Adidas CEO says Fifa scandal hasn't hurt the brand
The corruption scandal which has engulfed Fifa and led to the eventual resignation of its president, Seb Blatter, has not tarnished the image of its long-term sponsor Adidas, says its chief executive.
The German company’s boss Herbert Hainer, said strong sales of its soccer products indicate that Fifa’s wrongdoing has not embroiled the sports brand in any way.
Adidas said its sales of soccer products were up 19 per cent in the third quarter, helped in part by the launch of new "ACE" and "X" soccer boots and kits for new partners Manchester United and Italian champions Juventus.
The brand was criticised last month for not joining other companies in calling for the immediate departure of FIFA President Sepp Blatter when Swiss authorities launched a criminal investigation into him over allegations of corruption.
Hainer however maintained that Adidas had pushed for FIFA reform before last year's World Cup in Brazil and said he had confidence in the ethics committee to make the organisation more transparent.
Police and tax investigators raided the headquarters of the German football association (DFB), which Adidas sponsors, on Tuesday (2 November) to investigate suspected tax evasion linked to the hosting of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
The raid was in connection with a €6.7m payment from the DFB to FIFA that Der Spiegel magazine said was a return on a loan from the then Adidas chief executive Robert Louis-Dreyfus to help buy votes for Germany's World Cup bid in 2000.
Hainer maintained that the payment “doesn't have anything to do with Adidas as Dreyfus gave money when he had already left the company. It was his private money.”
Adidas has had a long standing relationship with FIFA, having provided the World Cup match ball since 1970, a sponsorship which was extended two years ago to last until 2030.