Horst Dassler

Who was Horst Dassler?

Horst Dassler was the son of Adolf "Adi" Dassler, who founded Adidas. Horst Dassler started Adidas France in Landersheim, France, competing against his father's Adidas Germany and his uncle's Puma. Subsequently he founded Arena, a famous brand of swimwear.

Horst Dassler was also responsible, along with Patrick Nally, for the founding of "The Club," an exclusive group that uses the money from sports marketing to control international sport.

Horst Dassler is known as the father of sport sponsorship. With the President of FIFA João Havelange he saw the potential of harnessing the world wide popularity of football to the interests of big business. Along with Patrick Nally he set about acquiring sponsorships from 'blue chip' companies such as Coca-Cola. His business practices had few limits and David Yallop in his book 'How they Stole the Game' says his relationship with Havelange was "Drahtzieher." Dassler was the 'puppetmaster.' Horst Dassler died on the 9th of April 1987 from complications due to cancer.