Brazil allegation brings Nike into FIFA corruption crisis
28/05/2015
On May 27, the US department of justice said it was charging 14 people with offences related to what US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, described as “corruption that is rampant, systematic and deep-rooted” in football. Those facing charges are nine FIFA officials, including two current vice-presidents and the current and former presidents of the organisation’s regional federation in the Caribbean and North and Central America.
“It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks,” Ms Lynch continued. “And it has profoundly harmed a multitude of victims, from the youth leagues and developing countries that should benefit from the revenue generated by the commercial rights these organisations hold, to fans throughout the world whose support for the game makes those rights valuable.”
As one of FIFA’s top sponsors, adidas was asked immediately to comment. It said it wanted to see “the highest standards of ethics and compliance” but insisted it would continue to support football at all levels.
Nike has also come under pressure to react. The US department of justice included in a long list of transactions that are subject to its investigation one relating to “the payment and receipt of bribes and kickbacks in connection with the sponsorship of the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) by a major US sportswear company”. Nike has been the CBF’s kit supplier since 1996.
In a statement, Nike said: “Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery. We have been cooperating, and will continue to cooperate, with the authorities.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the department of justice’s investigation centres on the allegation that the sports company agreed to make extra payments to a sports marketing company, Traffic Group. It said the owner and founder of Traffic, José Hawilla, had already pleaded guilty to charges of corruption.
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