FIFA's leadership was free of corruption
| FIFA's leadership was free of corruption | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "FIFA, world soccer's governing body, was run honestly, and allegations of bribery in the awarding of World Cups and media rights were unfounded attacks on the organization." | |
| Domain | Sports & Competition |
| Tactic | Fraud or Scam |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 1990s |
| Origin | Repeated denials by FIFA president Sepp Blatter and other officials in response to allegations by journalists and whistleblowers, particularly after the 2010 vote awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-27 |
| Further reading: books on Sports & Competition | |
The claim that FIFA's leadership was free of corruption was maintained by FIFA's leadership for years despite persistent allegations. In May 2015, Swiss police, acting at the request of the US Department of Justice, arrested several FIFA officials at a luxury hotel in Zurich. US prosecutors charged 14 people with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies involving more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks tied to soccer media and marketing rights. The case grew to include more than 40 defendants, many of whom pleaded guilty. FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced his resignation days after being re-elected, and he and others were later banned from soccer by FIFA's own ethics committee.
The claim
FIFA officials described allegations as the work of disgruntled losers in World Cup bidding or hostile media. Blatter said he could not monitor everyone and insisted that FIFA was dealing with problems internally.
What the evidence shows
- Journalism. Reporters including Andrew Jennings, and Sunday Times journalists Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert, published evidence of bribery and vote-buying. Jennings's reporting for the BBC's Panorama in 2010 and other investigations documented payments to officials.
- US indictment. The Justice Department's May 2015 indictment described schemes spanning 24 years in which sports marketing executives paid bribes to officials of FIFA and regional confederations to secure media and marketing rights to tournaments.
- Cooperating witnesses. Chuck Blazer, a former FIFA executive committee member from the United States, had secretly pleaded guilty in 2013 and cooperated with investigators. A 2017 trial in Brooklyn resulted in convictions of two former South American soccer officials.
- Ethics bans. In December 2015, FIFA's ethics committee banned Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini over a 2 million Swiss franc payment from FIFA to Platini. A Swiss court acquitted both men of criminal fraud charges in 2022, a verdict upheld on appeal, but their FIFA bans for ethics violations remained in place.
- World Cup bids. Investigations into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes found serious problems in the bidding process; several executive committee members who voted were later banned or charged in connection with other corruption.
Why it persists
FIFA's governance was opaque, its decisions were made by a small group of executives, and the organization controlled lucrative events that many national federations depended on. Few outside authorities had jurisdiction until the US government used its laws against racketeering and money laundering.
Lessons for readers
- Organizations that govern themselves with little oversight are vulnerable to corruption.
- Denials by leaders under investigation are not evidence of integrity.
- Investigative journalists often expose wrongdoing long before prosecutors act.
- Criminal acquittals of individuals do not necessarily clear an organization.
- Follow the money in decisions worth billions.
See also
- Russia's athletes competed clean at the 2014 Sochi Olympics
- The 2002 Olympic pairs skating result was judged fairly
- The 1919 World Series was played honestly
Sources
- US Department of Justice, "Nine FIFA Officials and Five Corporate Executives Indicted for Racketeering Conspiracy and Corruption," press release, May 27, 2015.
- Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert, The Ugly Game: The Corruption of FIFA and the Qatari Plot to Buy the World Cup (Scribner, 2015).
- Ken Bensinger, Red Card: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World's Biggest Sports Scandal (Simon & Schuster, 2018).
- Andrew Jennings, Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals (HarperSport, 2006).