Under the leadership of Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA became a monster of corruption which, after more than 30 years in office, including 17 as president, finally led to its downfall.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
This is what emerges from the documentary FIFA Uncovered, released Wednesday on Netflix. A series of four episodes which displays the rise in power and the moral decline of the master organization of world soccer. The Swiss Sepp Blatter is at the center of the story.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), when it was founded in 1904, had only noble intentions. She wanted to organize large non-profit sports tournaments.
So how did she get entangled in one of the biggest corruption scandals in history? Especially with the awarding of controversial World Cups to Russian and Qatari authoritarian regimes?
The documentary establishes the election of Brazilian João Havelange as FIFA President in 1974 as a starting point.
At the time, the organization had no money. And so, to help him finance his great ideas for the development of soccer for young people and in developing countries, Havelange hires Sepp Blatter.
In a few years, a previously amateur organization becomes resolutely capitalist, with the arrival of sponsors like Coca-Cola and Adidas.
“And when you have money, automatically it touches politics,” Blatter himself says in the first episode. He takes part in the documentary, but he doesn’t reveal much or feel remorse for what came to light during the 2010s.
The series does not teach us anything new. It is rather the succession of facts recalled and exposed, which have occurred over several decades, which sends shivers down the spine.
Havelange and Blatter, who ended up becoming the secretary general and the number 2 of the president, reigned together until 1998. The Swiss plotted the departure of the Brazilian from the presidency while making sure to succeed him.
Brown envelopes and promises
And his campaign to access this position which he will occupy until 2015 is in itself the anchor of what was to follow.
It’s that the voting system at FIFA is problematic. Each member country has one vote to elect the president. For example, the confederation of South America (CONMEBOL) has 10 voters. That of North, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) has 30, which therefore includes all the island nations.
The documentary shows that if one wants to become president of FIFA, one must make sure in particular to have the votes of the Caribbean. And, therefore, to get on well with Jack Warner, CONCACAF leader from Trinidad and Tobago.
Warner, now holed up in his country and wanted by the FBI, is one of the most important characters in this whole saga.
Brown envelopes. Questionable financial arrangements. And the promise of a World Cup in Africa. In 1998 begins the 17-year reign of Sepp Blatter. He even advances in his accession speech to have played a little beyond the limits of the rules of the game, giving the example of a player who makes a mistake on the field. Faintness.
During his years as president, the corruption that brought him to the top continues to swarm beneath him.
Qatar, despite Blatter
In 2008, Blatter and FIFA decided to award the rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in a single batch. This allows them to double the price of the sale of broadcasting rights, for example, and therefore to do the same with their profit.
In 2010, Russia inherits the 2018 tournament.
And despite Sepp Blatter’s efforts to hold the 2022 tournament in the United States, Qatar is instead becoming the host country. Despite an application considered “high risk”. Despite negative inspection reports. The system established by and under Blatter got the better of its own will.
The third episode of the documentary is full of interesting information about the Qatari bid and victory. Bribe negotiations in a hotel room in Angola. Geopolitical contracts concluded around the world. Takeover of Paris Saint-Germain by the state fund of Qatar. Everything is there.
The FBI enters
In 2011, and although he was re-elected twice afterwards, it was the beginning of the end for Sepp Blatter. Another brown envelope story involving Jack Warner surfaces.
This new incident has ramifications up to the candidate for the presidency of FIFA, the Qatari Mohammed Bin Hammam. An election is held that year. Faced with the controversy, Bin Hammam agrees behind the scenes to withdraw his candidacy. In exchange, Blatter promises to no longer oppose Qatar as the host country.
But the story does not end there. Because now the FBI is involved. The agency recruits Chuck Blazer, a longtime ally of Jack Warner, as an informant.
The leader of the United States in CONCACAF faces almost 100 years in prison if he does not cooperate. So he unpacks his bag. And the FBI is itself amazed at the extent of the corruption that has been going on for decades.
Four years later, the investigation led to the arrest in Zurich of 14 members of the FIFA executive committee. Money laundering. Extortion. Computer fraud.
But Sepp Blatter himself is not accused. He was even re-elected the same year. Under pressure, he ended up resigning.
And it is finally one of his own gestures that will sink him. A history of payment of Swiss francs to Michel Platini dating back several years. The FIFA Ethics Committee investigates and decides to ban the two men from FIFA for eight years. Blatter is still suspended to this day, and will remain so until at least 2028.