By Michael Rietdyk

Despite the England team’s early exit from Euro 2016, and the sport being rocked by the sexual abuse scandal, the FA have announced a kit deal extension with Nike. The American brand first sponsored England in 2013, which will see the global sports brand supply kits to all 24 England teams based at St. George’s Park. It is understood the deal is worth in the region of £400m – a baseline figure that could be added to significantly should any performance-related bonuses be achieved.

FA group commercial and marketing director, Mark Bullingham, said in a statement: “We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Nike until 2030. It was always important for us to secure such a long-term commitment to allow both parties to build an even stronger partnership together. With The FA striving to be a world-class organisation, it’s vital for us to partner with innovative global leaders such as Nike and look to the future together. As well as supplying all of our England teams with state-of-the-art apparel, Nike is a huge supporter of our technical division’s work and of grassroots football across the country. It’s fantastic that this support will not only continue but increase from now until 2030.”

FA chief executive Martin Glenn added: “This is another hugely significant deal for The FA and closely follows the landmark Emirates FA Cup broadcast rights announcement last October.” This deal is the most lucrative kit sponsorship deal in its history and much of the investment will be reinvested by the FA back into the game, especially in grassroots football. This is incredibly important in the light of recent news surrounding the child sex abuse allegations made by hundreds. It shows that one of the FA’s key stakeholders has backed them both financially and morally in such times.