His mantra: “My hope for FIFA and football is that the game remains the universal game with the human face and that through our brand we can transmit the message of hope and joy.” He goes on: “Our product is not a ball, it's not a shirt, it's not something you can eat or drink. It's this game called football.”
The 2006 FIFA World Cup will have been watched by around 28 billion people around the world. The final in Berlin on 9 July was expected to be the greatest sporting event hosted there since the Olympics in 1936, and viewership is larger than any other event. FIFA has restructured its sponsorship program post 2006. The new format is for six top-tier slots each paying £75m (R825m) for a four-year contract (Coca-Cola, Visa, Sony, Hyundai, Adidas and Emirates) and eight second-tier sponsors priced around £10m (R110m).
A third tier is in place to manage technical matters i.e. the team kits. Of the official partners Emirates airline—as it builds its reputation as a global brand—has just signed a deal to support the 2010 and 2014 World Cups for a deal worth over £110m (R1.2 billion). Similarly, Budweiser as a second-tier sponsor has also signed up for the next two World Cups at a cost of £20m (R220m). Since 2002 FIFA has taken total ownership of all aspects of the event, in fact the words “2006 FIFA World Cup” are a trademark in its own right, as it continues to close out any loopholes.
So now we know who runs FIFA, lets pose the question: who runs football in South Africa? Reading the local sports media lately, South African soccer sounds to be in a state of total anarchy. We hear of this body at odds with that body. The “noise” from all the officials, committees and spokespeople is deafening and very disparate.
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