Emirates airline would be interested in renewing a deal to sponsor the Fifa World Cup once the scandal over corruption has been cleared up, the carrier’s president has said.
Emirates decided late last year not to renew its contract to sponsor the tournament, saying the deal was not meeting its expectations.
“A lot of it not meeting our expectations has been explained by what has been revealed,” Tim Clark told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
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Fifa president Sepp Blatter resigned last Tuesday, less than one week after Swiss police staged a dawn raid on a luxury hotel in Zurich and arrested several officials on corruption charges filed by US prosecutors in New York.
“I’m very glad that our name was not associated with it at this stage,” Mr Clark said.
He said that it was a tough decision for Emirates, which has other high profile sponsorships such as with soccer clubs Arsenal, AC Milan and Paris St Germain, to not renew the contract and that it would be interested in sponsoring the tournament again.
“I’d like to think that when it’s all sorted out we get back in because it’s great for us, we’re so football orientated,” he said.
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