By Brian Homewood
MEXICO CITY, May 10 (Reuters) - The CONCACAF confederation
which runs soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean
has chosen Soccer United Marketing (SUM) to sell its sponsorship
rights for five years, it said on Tuesday.
The announcement came as FIFA said it had agreed, subject to
conditions, to reverse its decision from February to cut off
funding to the confederation.
CONCACAF, due to elect a new president on Thursday, has been
at the centre of a corruption scandal that has engulfed world
soccer and seen 42 individuals and entities charged in the
United States on a variety of graft-related offences.
SUM is the marketing wing of Major League Soccer (MLS) and
will have the right to sell sponsorship for competitions such as
the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League.
"CONCACAF is delighted to have reached this agreement with
SUM, one of the most highly recognised marketing companies
within the sport," said CONCACAF acting general secretary Ted
Howard.
"We are confident that SUM's global network and expertise
will play a vital role in negotiating innovative sponsorship
opportunities for our tournaments and events."
CONCACAF said in a statement that the decision followed a
five-month bidding process where 24 "international, experienced
and reputable firms" were invited to take part.
Three of CONCACAF's most recent presidents, Trinidad and
Tobago's Jack Warner, Cayman Islander Jeffrey Webb and Honduran
Alfredo Hawit, are all among the 42 indicted in the U.S.
The candidates for Thursday's election are Victor
Montagliani, head of the Canadian FA, and Larry Mussenden, head
of the Bermuda FA.
In February, CONCACAF voted for wide-ranging reforms which
included the introduction of a representative Council, charged
with policy formulation, separate from a General Secretariat,
which will handle day-to-day business matters.
A new independent ethics committee will be formed and a
series of positions will be held over on committees for
independent figures without links to the game.
However, three weeks before the vote on reforms, FIFA said
it had put contributions to CONCACAF "on hold".
A source close to CONCACAF said the amount came to around
$10 million in payments, including expected World Cup revenues
and money from the global body's Financial Assistance Programme.
FIFA said on Tuesday that this decision had been reversed.
"The Audit and Compliance committee has acknowledged the
measures taken by CONCACAF and has agreed to lift the suspension
on the frozen funds," said FIFA in a statement.
"However, the release of the funds is still subject to the
fulfilment of the requirements cited in the FIFA development
regulations."
(Editing by Toby Davis)