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	Voter Information

Main article: 2015 FIFA corruption case

In May 2006, British investigative reporter Andrew Jennings' book Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-Rigging, and Ticket Scandals (HarperCollins) caused controversy within the football world by detailing an alleged international cash-for-contracts scandal following the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner International Sport and Leisure (ISL) and revealed how some football officials had been urged to secretly repay the sweeteners they received. The book also alleged that vote-rigging had occurred in the fight for Sepp Blatter's continued control of FIFA as the organization's president. Shortly after the release of Foul! a BBC Panorama exposé by Jennings and BBC producer Roger Corke, screened on 11 June 2006, reported that Blatter was being investigated by Swiss police over his role in a secret deal to repay more than £1m worth of bribes pocketed by football officials. Lord Triesman, the former chairman of the English Football Association, described FIFA as an organization that "behaves like a mafia family," highlighting the organization's "decades-long traditions of bribes, bungs, and corruption."

All testimonies offered in the Panorama exposé were provided through a disguised voice, appearance, or both, save one: Mel Brennan, a former CONCACAF official, became the first high-level football insider to go public with substantial allegations of corruption, nonfeasance, and malfeasance by CONCACAF and FIFA leadership. Brennan—the highest-level African-American in the history of world football governance—joined Jennings, Trinidadian journalist Lisana Liburd, and many others in exposing allegedly inappropriate allocations of money by CONCACAF and drew connections between ostensible CONCACAF criminality and similar behaviours at FIFA. Since then, and in the light of fresh allegations of corruption by FIFA in late 2010,[90] both Jennings and Brennan remain highly critical of FIFA. Brennan has called directly for an alternative to FIFA to be considered by the stakeholders of the sport worldwide.[91]

In a further Panorama exposé broadcast on 29 November 2010, Jennings alleged that three senior FIFA officials, Nicolas Leoz, Issa Hayatou and Ricardo Teixeira, had been paid huge bribes by ISL between 1989 and 1999, which FIFA had failed to investigate. Jennings claimed they appeared on a list of 175 bribes paid by ISL, totalling about $100 million. A former ISL executive said there were suspicions within the company that they were only awarded the marketing contract for successive World Cups by paying bribes to FIFA officials. The program also alleged that another current official, Jack Warner, has been repeatedly involved in reselling World Cup tickets to touts; Blatter said that FIFA had not investigated the allegation because it had not been told about it via 'official channels.'

Panorama also alleged that FIFA requires nations bidding to host the World Cup to agree to implement special laws, including a blanket tax exemption for FIFA and its corporate sponsors and limitation of workers rights. Contrary to FIFA's demands, these conditions were revealed by the Dutch government, resulting in them being told by FIFA that their bid could be adversely affected. Following Jennings' earlier investigations, he was banned from all FIFA press conferences for reasons he claimed had not been made clear. The accused officials failed to answer questions about his latest allegations verbally or by letter.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Andy Anson, head of England's World Cup bid, criticized the timing of the broadcast three days before FIFA decided on the host for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, because it might damage England's bid; the voters included officials accused by the program.[92][93]

In June 2011, it came to light that the International Olympic Committee had started inquiry proceedings against FIFA honorary president João Havelange into claims of bribery. Panorama alleged that Havelange accepted a $1 million 'bung' in 1997 from ISL. The IOC stated that it "takes all allegations of corruption very seriously, and we would always ask for any evidence of wrongdoing involving any IOC members to be passed to our ethics commission".[94]

In a 2014 interview, American sportswriter Dave Zirin said that corruption is endemic to FIFA leadership and that the organization should be abolished for the game's good. He said that currently, FIFA is in charge of both monitoring corruption in association football matches and marketing and selling the sport, but that two "separate" organizational bodies are needed: an organizational body that monitors corruption and match-fixing and the like and an organization that's responsible for marketing and sponsorships and selling the sport. Zirin said the idea of having a single organization responsible for both seems highly ineffective and detrimental to the sport.[95]

