The FIFA Crisis: Examining Sponsor Response Options

Abstract

A crisis not only affects the organization that engaged in the improper act, but its stakeholders as well. While there are many studies that analyse response options for the organization involved in the crisis, there is little research focusing on the strategic response of stakeholders. This article uses the crisis involving FIFA as its focus and how its sponsors, an essential stakeholder group, responded. While no companies terminated their sponsorship, sponsors did issue statements that indicated the severity of the crisis and encouraged FIFA to engage in corrective action. FIFA engaging in corrective action is the best outcome for sponsors as they can maintain their partnership and continue to accrue the promotional communication and business benefits of this sponsorship.

Let’s Talk Sports: An Egocentric Discussion Network Analysis Regarding NFL Crisis Perceptions

“…In fact, throughout the first 25 years of sport crisis communication, few studies surveyed stakeholders regarding their crisis perceptions (Harker & Saffer, 2018). Research regarding the rhetorical self-defense of fans (Brown & Billings, 2013;Brown, Brown, & Billings, 2015) and sponsors (Fortunato, 2017) on behalf of sports entities or individuals has been conducted, and some of these innovative research efforts were among the first to integrate SCCT and the theory's measures within the subfield of sport crisis communication (Harker & Saffer, 2018). Since, SCCT's application to sport crises has grown (Billings, Coombs, & Brown, 2018).…”

Corruption’s impact on organizational outcomes

“…While sport is founded on the ideals of meritocracy and fair play, one needs to look no further than the daily sports headlines to observe the propensity of corruption within its realm. In May of 2015, 14 prominent soccer officials from the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) were indicted by US Department of Justice on criminal corruption charges including bribery, fraud and money laundering with allegations that the corruption spanned decades (Fortunato, 2016; Robinson, 2015). In October 2015, longtime FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, and former Vice-President and member of the Executive Committee of FIFA and President of the Union of European Football Association (UEFA), Michel Platini, were banned from the sport for eight years (later reduced to six years upon appeal to the FIFA Appeal Committee (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2016; Fortunato, 2016) by FIFA’s ethics committee owing to illegal payment made by Blatter to Platini in 2001 and criminal cases for both men are looming (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2015).…”

“…Further, FIFA has lost five prominent sponsors in the past year (i.e. Sony, Emirates, Castrol, Continental, and Johnson & Johnson), and while none have publicly stated their departure is the result of the indictments, the timing would suggest the corruption allegations weighed in their decisions (Fortunato, 2016; Rumsby, 2015).…”

Estratégias de marketing esportivo de clubes de futebol do Agreste Pernambucano

“…O futebol é um emblema do Brasil e representa uma parte significativa de influência no desenvolvimento econômico, político e social do país (Costa et al, 2018). As organizações de fins lucrativos o observam como um investimento ao buscarem por estratégias para conectar suas marcas a determinados times e, assim, promover seus produtos -bens, serviços e/ou experiências -e a sua autoimagem (Fortunato, 2017). O marketing esportivo se caracteriza como uma dessas estratégias.…”