FIFA announces first Club World Cup sponsor with Chinese electronics firm branding VAR checks

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA finally announced a first sponsor for its revamped Club World Cup on Wednesday in a deal that will brand video review checks at the tournament in the United States next year.

Chinese consumer electronics firm Hisense will have “branding appearing in the video operation room and on pitchside screens,” FIFA said in a statement, when match officials study key incidents in the 32-team tournament being played in 11 American cities from June 15 to July 13.

Though no previous FIFA tournament has had a sponsor for video reviews since the technology was approved before the men’s 2018 World Cup in Russia, Hisense was the official “VAR Screen Provider” for this year’s European Championship organized by UEFA in Germany.

Less than eight months before the Club World Cup opens — with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami hosting the first game of a tournament that sees Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich play their first competitive games in the U.S. — it now has one sponsor but still lacks any broadcast deals.

FIFA’s talks for a global streaming deal with Apple+ stalled several months ago and U.S. sponsors have been more focused on deals for the men’s 2026 World Cup that will be co-hosted with Canada and Mexico.

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FIFA’s longtime sponsors Adidas, Coca-Cola and Wanda, which have all-tournament deals that run through the 2030 World Cup, have yet to be confirmed as commercial partners for the Club World Cup.

Saudi Arabian sponsors are expected to sign soon for the Club World Cup and help FIFA President Gianni Infantino fulfil promises to participating teams that the tournament’s total prize money will run to hundreds of millions of dollars every four years. FIFA is set to confirm Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup host on Dec. 11.

The new Hisense deal “paves the way for further sponsorship deals for FIFA’s new flagship club competition to be announced in the coming weeks,” soccer’s world body said.

FIFA did not specify the value of the deal sealed with Infantino at a signing ceremony in Shanghai.

Reviews of referee decisions in key incidents — for goals, penalty awards and red cards — can extend to at least two minutes, despite FIFA’s aim during trials in 2016 of completing checks in about 10 seconds.

Hisense first signed up as a FIFA sponsor for the 2018 World Cup and it renewed for the 2022 edition in Qatar.

The television and laptops manufacturer also signed its first sponsor deal with UEFA, when Infantino was still the European soccer body’s general secretary, ahead of Euro 2016.

Europe will send 12 teams to the relaunched Club World Cup, which is for continental champions and teams with consistently good results in those competitions across the four seasons from 2020 through 2024.

Countries are limited to two entries unless at least three won continental titles in the four-year qualifying period. That rule excluded Liverpool, Leipzig and Barcelona which were ranked among Europe’s 12 best teams in the Champions League.

The entry reserved for the host nation’s champion was surprisingly awarded by FIFA this month to Inter Miami based on its regular season record, rather than waiting for the MLS Cup final on Dec. 7. That decision ensured Messi can be involved.

The tournament draw is expected in early December, after the last entry is confirmed when the final of South America’s Copa Libertadores is played on Nov. 30.

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