In May 2015, 14 people were arrested, including nine FIFA officials, after being accused of corruption.[96]

In the 2022 World Cup bid, Qatar was honoured to host the World Cup. Since then it has been discovered that Qatar paid as much as 200 billion dollars to host the World Cup. This information was discovered by the Tass news agency in Russia.[97]
Guilty pleas

Between 2013 and 2015 four individuals, and two sports television rights corporations pleaded guilty to United States financial misconduct charges. The pleas of Chuck Blazer, José Hawilla, Daryan Warner, Darrell Warner, Traffic Group and Traffic Sports USA were unsealed in May 2015.[9] In another 2015 case, Singapore also imposed a 6-year "harshest sentence ever received for match-fixing" on match-fixer Eric Ding who had bribed three Lebanese FIFA football officials with prostitutes as an inducement to fix future matches that they would officiate, as well as perverting the course of justice.[98]
Indictments and arrests

Fourteen FIFA officials and marketing executives were indicted by the United States Department of Justice in May 2015. The officials were arrested in Switzerland and are in the process of extradition to the US. Specific charges (brought under the RICO act) include wire fraud, racketeering, and money laundering.[99]

"Swiss authorities say they have also opened a separate criminal investigation into FIFA's operations pertaining to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids".[100]

FIFA's top officials were arrested at a hotel in Switzerland on suspicion of receiving bribes totalling $100m (£65m). The US Department of Justice stated that nine FIFA officials and four executives of sports management companies were arrested and accused of over $150m in bribes.[101] The UK Shadow Home Secretary and Labour Member of Parliament, Andy Burnham, stated in May 2015 that England should boycott the 2018 World Cup against corruption in FIFA and military aggression by Russia.[102]
2018 and 2022 World Cup bids
Further information: 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bids and Garcia Report

FIFA's choice to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar has been widely criticized by media.[103][104][105][106] It has been alleged that some FIFA inside sources insist that the Russian kickbacks of cash and gifts given to FIFA executive members were enough to secure the Russian 2018 bid weeks before the result was announced.[107] Sepp Blatter was widely criticized in the media for giving a warning about the "evils of the media" in a speech to FIFA executive committee members shortly before they voted on the hosting of the 2018 World Cup, a reference to The Sunday Times exposés,[108] and the Panorama investigation.[109]

Two members of FIFA's executive committee were banned from all football-related activity in November 2010 for allegedly offering to sell their votes to undercover newspaper reporters. In early May 2011, a British parliamentary inquiry into why England failed to secure the 2018 finals was told by a member of parliament, Damian Collins, that there was evidence from The Sunday Times newspaper that Issa Hayatou of Cameroon and Jacques Anouma of Ivory Coast were paid by Qatar. Qatar has categorically denied the allegations, as have Hayatou and Anouma.[110]

FIFA president Blatter said, as of 23 May 2011, that the British newspaper The Sunday Times has agreed to bring its whistle-blowing source to meet senior FIFA officials, who will decide whether to order a new investigation into alleged World Cup bidding corruption. "[The Sunday Times] are happy, they agreed that they will bring this whistleblower here to Zürich and then we will have a discussion, an investigation of this", Blatter said.

Specifically, the whistle-blower claims that FIFA executive committee members Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma were paid $1.5 million to vote for Qatar.[111][112] The emirate's bid beat the United States in a final round of voting last December. Blatter did not rule out reopening the 2022 vote if corruption could be proved, but urged taking the matter "step by step". The FIFA president said his organization is "anxiously awaiting" more evidence before asking its ethics committee to examine allegations made in Britain's Parliament in early May 2011.

Hayatou, who is from Cameroon, leads the Confederation of African Football and is a FIFA vice-president. Anouma is president of Ivorian Football Federation. The whistle-blower said Qatar agreed to pay a third African voter, Amos Adamu, for his support. The Nigerian was later suspended from voting after a FIFA ethics court ruled he solicited bribes from undercover Sunday Times reporters posing as lobbyists. Blatter said the newspaper and its whistle-blower would meet with FIFA secretary general, Jérôme Valcke, and legal director, Marco Villiger.

