FIFA to Pay MasterCard $90 million in Settlement

Gooooooaaaaal!  Or something.

In what appears to be the end of the saga involving MasterCard, Visa, and the Federation Internationale de Football Association, FIFA will pay MasterCard $90 million to settle a contract dispute over sponsorship of the next two World Cup tournaments.  And MasterCard will remain, for the next two years at least, the official card sponsor of the World Cup.

It’s a tale of sound and fury, signifying not a heck of a lot except that FIFA tried – unsuccessfully (as it turned out) – to sell sponsorship of the World Cup to Visa instead of long-time sponsor MasterCard, because Visa was offering more money (contract with MasterCard be damned). MasterCard called FIFA’s move “a blatant and deceitful violation" of a written agreement, which among other things gave MasterCard the right of first refusal if other companies tried to take the sponsorship, MasterCard said in ITS April filing.

MasterCard filed suit, and Visa was barred from joining in -- the judge finding that the conflict was specifically between FIFA and MasterCard.

A judge ruled in MasterCard’s favor in December of 2006, and proclaimed MasterCard as the rightful card of the World Cup. FIFA disagreed with the court’s ruling, saying that it had acted in all ways as honorable as possible when trying to pull a fast one on MasterCard by going with Visa. The group said it was "convinced that at all times it acted in good faith" and would "vigorously pursue its case."

Well, there’s vigor, and then there’s losing – which is where we are now.  As part of the conflict resolution, $87.5 million is being paid to MasterCard in the second quarter of this year and $2.5 million will be paid in the third quarter, the credit card provider said in a regulatory filing.