Nike Inc. said it’s cooperating with authorities on the same day the U.S. unsealed charges saying an unidentified sportswear company bribed a Brazilian soccer official for a sponsorship agreement.
The deal described in an indictment of FIFA officials mirrors one obtained by Nike. The charges refer to a U.S. company that signed a partnership with the Brazilian federation in 1996. Nike, based in Beaverton, Oregon, announced its decadelong pact with Brazil that year.
“Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery,” the company said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. “We have been cooperating, and will continue to cooperate, with the authorities.” Nike, which isn’t named in the indictment, declined to comment on the allegations.
Nike shares fell 0.6 percent to $102.84 on Wednesday at the close in New York. The stock has gained 7 percent this year.
Winning the Brazilian sponsorship put Nike on the global soccer map. In 1994, its sales from soccer totaled $40 million. More than two decades later, it is challenging Adidas AG for the title of biggest brand in the sport, with revenue from soccer reaching $2.27 billion in fiscal year 2014.

Hotel Raid

Swiss police raided the luxury Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich at dawn Wednesday and arrested seven FIFA officials. Two former soccer executives were also charged by the U.S. in the wide-ranging corruption indictment, which includes counts of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.
In New York, Justice Department officials vowed more arrests, and to widen the investigation of FIFA officials and banks that may have been used in the alleged conspiracy.

$160 Million

According to the indictment, unsealed Wednesday in Brooklyn, New York, federal court, the unidentified company made a deal to pay $160 million over 10 years for the right to exclusively sell Brazilian national team apparel and footwear.
In a separate agreement, the unidentified company allegedly paid $40 million through a Swiss bank account to an official at a firm that buys and sells marketing rights in Brazil. Some of those funds were used to pay off a “high-ranking” FIFA and Brazilian soccer executive, according to the indictment.

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Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Kelly T. Currie declined to comment Wednesday on the unidentified company.