FIFA announces first Club World Cup sponsor with Chinese electronics firm branding VAR checks

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, left, shakes hands with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, right, during a ceremony for the team winning the Supporters’ Shield after an MLS soccer match against the New England Revolution, Oct. 19

FIFA finally announced a first sponsor for its revamped Club World Cup yesterday in a deal that will brand video review checks at the tournament in the United States next year.

Chinese consumer electronics firm Hisense will have “branding appearing in the video operation room and on pitchside screens,” FIFA said in a statement, when match officials study key incidents in the 32-team tournament being played in 11 American cities from June 15 to July 13.

Though no previous FIFA tournament has had a sponsor for video reviews since the technology was approved before the men’s 2018 World Cup in Russia, Hisense was the official “VAR Screen Provider” for this year’s European Championship organized by UEFA in Germany.

Less than eight months before the Club World Cup opens — with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami hosting the first game of a tournament that sees Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich play their first competitive games in the U.S. — it now has one sponsor but still lacks any broadcast deals.

FIFA’s talks for a global streaming deal with Apple+ stalled several months ago and U.S. sponsors have been more focused on deals for the men’s 2026 World Cup that will be co-hosted with Canada and Mexico.

Saudi Arabian sponsors are expected to sign soon and help FIFA President Gianni Infantino fulfil promises to clubs that the tournament’s total prize money will run to hundreds of millions of dollars every four years. FIFA is set to confirm Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup host on Dec. 11.

The new Hisense deal “paves the way for further sponsorship deals for FIFA’s new flagship club competition to be announced in the coming weeks,” soccer’s world body said.

FIFA did not specify the value of the deal sealed with Infantino at a signing ceremony in Shanghai.

Reviews of referee decisions in key incidents — for goals, penalty awards and red cards — can extend to at least two minutes, despite FIFA’s aim during trials in 2016 of completing checks in about 10 seconds.

Hisense first signed up as a FIFA sponsor for the 2018 World Cup and it renewed for the 2022 edition in Qatar.

The television and laptops manufacturer also signed its first sponsor deal with UEFA, when Infantino was still the European soccer body’s general secretary, ahead of Euro 2016. MDT/AP