Industry Shorts: Fifa, Formula E, Ron Dennis

New allegations of bribery have been made by US prosecutors against FIFA executive committee members who are accused of taking money to vote for Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

Allegations lodged with a US court in Brooklyn alleges the late Nicolas Leoz, the former President Conmebol – the governing body for football in South America – who died in 2019, and former Brazilian Football Confederation President Ricardo Teixeira took bribes in 2010 in return for votes for Qatar’s bid to host next year’s World Cup.

Formula E has appointed Katie Traxton as Chief Communications Officer.

Traxton joins from creative agency WeAreFearless, where she was Managing Partner. She begins her new role at the all-electric single-seater motorsport series amid coronavirus lockdowns.

Former McLaren boss Ron Dennis is aiming to aid the response to the coronavirus pandemic by donating one million meals to NHS staff.

Dennis spent 28 seasons as McLaren’s Team Principal, and has launched SalutetheNHS.org. His DreamChasing charity will make £1m available to feed British healthcare workers during the crisis.

Mouthguard manufacturer OPRO has loaned its range of magna 3D printers to 3D printing company Photocentric, which is currently making face shields for medical use during the coronavirus pandemic.

The company says the move was made in a bid to support Photocentric’s work printing thousands of much needed protective face shields for use in hospitals across the UK and mainland Europe amidst a shortage of protective equipment for frontline medical staff.

The Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament is to stage an esports event on the weekend before the real competition was scheduled to begin.

Instead of the cancelled tournament, the esports event will see tennis players face each other in virtual format on the Tennis World Tour computer from their own homes.

Winners of both the men’s and women’s events will be given €150,000 and will be able to decide on how much they donate to the tennis players currently suffering economically with no events from which to earn money.

The ATP says an additional €50,000 will all go towards ‘reducing the social impact’ of coronavirus pandemic.