MasterCard will drop its legal fight to get sponsorship rights for the next two World Cups under a €65 million settlement with Fifa.
The agreement ends a court dispute between the credit card issuer, which had sponsored the tournament for 16 years, and soccer's governing body.
It also paves the way for Fifa to proceed with a sponsorship deal with Visa International, MasterCard's larger rival, for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup tournaments.
A US court judge said last year that Fifa executives had "lied repeatedly" in negotiations with MasterCard, and in response the game's world governing body sacked four officials although marketing chief Jerome Valcke has since been reinstated.
Fifa said in a statement today: "The two parties have reached agreement resolving the contract dispute related to MasterCard's first right to acquire the sponsorship for the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.
"As a result of the agreement, MasterCard will discontinue its sponsorship of the 2010 & 2014 World Cups, with Fifa agreeing to compensate MasterCard for that discontinuation."
