TOKYO: Olympic sponsor Panasonic is terminating its contract with the IOC at the end of the year, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Panasonic is one of 15 companies that are so-called TOP sponsors for the International Olympic Committee. It’s not known the value of the Panasonic sponsorship, but sponsors contribute more than $2 billion in a four-year cycle to the IOC.

In a statement, Panasonic said it became an IOC sponsor in 1987 and expanded to the Paralympics in 2014. It did not make clear why it was changing course and said only that is was related to continual “reviews how sponsorship should evolve.”

Two other Japanese companies are also among the IOC’s 15 leading sponsors. Toyota, which for several months has been reportedly ready to end its contract, was contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press but offered no new information.

“Toyota has been supporting the Olympic and Paralympic movements since 2015 and continues to do so,” Toyota said in a statement. “No announcement to suggest otherwise has been made by Toyota.”

Japanese sponsors seem to have turned away from the Olympics, likely related to the one-year delay in holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The COVID-19 delay reduced sponsors’ visibility with no fans allowed to attend competition venues, ran up the costs, and unearthed myriad corruption scandals around the Games.

Tiremaker Bridgestone said “nothing has been decided.”

Toyota had a contact valued at $835 million — reported to be the IOC’s largest when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through the just-completed Paris Olympics and Paralympics.

Reports in Japan suggest Toyota may keep its Paralympic Olympic sponsorship.

The IOC TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyoto, and Visa.

In a report several months ago by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, unnamed sources said Toyota was unhappy with how the IOC uses sponsorship money. It said the money was “not used effectively to support athletes and promote sports.”

Japan was once a major font to revenue, but increasingly the IOC has sought out sponsors from China, with increasing interest from the Middle East and India.

Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.

The Tokyo Games were mired in corruption scandals linked to local sponsorships and the awarding of contracts. Dentsu Inc, the huge Japanese marketing and public relations company, was the marketing arm of the Tokyo Olympics and raised a record-$3.3 billion in local sponsorship money. This is separate from TOP sponsors.

French prosecutors also looked into alleged vote-buying in the IOC’s decision in 2013 to pick Tokyo as the host for the 2020 Summer Games.

The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. Figures have not been released yet for the cycle ending with the Paris Olympics.

The IOC’s TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. The figure is expected to reach $3 billion in the next cycle.

SAO PAULO: After Endrick scored the only goal for Brazil in a win over England at Wembley, he revealed a player he unexpectedly idolized.

Bobby Charlton.

Ever since that March night, his Brazil teammates have never let him forget it.

They started calling him “Bobby” and it has stuck.

Last Friday, as Endrick warmed up before the World Cup qualifier against Ecuador in Curitiba, fans were yelling “Bobby Charlton” at him. He was seen smiling and waving.

On Sunday, Brazil striker Rodrygo confirmed it. “Now he is Bobby, he is no longer Endrick. The banter is on,” Rodrygo told ESPN. “There’s nothing he can do. If he gets angry it will be worse.”

Endrick, who turned 18 in July, wasn’t used against Ecuador but he looks set to start on Tuesday against Paraguay in Asuncion in his first appearance since the Copa America in July, when he failed to shine and Brazil bowed out in the quarterfinals.

That was in stark contrast to March when Endrick ended a goalless friendly with England 10 minutes from time with his first goal for Brazil and became the youngest male scorer at Wembley. He paid surprising tribute to Charlton, the England and Manchester United great who died last October.

“I am a fan of Bobby Charlton’s, he played a lot in this stadium. To play and score at a stadium where he scored so many goals is very important to me,” Endrick said.

Journalists at the match had the impression Endrick was instructed to pay tribute to Charlton, which he never confirmed. Later, Brazilian media reported Endrick played a video game that included Charlton.

When memes exploded on Brazilian social media featuring the striker as a fan of antiques, Endrick went quiet about it. An old interview in which he said his father initially wanted to name him after Real Madrid great Alfredo di Stefano added to doubts about whether Endrick was being truthful or just trying to pander to an international audience.

But last month, he again named Charlton, a 1966 World Cup winner, as one of his favorite players in an interview with a social media influencer.

No Pele, no Diego Maradona, no Lionel Messi.

Endrick’s list of five also included four past or present players from Real Madrid, which he joined in July.

His Brazilian teammates at Real Madrid — Eder Militao, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo — were already on the “Bobby” train but others came aboard after the striker scored his first goal for Madrid on Aug. 25.

“Bien Bobbyyyyyy,” goalkeeper Thibault Courtois wrote on social media. Midfielder Jude Bellingham added, “Bobbiiigol.”

There seems to be no stopping “Bobby” now.