Beats headphones banned from World Cup games

FIFA has banned Beats headphones from being worn inside World Cup stadiums.
The US headphone firm, founded by Dr Dre, can’t flaunt its wares on the pitch anymore because FIFA says Beats isn’t an official World Cup sponsor.

According to FIFA, Beats is a direct competitor with Sony in the headphone market, and Sony happens to be one of the main sponsors of the World Cup. Many top players have been seen wearing Beats headphones recently, including Brazilian striker Neymar, but FIFA's licensing deal with Sony means this is no longer allowed.

In fact, players are now no longer allowed to wear Beats even when attending media events for the World Cup, extending the ban outside of stadiums. Beats were famously banned last year at the Olympics after sending thousands of athletes free headphones to promote the brand, despite not being an actual sponsor of the event.

Beats was bought out by Apple for $3-billion last month, so the guys over at Cupertino might not be too thrilled with the news.

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