By Andrew Warshaw
March 18 – With symbolic timing in order to send out a clear message of intent, FIFA announced its first major sponsor in the post-Sepp Blatter era today as the Wanda Group became the first Chinese company to sign up as a top-tier World Cup partner.
The contract, described by Blatter’s successor Gianni Infantino as “very, very important” for the future credibility of the corruption-scarred organisation he took over just three weeks ago and whose finances have taken a battering, will cover the next four World Cups and is understood to be among the most lucrative in FIFA history though the exact sum has not been divulged.
The deal was announced following Infantino’s first ever executive committee meeting which also happened to be the last in its current guise before it becomes an expanded 37-member council under FIFA’s new reform programme.
Wanda operates in a number of sectors including property, retail, sport and hotels and is a company, said Infantino, “that has a long affiliation with football, has been an active supporter of the game for many years and shares our enthusiasm to develop and strengthen football. They are very important strategy partner.”
Ironically, one of the companies Wanda owns is Infront Media, which has Blatter’s nephew Philippe at the helm. But Infantino was clearly not interested in discussing any links with the past regime at FIFA, engulfed in scandal for the past 10 months. Though the irony of a Blatter family member
Citing “a wind of change” blowing through football’s world governing body, which this week sought to claim back tens of millions of dollars from those indicted by the US authorities, Infantino told reporters: “FIFA is full of passionate people and is moving from the defence to the attack. It must be very clear that anyone who abuses FIFA and football to enrich himself will be excluded and have to give the money back. What is essential is that we work in a united way. The (presidential) election was a competition. Now we have to be united.”
The deal was signed shortly before Infantino’s post-exco press conference in the presence of the Wanda Group’s chairman Wang Jianlin, whose personal fortune is estimated at around $29 billion and who has a stake in Atletico Madrid.
“In order to professionally grow the existing grassroots movement into a sustainable and well managed sport, we are delighted to tap into the vast experience of the most competent advisor – FIFA,” said Wang in a statement. “We believe in football as one of the most attractive sports globally and have the highest trust in FIFA and its newly established organisational structure under the lead of president Gianni Infantino.”
FIFA has been struggling to find new top level sponsors ever since the current corruption scandal erupted last year. Sony and Emirates Airlines finished their sponsorship contracts in 2014 and on Thursday FIFA announced a $122 million loss for 2015, mainly because of the current crisis.
Infantino has vowed to put FIFA back on an even keel and says he has already indentified significant cost savings in order push ahead with his pledge to give $5 million over the next three years to each member federation to invest in development.
“I cannot change the past but I can influence the future,” said Infantino. “The main message is not about austerity, it’s about growth. I have already started putting some seeds down.”
Infantino also confirmed for the first time that the appointment of his number two, still some weeks away, will go through a proper executive search rather than be his decision alone. But he re-iterated that the secretary general would not be a European even though that could be detrimental to the recruitment process.
As for his salary, now that Blatter’s has finally been released, Infantino was not prepared to go down that particular road, neatly sidestepping the question. “I honestly don’t know what it is yet,” he said. “I know how much my predecessor earned in his final year but for the moment it is not yet a priority. When it’s fixed, you will know it.”
For Infantino the shadow of Blatter will never be far away and the fortunate timing of this deal. The picture here shows happier FIFA times and a meeting between Wang and then FIFA president Blatter. Interestingly the link from this picture to the article that accompanied it has been broken on the Wanda website.
It seems perhaps that in FIFA’s brave new world the writing of the new history might need to be helped along by a rewriting of the old. Needless to say no mention was made of Blatter’s meeting in Infantino’s press conference or what it might have about. Doubtless Wang was just dropping in for a social, a selfie and a cup of tea.
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