FIFA Has Made the 'Beautiful Game' Ugly

Abstract

This article provides background for a discussion of the criminal proceedings against 14 individuals and 25 co-conspirators connected with the international “soccer” umbrella organization FIFA, the Federation Internationale de Football Association. A discussion of the U.S. federal Indictment filed May 20, 2015 is included.To enhance understanding of the state of corruption at FIFA, which serves as the basis for the indictment, the article also deals with the stunning selection by FIFA in December 2010 of Russia and Qatar as the venues for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup championship games.The selection of Russia and Qatar led to an immediate storm of public protest and, once again, to allegations of corruption at FIFA. FIFA responded to this criticism by once again reorganizing its Ethics Committee and commencing an investigation into the 2018/2022 selection process to determine if it had been “compromised.” The Investigatory Branch of the Ethics Committee, hired a prominent former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael Garcia, as its head. Garcia conducted a 13 month investigation into the 2018/2022 selection process. He produced a 450-page report of findings. This report was provided to the Adjudicatory branch of the Ethics Committee, headed by German judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert. Eckert prepared a 42-page Statement dealing with Garcia’s Investigatory Branch report. Eckert’s Statement announced, inexplicably, that the Ethics Committee had concluded that the FIFA selection process resulting in the choice of Russia and Qatar as World Cup hosts had not been compromised.Garcia immediately objected, demanding the public release of his report. Eckert refused to publish this report, even in redacted form. As a result Michael Garcia resigned as head of the Investigative Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee.Also attached to this brief article are the important documents relevant to the FIFA criminal proceeding. These include the full text of the Indictment, the criminal laws charged, the FIFA Statutes (its constitution) and FIFA’s current Code of Ethics.