Hyundai to stand by soccer World Cup sponsorship despite controversy

Korean car games maker will wait for a verdict on corruption allegations before tearing up 2022 contract
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As yet another soccer World Cup official resigned overnight in the wake of allegations of vote-rigging, one of the tournament's key sponsors – Korean car giant Hyundai – is sticking by the beleaguered sport.

The automaker says it is "closely monitoring" investigations into allegations of corruption by FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, some of whose members have been accused of taking bribes in return for voting for particular countries to host the World Cup.

"It's not a good situation," said the director of PR for Hyundai motor company's overseas operations, Frank Ahrens. "We are closely monitoring the situation … and we're watching what the other sponsors are doing as well. It's not our job to decide whether the allegations are correct or not. That's up to FIFA."

When asked if Hyundai would terminate its contract – which it recently extended to 2022 – if the allegations were proven, Ahrens said: "It's an ongoing investigation and we are waiting for results like everyone else is. There have been people who have resigned … and the probe was dropped. That's not the same thing as concluding an investigation. We have no comment until or unless there's an outcome. For the time being we upped our contract and that speaks for itself."

In a roundtable meeting with Australian media at Hyundai headquarters in Seoul yesterday, the president and CEO of Hyundai motor vehicles, Steve S Yang, said: "Please understand our situation. We were also one of the bidding countries for the year 2012 tour so we think it would not be appropriate for our country … or for our company to mention (sic) about that. We have [to] think about it because we already concluded our contract for the year 2022."

Hyundai has been a soccer World Cup sponsor since 1999. It extended its deal to 2022 in November last year.

The long term sponsorship package was renewed two weeks before the announcement of the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup – the tournaments that are now under a cloud following allegations of bribery and vote-rigging.

At the time of the announcement, Hyundai issued the following statement: "Since our first association with FIFA in 1999, our commitment and support for FIFA has been unrivalled. FIFA has always set a benchmark for us, pushing our brand value and exposure to the highest levels. Although the extension of the agreement has been made without the knowledge of the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup tournaments, we are confident this renewal will further enhance our business values and corporate vision."

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