Det gjelder også Fotball VM i Qatar. At tildelingen av mesterskapet til Qatar har vært kontroversiell er udiskuterbart. Sponsorer, TV annonsører, publikum, forbund og myndigheter prøver alle å forholde seg til arrangementet på en måte de mener er riktig. Og samtidig vet vi at det noen mener er riktig vil andre mene er feil. I tillegg er det fotball vi snakker om. Og fotball har som vi vet en svært lidenskapelig og global tilhengerskare. Noe som gjerne også påvirker hvordan vi forholder oss til slike arrangement.
Vi skal ikke si at vi har fått mange henvendelser fra våre medlemmer om sponsing, annonsering og eventuell risiko knyttet til Qatar VM. Noen har vi fått og i lys av at dette er et globalt arrangement med internasjonale sponsorer konsulterte vi WFA (World Federation of Advertisers).
WFA har ikke en offisiell holdning til dette arrangementet. De deler imidlertid her noen interessante perspektiver fra en av sine strategiske partnere Lumency. Dette selskapet jobber blant annet med (Sponsorship consultants) med risikohåndtering knyttet til sponsoravtaler.
Hentet fra Lumency’s nettsider:
“For all Lumency clients, as part of sound sponsorship governance, we develop crisis management plans to protect against reputational risk.
The issue around Qatar and concerns around human rights and labour practices isn’t new. Qatar was a controversial bid, and there has been controversy since they ‘won’ the bid during the building of facilities and as the country readied itself to welcome the world in November.
As the tournament comes closer, the issues around Qatar are getting more attention (again) in the media.
Sponsors have found it challenging to leverage hospitality elements of their deals as in some country markets, their local colleagues have been unwilling to send consumers/customers/executives to Qatar. We’ve seen that first hand.
Any sponsor of FIFA and any sponsor of any of the national football teams should have been having conversations about Qatar, even when the bid process was underway, and the controversy around Qatar coming to the forefront as the tournament looms close shouldn’t be a surprise.
We saw a dip in broadcast numbers around the Beijing Winter Games, believed to be a protest against Beijing. We may see that with FIFA WC, but we’re not expecting much impact. FIFA WC is an event that get’s a lot of attention and has a lot of passion behind it.
A sponsor should have language in its sponsorship deals around morality, and more broadly – anything the property might do that would put the sponsor’s reputation at risk, by association.
There should be thresholds for action, opportunities for the rights holder to remedy, penalties. All pre-considered so that if something does go sideways, the sponsor can act quickly and with confidence.
Its challenging for a sponsor that doesn’t have such language to pull any rip cords without going into breach and risking legal action.”
