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Qatar Airways signs World Cup sponsorship deal with FIFA

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Qatar Airways said on Sunday it has signed a deal with global soccer body FIFA to be one of the official sponsors and the official airline of the next two World Cups, in Russia and Qatar.
The state-owned carrier did not disclose the value of the deal, which it said would cover the Confederations Cup 2017, the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Club World Cup and the Women’s World Cup in 2019 and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The airline joins Coca-Cola, Gazprom, Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group, Adidas, Visa and Hyundai as official partners of FIFA, the highest of the three tiers of FIFA sponsorship.
Rival Middle East carrier Emirates was a FIFA sponsor until 2014 when it said it would not renew its contract following months of calls for sponsors to respond robustly to allegations of bribery to secure the 2022 World Cup for Qatar.

Dubai-based Emirates said in 2015 it could be interested in renewing a deal to sponsor the World Cup in the future.
FIFA said in a statement that the deal “represents one of the biggest sporting sponsorships in the world and the largest in the history of Qatar Airways.”
Qatar Airways is a major sponsor of Spanish football team Barcelona, and sponsors other sporting teams and events.
Swiss-based FIFA, whose reputation has been tarnished by the worst corruption scandal in its history, still has a large number of vacant slots for its second tier World Cup sponsors and third tier regional supporters.

FIFA made a loss of $391 million in 2016, which it blamed partly on increased legal costs following the scandal, and has forecast a $489 million loss in 2017 but then expects to turn a $1.07 billion profit in 2018 when the World Cup is held in Russia.

Aviation

No More Jet Airways. Supreme Court Says “No Choice”, Orders Liquidation

No More Jet Airways. Supreme Court Says "No Choice", Orders Liquidation

Jet Airways was once one of India’s leading airlines, known for its service and extensive network. Founded in 1993, it served millions of passengers, connecting cities across India and international destinations.

However, since grounding its flights in April 2019, Jet Airways has struggled to navigate financial turbulence, leading to years of efforts to revive the airline and return it to the skies.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the liquidation of Jet Airways, citing “no choice” but to take this decisive step after the resolution plan failed to meet creditor obligations. The court invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142, which allows it to make orders for “complete justice” in any case, overriding previous tribunal rulings.

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The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC), which had won the bid to revive Jet, faced criticism for not fulfilling payment commitments to creditors, which included major banks like the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank.

The Supreme Court’s ruling pointed to “peculiar and alarming” issues surrounding the resolution plan’s implementation, leading to its conclusion that liquidation was the only feasible outcome.

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Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, alongside Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized that while liquidation should be a last resort, it was necessary as the resolution plan was “no longer capable of implementation.”

In line with this decision, the court ordered that the ₹200 crore already infused by JKC be forfeited and directed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Mumbai to appoint a liquidator to oversee the process.

JKC, a partnership between Murari Jalan, a UAE-based Indian entrepreneur, and Florian Fritsch, a Jet shareholder through Kalrock Capital Partners Limited, had taken ownership of Jet Airways two years after it was grounded. The consortium’s inability to fulfill its financial obligations has now led to this final verdict, marking the end of an era for Jet Airways in India.

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