 2014 quarter final match. Photograph: Antonio Lacerda/EPA |
Coca-Cola,
one of football’s biggest sponsors, said Wednesday the allegations of
corruption now swirling around Fifa, soccer’s governing body, have “tarnished”
the reputation of the World Cup.
Hours after
the justice department accused nine senior current or former Fifa officials of
“hijacking” international football to run “a World Cup of fraud”, Coca-Cola
became the first major sponsor to call for the organisation to put its house in
order.
“This
lengthy controversy has tarnished the mission and ideals of the Fifa World Cup
and we have repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations.
We expect Fifa to continue to address these issues thoroughly. Fifa has stated
that it is responding to all requests for information and we are confident it
will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities,” the company said in a
statement.
Coca-Cola
has had sponsorship deals at every World Cup since 1950 and currently has
signed up to be a top-tier sponsor alongside Adidas, Anheuser-Busch InBev,
Hyundai-Kia and Visa until 2022. The World Cup is responsible for more than 90%
of Fifa’s income.
The
corruption allegations are likely to prove a major embarrassment for some of
the world’s largest corporations who use the tournament to reach a global
audience. More than a billion people tuned in for last year’s final between
Germany and Argentina.
Coca-Cola
has previously criticised Fifa’s handling of its long-term corruption
investigations. Last year the company spoke out after Fifa’s own ethics
investigator disowned a long-awaited probe into the controversial bidding
process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
After Fifa
gave the bids the all-clear, Michael Garcia, the former attorney for the
southern district of New York hired as part of a drive to revive Fifa’s image,
complained the report contained “numerous materially incomplete and erroneous
representations of the facts”.
In a
statement last November, Coca-Cola said: “Anything that detracts from the
mission and ideals of the Fifa World Cup is a concern to us. The current
conflicting perspectives regarding the investigation are disappointing. Our
expectation is that this will be resolved quickly in a transparent and
efficient manner.”
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