© EuroFootball.com
The electronic payments and credit card giant "Visa" on Thursday confirmed that it has signed an eight-year contract with FIFA, becoming the official financial operations and services partner.
According to the official announcement by "Visa," the agreement will take effect in January 2007 and will last until 2014, with "Visa" taking the place previously held by its main competitor "MasterCard."
"Visa," which has also signed sponsorship agreements with the Olympic Games and the Rugby World Cup, has not officially disclosed the financial details of the contract, but sources claim that FIFA will receive up to 200 million pounds sterling.
Under the agreement, "Visa" will be the official partner of two World Cups - the 2010 one in South Africa and the 2014 one.
Official FIFA partners also include "Coca-Cola," "Hyundai," "Adidas," and "Sony."
Meanwhile, "MasterCard" has sponsored the World Cups since 1990.
