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Major FIFA sponsor Visa fires shots at organization in statement

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

On Wednesday, Visa released a statement about FIFA (which it sponsors) in the wake of U.S. corruption charges against soccer’s governing body. (Read all about those here.)

In Visa’s statement, the company expressed disappointment, and mentioned reassessing its sponsorship if FIFA did not immediately make changes.

Take a look at the whole thing:

“Our disappointment and concern with FIFA in light of today’s developments is profound. As a sponsor, we expect FIFA to take swift and immediate steps to address these issues within its organization. This starts with rebuilding a culture with strong ethical practices in order to restore the reputation of the games for fans everywhere.

Visa became a sponsor of FIFA because the World Cup is one of the few truly global sporting events with the power to unite people from around the world through a common love of football. Our sponsorship has always focused on supporting the teams, enabling a great fan experience, and inspiring communities to come together and celebrate the spirit of competition and personal achievement – and it is important that FIFA makes changes now, so that the focus remain on these going forward. Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship.”

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