Many FIFA sponsors have sort of danced around the issue with FIFA’s ethics and standards but it finally seems like one sponsor is taking the next step forward, albeit a very small one. Coca-Cola has publicly stated that they would like to see more transparency within FIFA amid allegations of unethical behavior resulting in Russia and Qatar hosting the 2018 and 2022 World Cup’s respectively. One thing they want to see is the actual report the FIFA Ethics Committee compiled which included their findings on possible corruption for the 2018 and 2022 votes. As of now, FIFA plans to keep the report private.
While Coca-Cola is just stating the very basic obvious of what any FIFA sponsor should be saying, at least they’re paying attention and are aware of the situation. For anything to change within FIFA, the sponsors will have to be the ones to take a stand. We, as people, can huff and puff all we want, but we’re still going to watch the World Cup so Sepp Blatter doesn’t care what I think. Sepp Blatter and FIFA care about money and money only so they care what sponsors think. Pull the sponsorship money and things start getting done. While Coca-Cola haven’t said anything about pulling support and money to FIFA, it could be an option for the future. While it would be a very risky endeavor because FIFA may just as easily get some other company to sponsor, it may cause a company like Coca-Cola to be hailed as a hero if they take a stand against Sepp and the boys. It’ll be interesting to see if other FIFA sponsors like Adidas, Hyundai, Emirates, Sony, Visa, Budweiser and McDonalds take a similar approach.
