The court had declared that the sponsorship contract concluded between FIFA and VISA was invalid and therefore ordered FIFA to implement the contract that had been negotiated but not concluded with MasterCard on the grounds that FIFA had breached the so-called first right to acquire of the hitherto existing and longstanding Partner, MasterCard. In this context, the FIFA employees who had conducted negotiations with VISA and MasterCard were accused of repeated dishonesty during negotiations and of giving false information to the FIFA deciding bodies in question.
Even though the judgment has proved to be very biased in favour of MasterCard, the fact cannot be overlooked that FIFA's negotiations breached its business principles. FIFA cannot possibly accept such conduct among its own employees.
FIFA is currently considering lodging an appeal against the court's judgment, while taking account of the interests of every party involved and seeking suitable solutions.
by FIFA Media Department
Posted December 12th, 2006 by COBA
