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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy was FIFA corruption offside? It kicked fairness out.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
FIFA executive José Maria Marin, who was convicted in 2017 for accepting bribes[1][2]

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has been subject to multiple corruption allegations,[3][4] a number of which resulted in criminal prosecutions and convictions.[1][5] The organization has been accused of accepting bribes,[4] fraudulently selecting World Cup hosts[6] and fostering an environment prone to systemic corruption.[4]

Several high FIFA executives were indicted on fraud and racketeering charges in the United States in 2015. The investigations prompted Swiss authorities to investigate FIFA, which ultimately culminated in the ousting of FIFA president Sepp Blatter in that same year by the FIFA ethics committee, as he was being investigated under suspicion of having made a "disloyal payment" to Michel Platini.[4][7]

Pre-Havelange (1904-1974)

[edit]

FIFA was founded in 1904. For most of the century, the organization remained small and consisted mostly of European officials. President Stanley Rous, who took office in 1961, has been described as "idealistic" and unwilling to move the organization toward a more profit-oriented approach.[4][8] According to Politico, the fact that Rous did not accept bribes in exchange for votes is the reason "why he lost to people who did".[9]

Havelange era (1974-1998)

[edit]
Havelange in 1982

Brazilian businessman João Havelange took office as president in 1974, after promising money to African nations in exchange for their votes and having built a non-Western voting bloc in his favor.[10][11][12] His administration saw an increase in the organization's profit margins amid larger investments in sponsorships, broadcasting deals and other profit-oriented operations. He developed a number of relationships with nascent African countries, with development funds being used to gain support from African leaders.[4]

The nature of Havelange's deals with African nations effectively created a patron-client relationship between FIFA and those countries. Some commentators have stated that he had effectively monetarily rewarded African football businessmen in exchange for their loyalty.[13] A Politico article stated that "Havelange effectively bribed the disenfranchised voters of soccer’s developing world to support him."[9] African support contributed for the solidification of the pro-Havelange voting bloc across multiple FIFA presidential elections, with the coalition persisting until the end of Havelange's presidency.[4]

Teixeira in 2006

Havelange, Ricardo Teixeira and other FIFA officials were investigated by Swiss authorities in the 2000s for, it was alleged, receiving bribes from marketing agency International Sport and Leisure (ISL). They eventually repaid $6.1 million in kickbacks to Swiss courts in order to keep their cases secret.[14][15][4] A deal between Swiss authorities and FIFA ended with all criminal charges being dismissed.[4] Havelange would eventually resign from his position as honorary president of FIFA in 2013 after the organization described him as "morally and ethically reproachable" for the ISL case.[16][14]

Havelange has been considered the "architect" of corruption at FIFA,[17][18][19] and his reforms caused recurrent corruption scandals within the organization that would persist beyond his presidency.[18][4]

Blatter era (1998-2015)

[edit]
Blatter stated in 2015 that FIFA "is not corrupt, there is no corruption in football. There is corruption with individuals, there is not a general organized corruption."[20]

Swiss businessman Sepp Blatter took office as president of FIFA in 1998. He inherited Havelange's presidential voting bloc and further developed and expanded the organization's international relationships. His administration had more scandals than any other in the history of FIFA.[4]

World Cup selection of Russia and Qatar

[edit]

The secret voting process during the World Cup selection in December 2010 had Executive Committee members Reynald Temarii and Amos Adamu excluded due to the bribery charges they were facing. Four other members had been suspended due to corruption allegations.[4][21][22] Russia and Qatar ultimate won the bid for the 2018 and 2022 cups, respectively.[22]

In the next year, Football Association member David Triesman said that four senior FIFA officials had asked for bribes in exchange for voting for the United Kingdom to be the 2018 host.[21]

Garcia investigations

[edit]

The Garcia Report was an investigation produced by U.S. lawyer Michael J. Garcia into allegations of corruption in world football. On 17 July 2012, in the wake of announced anti-corruption reforms by Sepp Blatter, the president of the world association football governing body FIFA,[23] the organization appointed Garcia as the chairman of the investigative chamber of FIFA Ethics Committee, while German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert was appointed as the chairman of the Ethics Committee's adjudication chamber.[24] In August 2012, Garcia declared his intention to investigate the bidding process and decision to respectively award the right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar by the FIFA Executive Committee.[25]

2015 criminal prosecutions

[edit]

Resignation of Blatter

[edit]

Blatter announced his resignation in June 2015, stating that "My mandate does not appear to be supported by everybody." Although FIFA had already been clouded by corruption scandals throughout tenure, tensions especially mounted after some of its members were charged.[26]

Infantino era (2015-present)

[edit]
Infantino in 2016

Swiss businessman Gianni Infantino took office as president of FIFA in 2016.[27]

Anti-corruption activities

[edit]

At the time of Infantino's election, FIFA was facing a number of bribery investigations in the United States and Switzerland, which had culminated with Blatter's ousting. Infantino stated in 2016 that "We will restore the image of FIFA and the respect of FIFA. And everyone in the world will applaud us."[27]

In May 2017, FIFA fired ethics committee chairs Cornel Borbély and Hans-Joachim Eckert, along with all but two of the committee's members. Borbély and Eckert later stated that their removal was due to the organization's unwillingness to having an independent ethics office, and that the FIFA had "neutralized" the integrity of its recently-introduced anti-corruption reforms. Borbély said that "Fifa's code of ethics is a dead letter".[28][29] After The Guardian reported in the same month that Infantino was under investigation by the ethics committee for allegedly seeking "to improperly influence the Confederation of African Football’s presidential elections in March", María Claudia Rojas, who had been appointed as chair of the committee earlier in May, said that the investigations of Infantino had been closed.[30][31][29]

