The World Cup is coming, but FIFA makes me cringe
I love footy.
We call it soccer here, football or futbol elsewhere. Regardless, I am a fan of the sport. I played it as a kid. I think it’s fantastic live. North America just won the vote to host the 2026 World Cup. I should be super-excited.
And yet. FIFA, the organization that runs world soccer, is absurdly, clownishly corrupt.
Sepp Blatter, the former president of FIFA, is accused of essentially selling the 2018 and 2022 World Cups (to Russia and Qatar, respectively) for lavish personal compensation. Blatter was eventually ousted under incredible pressure and then immediately started trying to claw his way back into the organization.
His eventual replacement, Gianni Infante, is already under investigation for possibly breaking FIFA rules about accepting gifts.
Accepting gifts is a nice euphemism for being bribed, basically. Remember the IOC scandal that almost ruined the Salt Lake City Games (the ones Mitt Romney is credited with saving)? FIFA is essentially that on steroids.
The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. reported, for example, that MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service, is investigating a report that Russian lobbyists gave a Picasso painting to an official with UEFA (Europe’s soccer body) to help secure the official’s vote for the 2018 cup. Several U.S. and CONCACAF (the federation that U.S. plays in) officials have been indicted as well, showing we can’t stand on any sort of soapbox either.
Chuck Blazer, the late FIFA and CONCACAF official who pleaded guilty and eventually informed on FIFA to the FBI, had two apartments in Trump Tower in New York City, one for him and one for his cats. He’s a Bond villain. It’s comical, really.
There were (and are still) several investigations into the allotting of the Russia and Qatar cups. There are credible allegations of financial chicanery in the 2006 Germany World Cup
vote, as well as earlier cups.
In a dramatic, made-for-TV moment in May 2015, eight FIFA officials were arrested at their luxury hotel in Zurich. At the same time, the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn announced the indictment of a total of 47 FIFA officials.
According to then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch: “The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant,
systemic and deeprooted both abroad and here in the United States.”
And that would all be fine, and I could just ignore it if I didn’t love the sport. So this is kind of an odd love letter.
I’ve been lucky enough to see some great soccer in person. I was in the stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2015 when the U.S. women beat Japan 5-2
to win the World Cup. That was the game in which Carli Lloyd got a hat trick in 16 minutes and the last goal was her beating the Japan keeper from midfield.
It was epic. The stadium was bonkers, the crowd was amazing, the game was incredible. Best sporting event I’ve seen in person.
I was in Marseille a couple of years ago for the UEFA European Football Championship (like the World Cup but only for European countries). We saw France beat Albania 2-0 in France; that experience was fantastic. I’ve seen club and country football in the U.S., France and the U.K., from tiny stadiums that hold about 4,000 to the big ones. Heck, I’ve seen more soccer at Levi’s Stadium than I have football.
So I love it. And I will definitely try to get tickets to games at Levi’s Stadium or maybe Los Angeles if the schedule works out.
But I still don’t think FIFA is to be trusted.
The U.S., Mexico and Canada will probably host a great 2026 cup; I’m sure everyone will make lots of money. I just hope it ultimately benefits the sport itself and the kids who play it, not so much the guys who can afford Picasso paintings for bribery.