FIFA Battles “Ambush Marketers” Targeting World Cup
- By Business World
- Published June 13th, 2010
- News
- Unrated
While South Africa celebrated the kickoff of the World Cup on Friday, Grant Abrahamse is plotting his revenge against the organizer, FIFA, soccer’s governing body.
The Cape Town businessman spent the past five years embroiled in a legal fight with Zurich-based FIFA, which accused him of violating its patent rights by marketing a commemorative key-ring holder. The case, scheduled to come to court in November, has cost him $65,000 so far in legal fees.
“I’ve done everything legally,” Abrahamse said in a June 7 telephone interview. “No one’s benefitted from the World Cup except FIFA. They are actually worse than the mafia. They should get their just rewards. I’m going to pursue it. We are going to go for costs and damages when we win this case.”
Abrahamse is up against one the world’s most powerful sporting bodies intent on protecting the rights of broadcasters and sponsors such as Adidas AG and Coca-Cola Co., which paid $3.2 billion to be associated with the World Cup. FIFA lawyers have filed 2,519 other cases globally against parties it accuses of so-called ambush marketing. In only one instance did they have to go to court to get redress, forcing wholesaler Metcash Trading Africa (Pty) Ltd. to stop selling 2010 lollipops.
“You are in or you are out,” FIFA Secretary-general Jerome Valcke told reporters in Johannesburg on April 8. “If you are out, you have to respect the rights of others. We can send people to jail if they try and profit from the World Cup when they have no right to do so.”
Contested by 32 nations, organizers expect the month-long tournament to draw half-a-billion television viewers and blanket press coverage.
“You couldn’t have a better platform to build awareness,” Roger Sinclair, a marketing professor and partner at Prophet Brand Strategy, which offers marketing advice, said in a May 19 phone interview from Johannesburg.
The Cape Town businessman spent the past five years embroiled in a legal fight with Zurich-based FIFA, which accused him of violating its patent rights by marketing a commemorative key-ring holder. The case, scheduled to come to court in November, has cost him $65,000 so far in legal fees.
“I’ve done everything legally,” Abrahamse said in a June 7 telephone interview. “No one’s benefitted from the World Cup except FIFA. They are actually worse than the mafia. They should get their just rewards. I’m going to pursue it. We are going to go for costs and damages when we win this case.”
Abrahamse is up against one the world’s most powerful sporting bodies intent on protecting the rights of broadcasters and sponsors such as Adidas AG and Coca-Cola Co., which paid $3.2 billion to be associated with the World Cup. FIFA lawyers have filed 2,519 other cases globally against parties it accuses of so-called ambush marketing. In only one instance did they have to go to court to get redress, forcing wholesaler Metcash Trading Africa (Pty) Ltd. to stop selling 2010 lollipops.
“You are in or you are out,” FIFA Secretary-general Jerome Valcke told reporters in Johannesburg on April 8. “If you are out, you have to respect the rights of others. We can send people to jail if they try and profit from the World Cup when they have no right to do so.”
Contested by 32 nations, organizers expect the month-long tournament to draw half-a-billion television viewers and blanket press coverage.
“You couldn’t have a better platform to build awareness,” Roger Sinclair, a marketing professor and partner at Prophet Brand Strategy, which offers marketing advice, said in a May 19 phone interview from Johannesburg.
