E-commerce giant Alibaba in talks to sponsor Fifa

BEIJING — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is discussing becoming a top sponsor of Fifa, according to people familiar with the matter, a partnership that would strengthen the ties between China’s power brokers and global soccer’s top executives.

Alibaba would become the second Chinese company to commit to soccer’s governing body at a high level after Dalian Wanda Group signed up earlier this year. Since President Xi Jinping made soccer success a national priority, Chinese companies and businessmen have made a slew of investments in national and international clubs, and the country has made plain its desire to host the Fifa World Cup.

A sponsorship deal has not been finalised and details are not known. It could involve any of the group’s subsidiaries or affiliates. For example, Alibaba E-Auto is the title sponsor of the Fifa Club World Cup.

Alibaba Sports has been in touch with Fifa because of the affiliation with the Club World Cup, said Ms Wang Jingyi, a Shanghai-based spokeswoman who declined to comment further. A Fifa representative said the organisation does not comment on speculation about commercial negotiations.

Fifa has struggled to sign sponsors in the wake of a corruption scandal that led to charges against several senior officials. Before Wanda, it had not added a new top-tier sponsor since 2012. Meanwhile, its legal bills ballooned to US$62 million (S$85.5 million), and the organisation posted a loss last year for the first time since 2002.

The organisation has three tiers of sponsorship. Six to eight slots are designated for “Fifa partners”, a commitment that costs about US$40 million a year and lasts for a four-year World Cup cycle. In March, Wanda joined Adidas, Coca-Cola, Gazprom, Hyundai Motor and Visa at that top level.

There are still two open slots, which the people familiar with the matter said are expected to be filled by the end of the summer. They did not want to be identified because talks are confidential and continuing.

At a press conference to announce Wanda’s partnership, founder and CEO Wang Jianlin predicted another Chinese firm would sign up “within a very short time”.

Wanda said by supporting Fifa, China would stand a better chance of hosting the World Cup, a competition the national team last qualified for in 2002, when it lost all three group games. The next World Cup will take place in Russia in 2018.

Fifa is re-evaluating its regulation that prevents the World Cup from taking place on the same continent consecutively. Because Qatar, the 2022 host, is part of the Asian soccer confederation, the current rules mean China would not be able to stage the event until 2030 at the earliest. BLOOMBERG