Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonald’s
and Anheuser-Busch Call on
FIFA’s Sepp Blatter to Resign
The pressure from corporations like Coca-Cola and
McDonald’s could make it harder for Sepp Blatter to hold
on to his presidency until the election in February.
SERGIO MORAES / REUTERS
By ANDREW DAS
OCTOBER 2, 2015
The top corporate sponsors Visa, Coca-
Cola , McDonald’s and Anheuser-Busch
InBev took coordinated aim at FIFA
President Sepp Blatter on Friday, calling
for him to resign as the head of world
soccer’s governing body and labeling
him an obstacle to reform of the
organization. Mr. Blatter immediately
rejected the demands, suggesting that
FIFA saw the public statements as little
more than an idle threat.
“Every day that passes, the image and
reputation of FIFA continues to
tarnish,” Coca-Cola said in a news
release, a sentiment that was quickly
amplified in similar statements by the
other sponsors. “FIFA needs
comprehensive and urgent reform, and
that can only be accomplished through
a truly independent approach.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev called Mr. Blatter
an “obstable” to reform, and
McDonald’s cited diminishing public
confidence in his leadership. Visa said,
“We believe no meaningful reform can
be made under FIFA’s existing
leadership.”
Mr. Blatter said through his lawyer that
he had no intention of quitting, and
that he did not think it would serve
FIFA to do so.
“Mr. Blatter respectfully disagrees with
its position and believes firmly that his
leaving office now would not be in the
best interest of FIFA nor would it
advance the process of reform and
therefore, he will not resign,” Richard
Cullen, a lawyer with McGuireWoods
who is representing Mr. Blatter, said in
a statement.
The four sponsors who called for
Blatter’s resignation are some of FIFA’s
most prominent and longest-serving
benefactors. Coca-Cola and Visa are two
of FIFA’s five official partners, the
highest level of sponsorship, and each
has paid tens of millions of dollars to be
associated with soccer’s biggest events.
Like Coca-Cola, a World Cup sponsor
since 1982, McDonald’s and AB InBev
have relationships with FIFA that go
back decades.
Mr. Blatter has been FIFA president
since 1998, but after several top soccer
and marketing officials closely linked to
FIFA were arrested in May — and only
days after he won a fifth term as
president — he announced that he
would give up his office. He called for a
special election to choose his successor;
that vote will be held in February.
Top sponsors initially reacted cautiously
to the scandal and to Mr. Blatter’s
announcement that he would step
down, releasing statements that blandly
called for more transparency and
higher ethical standards. A few
statements did not even mention Mr.
Blatter .
FIFA was well aware of the sponsors’
unhappiness about being connected
with yet another ethical scandal
involving world soccer’s leadership,
however, and said it would meet with
the companies’ representatives
privately to discuss their concerns. That
meeting took place in August ; Coca-
Cola, Visa, McDonald’s and A.B. InBev
were among the companies
represented.
Last week, however, Swiss authorities
announced that they were investigating
Mr. Blatter directly for “suspicion of
criminal mismanagement and suspicion
of misappropriation” of funds. On Sept.
25, a group of officials from the office
of Switzerland ’s attorney general
arrived at FIFA headquarters in Zurich
and, over the next few hours,
interrogated Mr. Blatter at length,
searched his office and took boxes of
documents.
“Given the events of last week,” Visa
said Friday, “it’s clear it would be in
the best interests of FIFA and the sport
for Sepp Blatter to step down
immediately.”
AB InBev went further in calling for Mr.
Blatter to step down, saying “we believe
his continued presence to be an
obstacle in the reform process.”
The pressure from corporations could
make it harder for Mr. Blatter to hold
on to his presidency until the special
election in February. But it is unclear
what the companies can do other than
expressing their displeasure through
public statements like Friday’s
announcements and in closed-door
sessions with FIFA’s leadership.
Contracts bind the companies to FIFA
for years, and their long partnerships
are a testament to their eagerness to be
associated, if not with FIFA, at least
with global events like the World Cup.
In rejecting the calls for his resignation
almost as quickly as they were
announced, Mr. Blatter might have been
signaling that he was prepared to call
the sponsors’ bluff. He also may be
counting on FIFA’s ability to replace
them if they withdraw their financial
support in the future. When two major
corporate partners, Sony and Emirates,
publicly ended their sponsorship
agreements with FIFA last year , the
blow was softened by a deal already in
place with the Russian energy giant
Gazprom .
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