One of the intriguing sidelights to Wednesday's bombshell FIFA indictments is that an unidentified "major U.S. sportswear company" is alleged to have been involved in the payment and receipt of bribes and kickbacks, Forbes reported.
Although, the U.S. Department of Justice's announcement left the company unnamed, Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike and the Brazilian Soccer Federation have been intertwined since a $400 million sponsorship agreement in 1996 — roughly the two decades of alleged corruption alluded to by the DOJ.
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Ranked No. 15 on Fortune's 2015 list of "World's Most Admired Companies," Nike's worldwide brand is valued at an estimated $15 billion, according to Forbes, and it competes with official World Cup sponsor adidas to be international soccer's top brand.
In the context of Wednesday's DOJ release, it's highly unlikely that adidas, headquartered in Germany, would be considered a U.S. sportswear company. Nike responded to the day's events with a statement that doesn't make clear whether it is the company alluded to in the DOJ release:
"Like fans everywhere we care passionately about the game and are concerned by the very serious allegations. Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery. We have been cooperating, and will continue to cooperate, with the authorities."
Earlier Wednesday, adidas had been quick to issue a release that stopped short of criticizing soccer's governing body but did "encourage FIFA to continue to establish and follow transparent compliance standards in everything they do."
Nike's sponsorship with the Brazilian Soccer Federation, hailed as the largest single sports transaction in history when it was signed, has been the subject of derision as well as investigations as far back as 2001 (via the New York Times).
”Disney didn’t sell Mickey Mouse, but the [the Brazilian Soccer Federation] sold the national team to Nike. The Nike contract was just a sign. It was the most visible way of showing what was going on in Brazilian football,” Brazilian congressman Aldo Rebelo told The Guardian in 2001 in a story under the headline, "How Nike Bought Brazil."
Before the Nike sponsorship mega-deal, the Brazilian Soccer Federation wore Umbro. In fact, according to Forbes, Nike paid Umbro an undisclosed amount to void the final two years on its contract. "Nike," contributor Darren Heitner wrote, "wanted to control the world of soccer, and the focal point was taking over sponsorship of the Brazilian national soccer federation."
So although "a major U.S. sportswear company" remains unidentified, officially, it's clear that a worldwide soccer scandal has washed ashore in the U.S., and not just because the Department of Justice is deeply involved.