Nike

[XtremeJibber2001]

I don't think the DOJ will out Nike, but what other sportswear company has been around this long and has the money to do what's alleged? Disappointing we can't put executives in jail (same applies to banks, oil companies, etc.).

Nike: Cooperating with Authorities on FIFA Allegations
U.S. Indictment alleges bribery involving a ‘multinational sportswear company’
By SARA GERMANO
Updated May 27, 2015 3:04 p.m. ET

The sweeping U.S. crackdown on alleged corruption at FIFA appears to have snagged Nike Inc. in its net.

Among the details in the Justice Department’s indictment are allegations of bribery involving efforts by “a multinational sportswear company headquartered in the United States” to win an apparel licensing deal with Brazil’s national soccer team.

Nike isn’t named in the indictment, which refers to a party as “Sportswear Company A.” But according to Nike’s website the company signed a sponsorship deal with Brazilian national soccer federation CBF in 1996, the same year in which the events described in the indictment take place.

Nike wouldn’t comment specifically on the issues raised in the indictment but said it is concerned by the allegations and is cooperating with the investigation.

“Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We have been cooperating, and will continue to cooperate, with the authorities.”

According to the indictment, Sportswear Company A in 1996 signed a 10-year, $160 million agreement to become a co-sponsor of the CBF and its “exclusive footwear, apparel, accessories, and equipment supplier.”

Three days later, the indictment alleges, an official from the sportswear company signed a one-page agreement with a representative of a sports marketing agency called Traffic Brazil allowing the agency to invoice the company for additional marketing fees.

Traffic Brazil proceeded to invoice Sportswear Company A for an additional $30 million in payments between 1996 and 1999, payments that were used in part for bribes and kickbacks, according to the indictment.

Nike didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment on the specifics of the indictment Wednesday. None of the named defendants were identified as having ties to a sportswear company.

Nike made its name selling running shoes and its fortune with basketball shoes like Air Jordan. But over the past 20 years, soccer has played a significant role in the American company’s global business.

Nike has plowed money into the sport in an effort to win fans and sales abroad. It has signed outfitting deals with national soccer federations including those of England, France, the Netherlands and the U.S.

In a statement on the company’s website, Nike co-founder Phil Knight says, “We will only truly understand football when we see the game through the eyes of Brazilians.”

Nike’s soccer sales grew 21% to $2.3 billion for the year ended May 31, according to a regulatory filing.

The wide-ranging probe by the Justice Department, which lists 14 named defendants as well as 25 co-conspirators, describes a pervasive culture of corruption over 24 years in the global world of soccer.