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World Cup sponsors express “disappointment” in Fifa corruption allegations

World Cup sponsors express “disappointment” in Fifa corruption allegations

A major World Cup sponsor has expressed its “disappointment” in the corruption allegations surrounding football’s governing body Fifa.

Emirates Airline becomes the third sponsor to make public its worries. Earlier sponsors Coca Cola said the claims were “distressing and bad for the sport”, whilst Adidas, who will be an official sponsor of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, has also voiced concerns.

Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president, corporate communications, said: “Emirates, like all football fans around the world, is disappointed with the issues that are currently surrounding the administration of this sport.

“Emirates’ sponsorship of all Fifa Tournaments, including the Fifa World Cup, aims to help promote football and ensure that it is accessible to the billions of football fans; something Fifa has managed to do extremely well in recent years.

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“We hope that these issues will be resolved as soon as possible and the outcome will be in the interest of the game and sport in general.”

Coca-Cola said in a statement: “The current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport. We have every expectation that Fifa will resolve this situation in an expedient and thorough manner.”

Adidas has previously stated “the negative tenor of public debates is neither good for the sport of football nor for Fifa as an institution and its partners”.

Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar, president of the Asian Football Confederation, was suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee on Sunday, along with three other officials.

They are accused of offering bribes to other officials to secure the Fifa presidency for Mohammed bin Hammam. Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, was cleared of any wrongdoing.