FIFA denies detaining Dutch fans wearing mini-dresses in brewery’s ambush marketing scam

FIFA denies detaining mini-dressed Dutch fans

JOHANNESBURG — FIFA is defending itself for questioning more than 30 young, blonde women who showed up for a World Cup match in orange mini-dresses that are the symbol of a beer advertising campaign in the Netherlands.

Soccer’s governing body says the outfits, which the women wore to the Netherlands-Denmark game Monday at Soccer City, were an ambush marketing campaign by the Dutch brewery Bavaria NV.

Reports on Tuesday said the women were detained but FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot denied that.

“There were no arrests,” Maingot said. “No one was detained.”

“The only thing that we have done is actually asking some details (from) these women who have been involved. What seems to have happened is that there was a clear ambush marketing activity by a Dutch brewery company.”

Maingot said FIFA was looking into “all available legal remedies” against Bavaria NV.

FIFA strictly enforces its commercial rules, which allow only its official partners to use the World Cup for advertising and promotion campaigns.

The United States brand Budweiser is the official World Cup beer, and the only one sold at World Cup stadiums and official fan viewing sites. Brewer Anheuser-Busch Inbev is one of FIFA’s eight second-tier World Cup sponsors, giving it exclusive sales rights.

This is the second straight World Cup that Bavaria has upset FIFA with its marketing tactics. Four years ago, the dispute centered on men trying to watch games wearing orange lederhosen, with a distinctive black tail, which displayed the company’s name.