Mastercard and Fifa settle sponsorship dispute

Mastercard is being paid £45m by Fifa, football’s governing body, after reaching a settlement over its long running dispute about its World Cup sponsorship. The company took legal action against Fifa after the body struck a sponsorship deal with rival card payment company Visa.

Mastercard had sponsored the tournament since 1990 and believed its latest contract, signed in 2002, gave it first refusal on partnering Fifa for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

The settlement comes after a US judge found against Fifa last year and ordered the organisation to retain Mastercard as a sponsor until 2014.

Fifa appealed and a ruling last month ordered the judge to re-examine the case. Both parties have now agreed to drop legal proceedings in the US and Switzerland.

Mastercard global marketing officer Larry Flanagan says settlement was a business decision and that the relationship between the two organisations had broken down beyond repair.