Allegations against FIFA officials have also been made to the UK Parliament by David Triesman, the former head of England's bid and the English Football Association. Triesman told the lawmakers that four long-standing FIFA executive committee members—Jack Warner, Nicolás Leoz, Ricardo Teixeira and Worawi Makudi—engaged in "improper and unethical" conduct in the 2018 bidding, which was won by Russia. All six FIFA voters have denied wrongdoing.[113]

On 28 September 2015, Sepp Blatter suggested that the 2018 World Cup being awarded to Russia was planned before the voting, and that the 2022 World Cup would have then been awarded to the United States. However, this plan changed after the election ballot, and the 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar instead of the U.S.[114][115]

According to leaked documents seen by The Sunday Times, Qatari state-run television channel Al Jazeera secretly offered $400 million to FIFA, for broadcasting rights, just 21 days before FIFA announced that Qatar would hold the 2022 World Cup.[116][117]

On July 17, 2012, in the wake of announced anti-corruption reforms by Sepp Blatter, the president of the FIFA,[118] the organization appointed U.S. lawyer Michael J. 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.[119]

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 FIFA World Cup to Russia and Qatar by the FIFA Executive Committee.[120] Garcia delivered his subsequent 350-page report in September 2014, and Eckert then announced that it would not be made public for legal reasons.[121]

On November 13, 2014, Eckert released a 42-page summary of his findings after reviewing Garcia's report. The summary cleared both Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing during the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups,[122] leaving Russia and Qatar free to stage their respective World Cups.[123]

FIFA welcomed "the fact that a degree of closure has been reached," while the Associated Press wrote that the Eckert summary "was denounced by critics as a whitewash".[123] Hours after the Eckert summary was released, Garcia himself criticized it for being "materially incomplete" with "erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions," while declaring his intention to appeal to FIFA's Appeal Committee.[122] On December 16, 2014, FIFA's Appeal Committee dismissed Garcia's appeal against the Eckert summary as "not admissible." FIFA also stated that Eckert's summary was "neither legally binding nor appealable."[124] A day later, Garcia resigned from his role as FIFA ethics investigator in protest of FIFA's conduct, citing a "lack of leadership" and lost confidence in the independence of Eckert from FIFA.[125] In June 2015, Swiss authorities claimed the report was of "little value".[126]

In November 2022, the FIFA officials told players not to get involved in politics but focus on sports when they are in Qatar.[127] A few weeks earlier, the football associations and players of Denmark and Australia criticized Qatar for this.[128][129]
2011 FIFA presidential election

FIFA announced on 25 May 2011 that it had opened the investigation to examine the conduct of four officials—Mohamed Bin Hammam and Jack Warner, along with Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester—in relation to claims made by executive committee member, Chuck Blazer.[130][131][132] Blazer, who was at the time, the general secretary of the CONCACAF confederation, has alleged that violations were committed under the FIFA code of ethics during a meeting organized by Bin Hammam and Warner on 10 and 11 May—the same time Lord Triesman had accused Warner of demanding money for a World Cup 2018 vote—in relation to the 2011 FIFA presidential election,[133] in which Bin Hammam, who also played a key role in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid, allegedly offered financial incentives for votes cast in his favour during the presidential election.

As a result of the investigation both Bin Hammam and Warner were suspended.[134] Warner reacted to his suspension by questioning Blatter's conduct and adding that FIFA secretary general, Jérôme Valcke, had told him via e-mail that Qatar had bought the 2022 World Cup.[135][136] Valcke subsequently issued a statement denying he had suggested it was bribery, saying instead that the country had "used its financial muscle to lobby for support". Qatar officials denied any impropriety.[137] Bin Hammam also responded by writing to FIFA, protesting unfair treatment in suspension by the FIFA Ethics Committee and FIFA administration.[138]