American reporter Ken Bensinger, who had written a book about corruption in sport scandals, said in 2024 that Infantino had failed to carry out "[t]he kind of reforms that would be helpful, that have to do with transparency and have to do with outside regulation". Former CONCACAF official Mel Brennan said in the same year that the organization had become "more polished", but as "to whether there's been actual change, I think they've just become slicker".[32]

Panama Papers contracts

[edit]

A number of contracts between UEFA, where Infantino served as director of legal affairs, and Cross Trading, an Argentinian company that was being investigated for FIFA-related corruption, were leaked in April 2016 as part of the Panama Papers. The documents were co-signed by Infantino, who had prior to the leak denied any relationship with the Cross Trading. After the leak, Infantino again stated that he had "never personally dealt with Cross Trading nor their owners".[33][34]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 Laughland, Oliver (2017-12-22). "Fifa trial: two ex-soccer officials found guilty on multiple charges of corruption". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-06.
  2. ↑ "Fifa corruption: Brazil's Jose Maria Marin jailed for four years". BBC Sport. 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2026-07-06.
  3. ↑ Tomlinson, Alan. "FIFA:“For the game. For the world”? The world governing body’s escalating crisis of credibility." Routledge handbook of sport and politics. Routledge, 2016. 279-293.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hough, Dan; Heaston, William R. (2018), "The Art of Missing the Point: FIFA and the Control of Corruption", in Kubbe, Ina; Engelbert, Annika (eds.), Corruption and Norms: Why Informal Rules Matter, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 329–346, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66254-1_15, ISBN 978-3-319-66254-1, retrieved 2026-07-06
  5. ↑ Ruiz, Rebecca R.; Panja, Tariq (2024-01-27). "FIFA Convictions Are Imperiled by Questions of U.S. Overreach". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-06.
  6. ↑ Junghagen, Sven; Aurvandil, Mads (2020). "Structural Susceptibility to Corruption in FIFA: a Social Network Analysis". International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. 12 (4): 655–677. doi:10.1080/19406940.2020.1832133. ISSN 1940-6940.
  7. ↑ Gibson, Owen (2015-12-03). "Fifa is not corrupt, and neither am I, insists acting president Issa Hayatou". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-06.
  8. ↑ Flint, Andrew (2015-05-30). "João Havelange: the iron hand in an iron glove". These Football Times. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  9. 1 2 "The 12 people who ruined soccer". POLITICO. 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  10. ↑ Tharoor, Ishaan (2015-05-29). "It's not corruption that keeps FIFA's Sepp Blatter in power. It's history". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  11. ↑ Hughes, Rob (2011-06-21). "Divided, FIFA Will Be Even Tougher to Fix". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  12. ↑ "Mystery of the brown envelopes | Special reports | The Observer". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  13. ↑ Alegi, Peter (2015-06-03). "FIFA, Blatter and Africa: a special relationship". The Conversation. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  14. 1 2 "Fifa: Joao Havelange has resigned from IOC". The Independent. 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  15. ↑ "FIFA publishes document naming Havelange, Teixeira in kickbacks case". CBC.
  16. ↑ "Fifa's Havelange Quits Over Bribe Claims". Sky News.
  17. ↑ Schudel, Matt (2016-08-18). "Joao Havelange, 100, world power broker in soccer, Olympics". The Boston Globe. ISSN 0743-1791. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  18. 1 2 Post, Matt Schudel The Washington (2016-08-16). "Ex-FIFA boss Joao Havelange, dead at 100, boosted soccer, allowed corruption". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  19. ↑ Reporter, Martin Ziegler, Chief Sports. "Architect of Fifa corruption dies aged 100". Retrieved 2026-07-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ "Blatter defends FIFA record, says he's clean". dw.com. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  21. 1 2 Gibson, Owen; correspondent, sports news (2011-05-10). "Fifa executives accused by former FA chairman Triesman of seeking bribes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-07. {{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  22. 1 2 Longman, Jeré (2010-12-02). "Russia and Qatar Win World Cup Bids". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  23. ↑ "Fifa appoints Michael J Garcia to investigate football corruption". Associated Press. 17 July 2012.
  24. ↑ "FIFA unveils new crime fighting duo to tackle corruption in soccer". CNN. 17 July 2012.
  25. ↑ "FIFA to look into World Cup winning bids". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 August 2012.
  26. ↑ "Sepp Blatter to resign as Fifa president amid corruption scandal". BBC Sport. 2015-06-02. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  27. 1 2 "Gianni Infantino wins FIFA presidential election". CBC.
  28. ↑ Conn, David (2017-05-10). "Infantino's Fifa 'incapacitated' corruption fight, say ousted ethics chairmen". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  29. 1 2 "Fifa: Ousted ethics chiefs were investigating 'hundreds' of cases". BBC Sport. 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  30. ↑ Conn, David (2017-06-23). "Fifa's anti-corruption efforts criticised after speedy clearing of Gianni Infantino". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  31. ↑ "FIFA ethics body clears Infantino during Swiss criminal case". Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  32. ↑ "'They've just become slicker': Why critics doubt FIFA's claims of having kicked corruption in soccer". CBC.
  33. ↑ Gibson, Owen (2016-04-06). "Panama Papers: Fifa president Gianni Infantino pulled into corruption scandal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
  34. ↑ published, The Week Staff (2016-04-06). "Panama Papers: Fifa boss Infantino dragged into scandal". The Week. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
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