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A trio of corporate sponsors – Mastercard, Ambev and Diageo – have withdrawn their marks from the Copa America football competition in Brazil, which will begin on Sunday despite the country’s Covid-19 crisis.
The largest nation in Latin America is offered for accommodation the regional tournament late last month following the cancellation of former co-hosts Argentina and Colombia. Buenos Aires cited one increased number of coronavirus cases, while Bogota blamed the domestic protests.
Brazil’s decision to intervene, which had the support of right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, provoked censorship by many opposition medical and political figures, who argued that there was a risk of plus the virus as the pandemic continues unabated in the country.
Mastercard said, after careful analysis, that it had decided to remove its mark from this year’s Copa America, although it will continue to sponsor the competition, which has already been postponed to 2020.
The British alcoholic beverage group Diageo, owner of Smirnoff, Guinness and Johnnie Walker, said it would stop all activities of the brand “given the current health situation in Brazil and regarding the timing of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
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“The terms of the sponsorship were agreed upon when the event was scheduled to be held in Colombia and Argentina,” the company added. “Diageo reiterates its commitment to society, observing security protocols and institutional actions that contribute to pandemic mitigation.”
Brazilian brewer Ambev, which is part of the world’s largest brewery AB InBev, said “its brands will not be present at the America’s Cup.”
Votes of distrust come when Brazil faces a third potential wave of Covid-19 infections with the coolest season.
With more than 480,000 lives lost, the country has the second highest number of deaths from respiratory disease after the United States. A shortage of punctures has hampered vaccination campaigns.
“We are still in a very serious situation,” said Marcelo Ramos, a public health researcher at the Fiocruz Biomedical Institute. “When it was announced that Brazil would host the Copa America, the message was that we are in a calm situation, which does not correspond to reality.”
However, this week the country’s health minister insisted that holding the football competition would not generate any additional risk of contamination as no fans would attend the matches.
Bolsonaro has won international acclaim for his treatment of the pandemic, which has included belittling the use of masks and discussing the importance of vaccines.
But the former army captain received a boost when Brazilian department store chain Havan, whose co-founder Luciano Hang is a staunch supporter of the president, announced he would sponsor the tournament.
“I am sure it will be a competition that will delight the entire Brazilian population,” he said.
This week, Brazil’s supreme court rejected attempts to ban the country from hosting the Copa America.
The Brazilian Football Confederation and the South American Football Confederation did not respond to requests for comment.
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