Football News: Nike Picking The Brazil Team

The one thing from the FIFA corruption scandal that has stood out is how Nike is involved. Not just for the poor quality of their kits, which they still charge ludicrous amounts of money for, but for their involvement in the Brazilian national team.

There were already rumours circulating that evidence had been unearthed that sponsors were ensuring that only players with a high enough marketing profile were being picked for the team, but now that it has been confirmed.

Not just confirmed, but the blame squarely placed at Nike's door, as the shadowy sponsor that decides who is in and who is out. It just beggars belief that this situation can have come to pass in international football.

We have all seen how Real Madrid have made it into a practice in club football, with their policy of buying 'Galacticos' for their fame, more than their ability.

In club football, with the whole world's pool of talent available to them, Madrid have made it work, to a degree. Sadly for Brazil, it is just not a workable system at international level, where the talent pool is limited by nationality.

It has left them fielding completely unbalanced sides that have failed miserably in recent years, with players that are simply nowhere near good enough to be near the team, but they sell shirts so they have to play.

You would think someone would have learned from the debacle of forcing a clearly unfit Ronaldo (the Brazilian one, not Cristiano) to play in a World Cup final, simply because Nike insisted.

The question is, are they breaking any laws by doing this? Perhaps morally it is sickening, but is there any legal issue? I am not in a position to know that, but I really hope it is illegal, and that the contracts are torn up and Nike forced to make reparations to the nation of Brazil.

Written by Tris Burke May 28 2015 12:32:37