World Cup mascot – endangered armadillo named ‘Fuleco’ – fails to cash in with FIFA

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An Argentine supporter has stuffed-toy World Cup mascots attached to his sunglasses before the group F World Cup soccer match between Nigeria and Argentina at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Wednesday, June 25, 2014. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

RIO DE JANEIRO – FIFA says it could not reach a financial agreement with a wildlife conservation group trying to save an endangered armadillo chosen as the World Cup mascot.

FIFA’s head of corporate and social responsibility, Federico Addiechi, says “there was no interest from the other side in collaborating with us.”

The Caatinga Association disagrees. It was instrumental in getting the armadillo chosen as the World Cup mascot, which was named “Fuleco” — a combination of the Portuguese words for football and ecology.

Caatinga Association director Rodrigo Castro said he turned down a FIFA offer of $135,000, about one-tenth of what he said was needed to get the armadillo off endangered species lists.

FIFA generates about $5 billion in revenue in a four-year World Cup cycle.

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