It’s no doubt that the FIFA World Cup is a huge opportunity for advertisers.
The coveted football tournament will run for four weeks and is expected to reach a global in-home television audience of more than three billion people, with more than one billion fans set to tune in to watch the final match. This is on top of the more than one million spectators who managed to secure tickets to attend one of the tournament’s 64 matches, according to FIFA.
The event acts as the perfect opportunity for brands to get their name and logos out there. However, big corporations are known to not like controversy and it isn’t uncommon for them to distance themselves from said controversy.
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Despite this, since the 2010 announcement that Qatar - a country where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death for Muslim men - would be the host nation of the 2022 World Cup, multiple companies have still decided to go ahead with the sponsorship.
With this in mind, we asked the “inclusive” sponsors of the World Cup about their stance on Qatar’s LGBTQ+ rights and spoke with a Liverpool-based sports finance expert about what we can expect moving forward.
Hyundai
Both in 2020 and 2021, the car manufacturing company was one of the biggest sponsors of the GLAAD Awards - which honours media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues. Hyundai’s short film, Chosen Family - which shows drag queens lip-synching in one of the company’s cars - also premiered at last year’s award ceremony.
Hyundai insisted it believes in the “power of sport to bring people together from all nations and is committed to maintaining the strongest ethical standards”. A spokesperson confirmed the company expect FIFA "to continue its initiatives with host countries to fully respect human rights and continue to monitor its endeavours to do so closely".
Adidas
The German sports brand recently launched its Pride Collection and has collaborated with queer artists and figures like Tom Daley. This year's collection, Love Unites, was “centred around the LGBTQ+ community’s past and present” and honours “those who are unapologetically themselves”.
A spokesperson for the design company, which signed an extension of its rolling sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup and committed itself until 2030 in a deal worth £672m, told the ECHO : “We believe that sport is for all. We have strongly advocated for unrestricted access for all visitors regardless of nationality, religion, sexual orientation or ethnic background. We expect the World Cup to be fully accessible to all visitors. If there are any infringements, we will pursue the matter.”
Coca-Cola
The soft-drink company prides itself on being “one of the world’s most inclusive brands”. It celebrates “diversity, inclusion and equality (and) This commitment comes to life through our workplace culture, community partnerships and policies we support”, according to the company’s website.
A spokesperson for the company told the ECHO : “We believe sport has the unique potential to bring the world together and be a force for good. We are a long-time supporter of football and through our event partnerships, we see the potential to inspire and unite people.
“We strive for diversity, inclusion and equality in our business, and we support these rights throughout society as well. Our experience has shown that change takes time and must be achieved through sustained collaboration and active involvement.”
AB InBev
Anheuser-Busch InBev is the “world's largest brewer” and represents the likes of Corona, Stella Artois and Budweiser, which is believed to be paying just under £63m to be a main sponsor of the men's football tournament.
This isn’t the first time the beer company has been at the centre of controversy as LGBTQ+ activists have previously poured out bottles of the alcohol as an act of protest after the company made donations to politicians who backed anti-LGBTQ+ laws in America.
The company said "sport can be a force for positive change and that our brands can be a part of that legacy.," before adding: “We are working to ensure respect for LGBTQIA+ people in Qatar during the World Cup and to that end, we continue to engage with LGBTQIA+ stakeholders to help us understand the role we can play.”
Reports suggest sponsors typically sign long-term deals with FIFA - often spanning over 8 or 16-year durations. However, of the main ones to remain, Adidas, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Coca-Cola all renewed their existing deals in the years after Qatar was confirmed to host. Whereas Hyundai renewed their current deal just days before the announcement was made.
Sports finance expert at the University of Liverpool, Kieran Maguire, said we are likely to see “a cautious approach by sponsors” one that will be “very much focused on the bigger picture of the world cup (and) one step removed from the country in which the tournament is hosted".
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He told the ECHO : “It's a challenging issue for the sponsors. They don't want to alienate consumers and it might not be nice to hear but remember, there are many countries whose local laws and traditions are more aligned with those of Qatar than those of us in western democracies, where we find such viewpoints abhorrent. If we look at what happened with the Commonwealth Games, which took place recently, probably two-thirds of the countries are hostile to LGBT+ rights and patriarchal societies are still very common in many areas of the world.
“Where sponsors are concerned, they will take a long-term view as far as their relationship with FIFA is concerned. What they will try to do is ride both horses - they will do their best to be inclusive and sensitive to the values we have in western liberal democracies, while at the same time not wanting to upset either FIFA or the Qatari authorities.
“Geopolitics is very complex. It operates on a number of levels, which are beyond the realm of individual sponsors who are just trying to get their product in a positive light in respect of trying to sell more cans of fizzy pop. These companies probably feel uncomfortable with what's happening but they see the bigger picture in terms of ultimately it is increasing the profile of their product and the chances are that on a global level, the viewing figures will continue to be high.”
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