FX.co ★ Gazprom expands its sphere of influence

The list of the official partners of one of the world’s richest sports associations has enlarged. Recently, the agreement was signed and the International Federation of Association Football has one more sponsor. This time the desire to sponsor the football players around the globe was expressed by Gazprom. Russia’s gas monopoly has received a proud name of the FIFA’s official partner and a special document proving this fact. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin witnessed the process of signing the agreement between Gazprom's chief executive Alexey Miller and FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Sochi. Sponsorship includes the following key point for the country’s economy in 2015-2018 Gazprom will enjoy the status as the official partner of all the competitions under the auspices of FIFA. After the hosted by Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup is finished, the Russia’s monopoly will obtain the right to use the Cup which will be granted to the foreign team to utilize in their promotional campaign. And finally, according to Alexey Miller, Gazprom will get the right of ‘Droit du seigneur’ in the talks about the broadcasting of the competitions; that is the most important achievement. It should be noted that Gazprom has actively ‘helped’ football clubs and cooperate with the organizers of the major football games. The company is a sponsor of Zenit St Petersburg, supports German Shalke 04, British Chelsea FC, and Red Star Belgrade FC from Serbia. Moreover, Gazprom is the official partner of the UEFA Champions League 2012-2015 and the UEFA Super Cup.