The world’s largest and most respected sporting organization, FIFA, is in turmoil. Ever since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, harsh truths have come out about the negative impacts FIFA has on a nation. For instance, to pay for all of the stadiums, which have only been used during the tournament, Brazil issued more than $250 million in taxes, and nearly 100% of the revenue gained from hosting the World Cup goes directly to FIFA.

In 2003, Brazil passed a law stating that alcohol is not allowed to be sold during any soccer games to lower the death rate; however, FIFA made it clear that alcohol must be sold during the World Cup since Budweiser was a very important sponsor; this topic was non-negotiable.

Emily Pan ‘18 discusses her opinions: “Large organizations like FIFA inevitably will use corrupt means to get more money. Most organizations like them do it too, but they’re just so huge that the investigation was in the media a lot.”

In May 2015, fourteen executive officials of the organization were arrested in Switzerland by the FBI and were charged with wire-fraud, racketeering, and money laundering. The illegal activity revolved mostly around certain South and Central American nations and the fourteen individuals; the countries used bribes and other means to have FIFA conduct business in their favor.

According to several sources, FIFA received about $150 million in bribes from numerous countries. Prior to the World Cup in 2010, FIFA received $10 million from the president of the South African Football Association, Danny Jordaan, confirming the fact that FIFA accepted a bribe to have the World Cup in South Africa. Nearly $2 million of the bribe went to Jack Warner, former vice president of FIFA.

Joe Stals ‘19 reacts to the known corruption: “As all of these events of corruption came out, I really was not surprised to hear that it has been going on for a long time. As a soccer fan, I’m definitely disappointed but, sadly, not very surprised.”

Qatar is set to host the 2022 World Cup, a topic about which many people were outraged due to Qatar’s climate and working conditions. Phaedra Al-Majid, a woman who took part in the process, revealed that Qatar paid $1.5 million to have their nation host the worldwide tournament.

In November 2015, the presidents of the German Football Association and the Brazilian Soccer Federation both resigned to avoid public shame during their arrests, while Sepp Blatter, the former President of FIFA, was suspended from all organized soccer activity for eight years after being found guilty of accepting bribes worth at least $2 million. As of December 2015, sixteen people were indicted for illegal activity involving finances.

One of the world’s most influential organizations was found to have acted unethically towards other smaller organizations and other countries, and this issue has continued to bring into question ethical conduct in the international sports community.