2006 FIFA World Cup Sponsorship - Sponsor Controversies

Sponsor Controversies

There has been some controversy about several of FIFA’s sponsors. FIFA has been criticized for taking on McDonalds as a sponsor because many feel the chain’s unhealthy food should not be connected to a sporting event. Budweiser also has endured criticism for being the official beer of the World Cup in a country where, because it contains rice and fails the German Reinheitsgebot, it cannot be sold as a beer. Because of a longstanding copyright dispute with Czech brewery Budweiser Budvar it can also not be sold under the name of Budweiser in Germany. Anheuser-Busch signed its sponsorship deal with FIFA before the 2006 World Cup’s host country was chosen, and opted to advertise the brand as Bud 百威, combining the first three letters of its English brand name with its Chinese brand name. Budweiser is the only sponsor with non English writing on its billboards.

During the first round match between the Netherlands and Côte d'Ivoire, over 1,000 Dutch fans who arrived at the stadium wearing orange lederhosen were forced to remove their trousers because the lederhosen had the logo of Dutch brewery Bavaria. Bavaria, who had sold the lederhosen as part of an offer, was accused by FIFA of "ambush marketing" at the expense of American beer maker Budweiser who had paid millions of Euro to sponsor the competition and for the title of "Official Beer of the 2006 World Cup."

In April 2007, MasterCard sued FIFA for reneging on a World Cup credit card sponsorship deal after it had awarded the sponsorship to VISA. MasterCard had the right of first refusal to sponsor the 2010 and 2014 World Cups but was not given the opportunity to do so. On Dec. 7, 2006, MasterCard won its US federal lawsuit against FIFA. The judge issued a ruling stating that FIFA had breached the contract and that MasterCard was entitled to sponsor the next two World Cups. The judge also brought to light that FIFA officials had repeatedly lied to both MasterCard and VISA during the negotiations.