Brazil 2014: FIFA bans players from wearing Beats by Dre for competition

As of 17/06/2014, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) has banned players from wearing Beats by Dre headphones in stadiums and media appearances for the World Cup in Brazil (12/06 to 13/07/2014).

FIFA is protecting Sony, its official partner for the event, which pays an estimated $21.8m per year. The Japanese company has distributed headphones to all of the players, but many have appeared with Beats by Dre headphones during training or when leaving locker rooms.

Beats by Dre launched its advertising campaign "The Game before the Game" on 05/05/2014. A video featuring football players, including Neymar (BRA), Luis Suarez (URU), Wayne Rooney (ENG), Karim Benzema (FRA) and Blaise Matuidi (FRA), has been viewed more than 15.5m times.

• Beats Electronics was bought by Apple for $3bn (€2.2bn) on 28/05/2014.
• During the 2012 Olympic Games in London (England), the company distributed headphones to athletes, particularly the United States basketball team and to all of the British delegation.
  • The official sponsor of the competition was Panasonic.
• Beats and…