Sponsors will ‘huff and puff -- and do very little’

SABMiller, the brewing giant that has invested a lot to increase its exposure to Coca-Cola across Africa, said Coca-Cola’s role as a major Fifa sponsor had nothing to do with it.

An SABMiller spokesman referred to Coca-Cola’s statement on the matter, in which it expressed concern about the corruption claims. “We expect Fifa to continue to address these issues thoroughly. Fifa has stated it is responding to all requests for information and we are confident that it will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities,” said Coca-Cola.

Marketing expert Chris Moerdyk said he did not expect much action from the sponsors: “They will huff and puff, express indignation and the hope that something is done to correct the situation, but few sponsors are prepared to take a principled stand on a matter like this.”

South Africa’s big banks, which fell over their feet to associate themselves with the 2010 World Cup and talk of “zero tolerance” for poor ethics, are in an uncomfortable position given the extent of their reliance on Visa’s services and Visa’s exposure to Fifa.

FNB, South Africa’s first bank to offer a credit card, in 1969, through a Visa card, said it had great respect for Visa’s “business integrity”.

Chris Labuschagne, CEO of FNB’s credit card division, said his company was in “close contact” with Visa’s office in South Africa, and cited Visa’s statement that it would “reassess” its sponsorship unless Fifa made changes immediately.

Standard Bank spokesman Ross Linstrom said his bank had “every confidence that Visa will deal with this alleged Fifa corruption matter appropriately”.

Graeme Holmes, head of consumer cards at Nedbank, said that although it issued Visa cards, it had “no influence over Visa nor any involvement regarding the Fifa World Cup”.

Byron Kennedy, a spokesman for Absa, under the banner of Barclays Africa, said the bank declined to comment.