FIFA's Ugly Corruption is Deeply Seeded

The FIFA corruption headlines come as a surprise. It’s not because the bribing, racketeering and money laundering, among other types of corruption, were hidden from the public. It’s because national governments finally took the long-needed action to crack down on what is possibly the most corrupt international organization in the world. For decades, FIFA has been run in a manner that takes advantage of the large football audience to benefit a select few people, and in some cases, countries. The biggest question that remains is: will the arrests finally bring about any change in FIFA?

FIFA, if run properly, should be a heralded organization – one that is known for growing and improving the quality of football internationally. As with any organization, the people running it must be morally sound, and officials must truly have the best interests of the game in their heart. While it is also a business, a fan of the game would hope that FIFA would emphasize the development and quality of the game as much as possible.

Instead, FIFA is run on cash alone. Officials in all regions of the world – but especially in the least developed ones – have requested and/or accepted bribes for decades. It has become commonplace. Jack Warner, one of the men arrested on Wednesday, is one of the worst offenders. Warner became president of CONCACAF, which covers North American countries large and small, in 1990. Warner’s presidency was filled with positives, including the first World Cup in the United States, the rise of many CONCACAF teams from irrelevance to the international stage, and a parabolic increase in revenue for the confederation. His home country, Trinidad & Tobago, qualified for their lone World Cup in 2006. However, it was clear that Warner was actively accepting bribes or requesting them in order to gain his cooperation. He resigned from FIFA in 2011 after many of the allegations against him garnered full attention of the media, and of FIFA’s ethics committee (yes, they do have one).

So when Warner resigned, what happened to the investigation? FIFA ended it. They chose to let him go without further charges (minus banning him for life from football activities, which is meaningless) and although they have never paid his pension, they allowed Warner to avoid a criminal investigation, which is thankfully coming now. Here are some of the allegations against Warner:

• ·         Profiting over $1 million through indirect ticket sales for the 2006 World Cup that were supposed to be done on behalf of the Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) FA
• ·         Attempting to collect payments made to the T&T FA into his own account
• ·         Requested funds (in the millions) in order to support England’s 2018 World Cup bid
• ·         Funds intended for Haitian earthquake relief were paid into a bank account controlled by Warner
• ·         Concealment of his ownership of land that CONCACAF built a $25 million development upon

This is not to mention that Warner’s two sons have already pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and the structuring of financial transactions. It’s one thing to be greedy and selfish (not good), but it’s another thing entirely to steal money from people in your own country, especially when those funds are meant to further develop the youth and sport within it. Not to mention that Warner recently quoted satirical newspaper “The Onion” when defending himself. CONCACAF’s former representative has not only been gluttonous and dishonest, but also incredibly incompetent and arrogant. T&T hasn’t come close to qualifying for a World Cup since 2006. Should this be a major surprise?

The center of the spotlight on this investigation lies around the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. It seems both illogical and impractical that Russia and Qatar would be awarded those World Cups, respectively, and while Russia was not invading Ukraine when the bid was awarded, it was still a surprising outcome. However, despite the political issues, Russia has the infrastructure and full capability of hosting a World Cup. The Qatar story is completely different. Allegations of bribes were present from the beginning, because how else could Qatar get the World Cup? The average temperature in June is 111 degrees Fahrenheit, and the country has never been to a World Cup (or made it close to qualifying). None of the stadiums needed for the event had been built yet. It obviously doesn’t make sense. There will be a time when we have the technology to have a legitimate World Cup in Qatar - right now it's irresponsible. It will almost certainly come out that officials took bribes, probably in the millions of dollars, to support the Qatar World Cup. Whether FIFA will revote on the bids is still up in the air, but it should. The Qatar World Cup is unsafe for the players and irresponsible given the controversy not only surrounding the bid, but the human rights violations pertaining to the stadium workers. If FIFA had the best interests of the sport in mind, the bid never would have been awarded.

FIFA has done nothing but hold back the sport from further development. The president, Sepp Blatter, is the face of this corruption. That begs the question – why was Blatter reelected?

It’s a simple but disturbing answer. Each country gets a single vote in the election, so there can be no bias towards one region. Most football associations partake in crooked practices. Blatter’s departure would likely bring about sweeping change, as well as more attention to past corruption. Because the corruption within FIFA is so widespread, football associations, especially those in poorer, less governed regions, would prefer Blatter stay in charge so that they can avoid more scrutiny. Instead of embracing the opportunity for change, it is clear that most associations would rather be corrupt – it is more profitable that way. I have yet to see a breakdown of the votes – I have a feeling they are not published – but I would wager that most of UEFA, the United States, and Middle Eastern countries were Prince Ali’s supporters. These associations have their own interests in mind as well, but clearly, the corruption is so layered throughout the system that it can’t change on its own.

This is the sad state that FIFA is in. It is a true reflection of leadership, and Blatter’s defiant comments about a witch hunt targeting him show how out of touch with reality he is. He can’t fix FIFA. He IS this FIFA. And this FIFA is stunting the growth of the game. Football associations are exploiting their own players and doing so for personal profit. While Blatter may not be directly involved with much of the corruption, he is responsible as president. Since the associations have grown so corrupt that they won’t vote him out, it’s now up to the authorities to trigger a change in the organization.

Regardless of the outcome of these first arrests, stay tuned to the FIFA story. It’s going to evolve and get much, much bigger. Hopefully, when the investigation concludes, FIFA can actually achieve its purpose of enriching and spreading the beautiful game. It clearly can’t fix itself. 

Because this is only one issue. Two words: match fixing. That could be even worse. Again, stay tuned.