KEY POINTS:
In the second of five extracts from Barbara Smit's Pitch Invasion, adidas heir Horst Dassler throws himself into the world of sporting politics in a cunning bid for global domination
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As he built up his business, Horst Dassler acquired some startling habits. John Boulter, in
charge of international promotion in Landersheim, began to notice them in the mid-seventies when he travelled to London with Horst for Wimbledon. A former Olympic runner, Boulter was trotting out for a jog in Hyde Park when he spotted his boss sitting alone in the lobby of their hotel. Upon Boulter's return, Horst was still in exactly the same position, opposite the lift doors.
"I'm fine, John," Dassler explained. "I'm just sitting here in case someone important walks by."
Wherever he was, Horst Dassler seized every opportunity to reinforce his friendships among sports officials, or to seal new ones. While others regarded schmoozing as a tiresome obligation, Horst went about it with almost fanatical zeal. This was perfectly in line with one of Horst Dassler's adages, that "everything is a matter of relationships". He had the right skills to make friends all over the world: he was fluent in five languages, displayed an affable manner, never asked any awkward questions, and he was amazingly considerate.
To begin with, the rationale behind this tireless lobbying was to obtain favourable treatment for adidas. The rewards could be greatest with national sports federations: among many other things, they picked the shirts and other equipment to be worn by their national team. Unfortunately for Horst Dassler, footwear was exempt from most such agreements because it was regarded as technical equipment, of which athletes should be allowed to make their own choice. Yet by dealing with federations, adidas saved all the hassle of cajoling individuals and satisfying their escalating demands.
The next step up were international federations, which had sprung up from the beginning of the century to represent the interests of their sport and manage it at international level. They were often headed by an unpaid chairman, with a handful of paid staff and representatives from national federations. Among the weightiest were Fifa, the international football federation, and the IAAF, the chief guardians of the amateur principle in international athletics. But Horst Dassler got to know numerous officials from much smaller federations, covering anything from judo to rowing and weightlifting.
As he knew all too well, decisions taken by the international federations could have huge repercussions for adidas.
Such bodies set the rules for the sport that they covered and organised the international competitions that mattered most. They determined to what extent commerce could become involved in their sport and they could agree contracts that enabled adidas to outfit hundreds of officials during international competitions, making sure the three stripes would be everywhere.
The Olympic galaxy was another target of Horst Dassler's courtesy. It revolved around the International Olympic Committee, which supervised the organisation of the Games and enforced its strict amateur principles. "Running these were general secretaries, who were often retired and toiled away for nothing," recalled Gerhard Prochaska, a former adidas marketing manager. "All of a sudden they were propelled to the front of the stage, pampered and respected. Horst grasped such things much earlier than others."
Auberge du Kochersberg turned into the nerve centre of this operation. The worthiest guests would be ushered into the magnificent suites on the upper floor of the Auberge.
Horst Dassler's most intimate guests would be taken down to the cellar, where they could savour anything from Chateau d'Yquem and Petrus to the finest Armagnac. One of his neatest touches was to offer guests a bottle of wine from the year of their birth. A stay at the Auberge became an inevitable rite of passage for anybody with ambitions in the sports business.
"He had the amazing ability of always knowing what would influence an individual," observed Patrick Nally, one of Dassler's partners.
"He was an absolutely charming person who would be up until the early hours of the morning, drinking, talking, to get to know and understand people.
"If it was right for the person to give him a bit of cash, or a lot of cash, then it was right for that person."
Yearning for yet more influence, Horst Dassler resolved to build up an unofficial team that was entirely dedicated to international sports relations. While all his disciples were taught to make friends, the sports politics squad, patched together in the seventies, went much further.
Their activities were entirely geared towards the infiltration of leading sporting organisations.
The whole venture was based on the premise that, in the most influential organisations, each country had one vote, regardless of its weight or size.
Decisions that mattered to adidas could hinge on the votes of a handful of delegates from insignificant far-flung countries. Horst Dassler's sports diplomats therefore strove to cover the entire world, offering plane tickets and other resources to make sure that their friends in the remotest countries could take part in crucial deliberations.
BRAND WARS
* In the big business world of sport, adidas and Puma are two of the major global brands paying stars, clubs and competitions millions to wear their label.
* It all started in the 1920s when brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler started a shoe business in a small German town. Their passion for sports shoes coincided with the rise of organised sports and was an immediate success.
* But World War II resulted in a bust-up between the brothers, who then set up competing operations - adidas and Puma.
* The book Pitch Invasion charts their story and the expansion of the sports industry under the management of their children.
