Euro 2004 Qualifying/ Turkey v England: Football may be beset by allegations of rape and a missed dope test but there are no signs of the so-called five pillars of the English FA preparing to withdraw their collective £25 million-per-annum sponsorship of the English game.
"I'm sure the FA would be the first to say that a few things haven't been that great for English football in the past couple of weeks, but we think a sense of perspective has been lost," said Steve Hall, a spokesman for McDonald's. "We've been involved with the FA since 1994 and we're very happy with the partnership; it's been fantastic. We won't be renegotiating our contract."
Along with Nationwide, Carlsberg, Pepsi and Umbro, McDonald's helps bankroll the England team via its contract with the FA. Umbro and Pepsi have refused to comment in the wake of recent scandals, but Carlsberg insists it is "committed to our four-year contract and the FA's vision for English football".
Nationwide is, like McDonald's, looking at the bigger picture. "For every negative development in the game there are a thousand positives, and the positives of being associated with football far outweigh anything else," said Chris Hull, the company's sport sponsorship spokesman.
There is at least one precedent for a football sponsor balking at the prospect of being linked with controversy. It featured Nationwide and came when, as an England sponsor, it told the FA it wanted to be distanced from Glenn Hoddle's comments about reincarnation, in which the former England coach said he believed disabled people were paying for sins in previous lives. Nationwide's stance may have helped hasten Hoddle's exit.
"My feeling is that the FA have really over-egged their moral stance over Ferdinand. They've gone into moral overkill and maybe part of that is trying to reassure the sponsors that they are an ethical body," said Ben Wells, a sports specialist. "What is interesting is some of the companies involved in sports sponsorships see the dangers of focusing purely on players, who could possibly become the subject of negative publicity and who savvy fans probably feel are being paid too much money anyway.
"When we advise potential new sponsors, and particularly shirt sponsors, about football contracts we warn them of the dangers of their brand name being highly visible if that club becomes the butt of jokes in newspapers and on websites."
Another issue is player power. Sponsors hold less sway with footballers than with others. "I think a lot of these young men are untouchable," said Wells. "A lot of clubs indulge them to an unacceptable degree and it is impossible for sponsors to lay down the law in terms of behaviour."
Not that Wells envisages the sport struggling to attract fresh backers: "A lot of people don't take any notice of politicians any more. They only seem to listen to footballers."
Guardian Service
