Hyundai Motor is welcoming last night’s (2 June) dramatic decision by FIFA president, Sepp Blatter to resign his presidency of the body responsible for global football as the drama surrounding the Switzerland-based association continues to unfold.
Last week the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Swiss authorities charged nine officials with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering among other offences, with the FBI alleging more than US$150m in bribes and kickbacks were paid or agreed to be paid to obtain media and marketing rights to international football tournaments.
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Despite that maelstrom, Blatter secured enough votes for a fifth term last Friday at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, but suddenly announced his resignation citing an insufficient mandate from “the entire world of football.”
Following the events of last week, Hyundai, which along with subsidiary Kia, is one of FIFA’s main sponsors, said it was “extremely concerned” about the situation but is now hailing Blatter’s move as a positive step.
“Hyundai Motor views this announcement by FIFA to be a positive first step in creating a governance structure that ensures the highest ethical standards for the sport,” said a statement from the Korean automaker emailed to just-auto from Germany.
“We remain committed to supporting the passion of fans and of football around the world.”
The automakers are among an extremely select group of FIFA sponsors, who number global blue chip companies among them such as Coca Cola, Adidas, Visa and GAZprom, although it is as yet unclear if any collective commercial pressure has been brought to bear by them on either FIFA or its president.
“While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football,” said Blatter.
“We need deep-rooted structural change. The size of the Executive Committee must be reduced and its members should be elected through the FIFA Congress. The integrity checks for all Executive Committee members must be organised centrally through FIFA and not through the confederations.”
There have also been calls for Blatter to step aside immediately and not wait for an extraordinary conference of FIFA to appoint a new chief.
Hyundai started its association with FIFA in 1999 and previously said it will continue to be a top-tier sponsor as Automotive Official Partner until 2022.
The automaker is due to support all FIFA competitions including the next FIFA World Cups, Confederations Cups, Women’s World Cups, U-20 and U-17 World Cups.
