Sony has decided not to renew a multi-million-dollar sponsorship contract with FIFA due to the fact that the finanicially depleted electronics firm is set to undergo a painful restructuring.
In addition, the Japanese company no longer want to be associated with world football's governing body who are currently embroiled in controversy surrounding selections of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar respectively.
Japan’s leading Nikkei business daily said the eight-year, $280 million contract, which expires this year, would not be re-negotiated owing to worries that a new deal would be even more costly.
“Our company wants to refrain from commenting,” a Sony spokeswoman said.
South Korea’s Samsung is rumoured to be Sony’s successor in the FIFA sponsorship.
National broadcaster NHK, along with other Japanese media, later said Sony has decided not to renew the contract due to costs.
The reports come as FIFA’s leadership faces a string of corruption allegations, including questions over the bidding for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 event in Qatar.
Earlier this month, Dubai-based airline Emirates decided to end its sponsorship agreement with FIFA, marking a big blow to the embattled organisation.
Sony has been an official sponsor of football’s global governing body at more than 40 tournaments, including the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and this year in Brazil.
Meanwhile, The British Government has weighed into the FIFA controversy by urging the Garcia report into World Cup bidding to be published in full.
Sajid Javid MP, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, has written to FIFA president Sepp Blatter saying the report should be made public in the interests of transparency.
In his letter Javid writes: “Without the disclosure of the full report, FIFA risks not just further damage to its own credibility, but now significant damage to the reputation of football as a whole.
“I understand there are challenges around confidentiality within the report, but this is a challenge faced by many public bodies in conducting their work in an open and transparent way.”
