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MUMBAI: FIFA and Adidas today formally announced an extension of their long-term partnership agreement granting Adidas the official partnership, suppliership and licensing rights for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2014.
FIFA and Adidas have been partners since 1970, making their partnership one of the longest and most successful in modern sports marketing history.
This long-term strategic commitment to the FIFA World Cup ensures extensive Adidas presence at the world’s most watched sports event in 2010 and 2014.
The contract offers Adidas extensive licensing and event rights around the FIFA World Cup, including joint marketing programmes, innovative Internet co-operations, priority access to TV advertising and premium stadium signage for all games of the tournament.
Adidas will also supply the official match ball of the FIFA World Cup and match officials’ equipment for every game. In addition, an extensive Adidas/FIFA World Cup license product range will be on sale worldwide.
Adidas also secured similar rights to all other major FIFA tournaments during this time period, including the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the FIFA World Youth Championship. The contract was reached with FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland, the terms of which were not disclosed.
“In football you say: Never change a winning team. Over the last 35 years Adidas and FIFA have proven to be a winning team. We share a history and we share a passion: the passion for football. Therefore, we are very proud and happy to extend this unique partnership until 2014,” said Adidas-Salomon AG CEO Herbert Hainer. “
FIFA president Joseph S Blatter said, “Over time, the business partnership between Adidas and FIFA has blossomed into a true friendship. Football and Adidas have become one. FIFA is very happy to further extend and deepen this relationship after having gone through an open and extensive tender.”
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Trump announces $300bn Texas oil refinery with Reliance, calls it the biggest in US history
First new US refinery in 50 years planned at Brownsville port with Reliance
WASHINGTON: The United States may soon see the first brand-new oil refinery built on its soil in half a century.
Donald Trump announced a proposed $300 billion refinery project in Texas, calling it a landmark moment for American energy production and jobs.
Posting on Truth Social on 10 March, Trump said the facility would be built at the Port of Brownsville and developed by a company called America First Refining, with major investment from India’s Reliance Industries.
The announcement frames the project as a centrepiece of the administration’s push for “energy dominance”, with Trump claiming it would deliver thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity to South Texas.
If realised, the plant would mark the first all-new major refinery constructed in the United States since the 1970s. In recent decades, oil companies have largely chosen to expand existing facilities rather than build new ones, citing high costs, regulatory hurdles and environmental scrutiny.
Trump described the proposed investment as the “biggest in US history”, positioning it as proof that policy changes such as streamlined permits and lower taxes are drawing large-scale energy investments back into the country.
The refinery is planned for the Port of Brownsville, a strategic Gulf Coast location that provides easy access to shipping routes and export markets.
A key partner in the project is Reliance Industries, controlled by billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani. The company already runs the world’s largest refining complex in Jamnagar, India, making it one of the most experienced operators in large-scale petroleum processing.
The Texas venture would mark a significant step for the group into America’s domestic refining sector, potentially strengthening industrial ties between the US and India.
The proposed refinery is being promoted as a next-generation facility capable of processing American shale oil while maintaining high environmental standards. Trump said it would be “the cleanest refinery in the world”, although the specific technologies behind that claim have not yet been detailed.
Industry observers also note that the $300 billion figure is unusually large for a refinery project, and analysts are waiting for more clarity on whether the number reflects total construction costs, long-term infrastructure investment, or broader economic impact estimates.
As of 11 March, Reliance Industries had not publicly confirmed the investment size or the structure of its involvement.
For now, the announcement has sparked equal parts excitement and curiosity in energy markets. If the plan moves from promise to pouring concrete, the refinery could reshape the Gulf Coast energy landscape, and reopen a chapter in American refining that has been quiet for nearly fifty years.
