FIFA drops charges against ambush marketing girls

FIFA has dropped its case against two women accused of taking part in an ambush marketing stunt by Dutch beer brand Bavaria at the World Cup.

Stunt by Dutch beer brand Bavaria at the World Cup
Stunt by Dutch beer brand Bavaria at the World Cup

Football’s international governing body filed an action with the South African police service last week.

The two were part of a group of 36 female supporters ejected from the Holland v Denmark game for wearing orange mini-dresses that were part of a campaign for Bavaria.

However, FIFA is said to have dropped the all charges. A spokesman for South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority says: “FIFA was not interested in proceeding with the matter. There was a settlement that was reached between the parties and we decided to exercise discretion and not proceed with the matter.”

FIFA is very protective of the rights of sanctioned sponsors to market exclusively at World Cup games and has vowed to come down hard on rival brands’ attempts to highjack the tournament.

Budweiser is the official beer partner at this World Cup and has a major presence at all games.

Bavaria has a long history of gatecrashing football tournaments. Previously, over 1,000 Dutch fans wearing branded pants were denied entry to a Holland game during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

The latest incident led to ITV firing football pundit Robbie Earle after it emerged that tickets he had been given for family and friends had been passed on to Bavaria.

In other news, a survey by Adtech, the international provider of adserving solutions, and part of AOL Advertising, revealed that traffic figures for English websites are dropping by up to 20% during the country’s fixtures in the FIFA World Cup tournament.

Recommended