Algorand Becomes Official Partner For FIFA Blockchain Platform At 2022 World Cup

JAKARTA - The Algorand Blockchain Network (ALGO) has partnered with FIFA by signing a sponsorship and technical partner agreement. The network is now the world football association's first official blockchain platform.

The deal announced on Monday, May 2 will also see Algorand become a supporter of regional competitions in North America and Europe for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar in November and December.

Algorand will also be the official sponsor of the FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.

BREAKING: @FIFAcom has announced #Algorand will become the official blockchain of FIFA, empowering the global football community with cutting-edge, sustainable technology. Read more https://t.co/LTTUqGNLNA @FIFAWorldCup #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/LuEFTY3WK6

— Algorand (@Algorand) May 2, 2022

The proof-of-stake chain will assist FIFA in developing its “digital asset strategy”, with an announcement explaining blockchain technology in the context of non-fungible tokens (NFT). Therefore, it is very likely that Algorand can help FIFA develop its own NFT collection. Additionally, as part of the partnership, Algorand will provide “a blockchain-powered official wallet solution.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed his delight at the partnership saying it was "an indication of FIFA's commitment to continuing to seek innovative channels for sustainable revenue growth" adding that he was looking forward to a "long and fruitful partnership with Algorand."

Algorand is the crypto company that sponsored the FIFA World Cup as cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com became the official crypto trading platform sponsor for the 2022 World Cup in March. This is an interesting move as crypto itself is banned in Qatar. But it makes sense to do it anyway given the large international audience.

The last World Cup competition took place in Russia. It is one of the most watched sporting events in the world. Even the 2018 World Cup was watched by more than 3.2 billion people — about half of the world's population over the age of four. Around 1.1 billion people alone watched the 90-minute final between France and Croatia in 2018.

Algorand is the first new sponsor of the World Cup based in the United States since 2011. The last decade has seen FIFA engage in feuds with US federal prosecutors over allegations of bribery, money laundering and corruption, with charges as recently as April 2020 for election-related bribery. World Cup host countries, including Qatar.

Over the past 24 hours, the price of the Algorand native token has jumped nearly 20% to US$0.72 from a 24-hour low of US$0.58 due to the announcement.