Fifa Sponsor Suffers Scandal

Following the scandal that hit FIFA sponsor Satyam, the football governing body is expected to face problems regarding the partnership, which is set for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

The former CEO and founder of the India-based software exporter, Ramalinga Raju, had been taken into custody along with his brother and co-founder B. Rama Raju on accounts of criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, cheating, falsification of records and forgery.

Satyam is currently bound to FIFA as a World Cup sponsor and the official IT services provider to the games. The deal was signed six months ago and covers a multi-million dollar deal for sponsorship of the games along with IT services contracts for developing event management and logistics solution for the World Cup 2010.

Should the partnership need to be terminated, FIFA may be hard pressed to find another provider given the current global economy. Media speculation has reported that former sponsor Avaya will allegedly turned down the opening slot, if FIFA is forced to cancel the contract with Satyam.

The US-based telecoms company was a sponsor of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

Currently, however, FIFA is allegedly maintaining its partnership with Satyam.