Emirates Airline end their sponsorship contract with FIFA

Emirates Airline has decided not to renew its sponsorship contract with FIFA and electronics giant Sony is also considering ending its links with the world governing body.

FIFA confirmed that Emirates will not be renewing its deal and that talks are ongoing with Sony. 

The confirmation comes four months after a number of FIFA's official World Cup partners expressed concerns about the negative publicity surrounding the latest allegations of corruption.

Emirates' contract expires next month and the Dubai-based airline has confirmed it will not renew its sponsorship. FIFA said it has known of the decision since 2012.

It is understood Qatar Airways - owned by 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar - is considering becoming a sponsor in its place and Samsung, which is a major Olympic sponsor, may take over from Sony.

Both Emirates and Sony are among FIFA's official partners - the six top tier sponsors who provided hundreds of millions of pounds in sponsorship income to the world governing body.

FIFA said in a statement: "Emirates had already informed FIFA back in June 2012 about the restructuring of its sponsorship concept and FIFA respects this.

"Due to the ongoing negotiations, we cannot give any further information about future partners in this category at this stage. The current contract with Sony still runs until 31 December 2014 and we are currently in on-going discussions with Sony."

Emirates also confirmed its plans, saying in a statement: "Emirates can confirm that a decision has been made not to renew the sponsorship agreement with FIFA past 2014. This decision was made following an evaluation of FIFA's
contract proposal which did not meet Emirates' expectations."

In June, a number of partners including Sony made public their concerns about the effect of continuing negative publicity around FIFA.