Further evidence emerged of alleged corruption. On 30 May 2011, Fred Lunn, vice-president of the Bahamas Football Association, said that he was given $40,000 in cash[139] as an incitement to vote for FIFA presidential candidate, Mohamed bin Hammam. In addition, on 11 June 2011 Louis Giskus, president of the Surinamese Football Association, alleged that he was given $40,000 in cash for "development projects" as an incentive to vote for Bin Hammam.[140]
Response to allegations

After being re-elected as president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter responded to the allegations by promising to reform FIFA in wake of the bribery scandal, with Danny Jordaan, CEO of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, saying there is great expectation for reform.[141] Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is being tipped for a role on the newly proposed 'Solutions Committee', and former Netherlands national football team player Johan Cruyff was also being linked with a role.[136][142]

UEFA secretary-general Gianni Infantino said he hopes for "concrete" measures to be taken by the world game's authority. Saying that "the UEFA executive committee has taken note of the will of FIFA to take concrete and effective measures for good governance ... [and is] following the situation closely."[143]

IOC president Jacques Rogge commented on the situation by saying that he believes FIFA "can emerge stronger" from its worst-ever crisis, stating that "I will not point a finger and lecture ... I am sure FIFA can emerge stronger and from within".[144]

Several of FIFA's partners and sponsors have raised concerns about the allegations of corruption, including Coca-Cola, Adidas, Emirates and Visa.[145][146][147] Coca-Cola raised concerns by saying "the current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport"; with Adidas saying "the negative tenor of the public debate around Fifa at the moment is neither good for football nor for Fifa and its partners"; moreover Emirates raised its concerns by saying "we hope that these issues will be resolved as soon as possible"; and Visa adding "the current situation is clearly not good for the game and we ask that Fifa take all necessary steps to resolve the concerns that have been raised."[145]

Australian Sports Minister Mark Arbib said it was clear FIFA needed to change, saying "there is no doubt there needs to be reform of FIFA. This is something that we're hearing worldwide", with Australian Senator Nick Xenophon accusing FIFA of "scamming" the country out of the A$46 million (US$35 million) it spent on the Australia 2022 FIFA World Cup bid, saying that "until the investigation into FIFA has been completed, Australia must hold off spending any more taxpayers' money on any future World Cup bids."[148]

Theo Zwanziger, president of the German Football Association, also called on FIFA to re-examine the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.[149]

Transparency International, which had called on FIFA to postpone the election pending a full independent investigation, renewed its call on FIFA to change its governance structure.[150]

Moreover, former Argentine football player Diego Maradona was critical of FIFA in light of the corruption scandal, comparing members of the board to dinosaurs. He said "Fifa is a big museum. They are dinosaurs who do not want to relinquish power. It's always going to be the same."[151] In October 2011, Dick Pound criticized the organization, saying, "FIFA has fallen far short of a credible demonstration that it recognizes the many problems it faces, that it has the will to solve them, that it is willing to be transparent about what it is doing and what it finds, and that its conduct in the future will be such that the public can be confident in the governance of the sport."[152]
2018 revision of code of ethics

In 2018, FIFA revised its code of ethics to remove corruption as one of the enumerated bases of ethical violations.[153] It retained bribery, misappropriation of funds and manipulation of competitions as offences, but added a statute of limitation clause that those offences could not be pursued after a ten-year period.[153]

The revision also made it an offence to make public statements of a defamatory nature against FIFA.[153] Alexandra Wrage, a former member of the FIFA governance committee and an expert in anti-bribery compliance, said that of the revision that "the real value to FIFA is the chilling effect this will have on critics".[153]
See also

Sports portaliconAssociation football portaliconWomen's association football portal

Association football culture
Association football tactics and skills
FIFA (video game series)
List of association football clubs
List of association football competitions
List of association football stadiums by country
List of women's national association football teams
List of top association football goal scorers
List of women's association football clubs
Lists of association football players
FIFA Congress

Notes

Australia has been a member of the AFC since 2006.
French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname are CONCACAF members although they are in South America. The French Guiana team is a member of CONCACAF but not of FIFA.

Teams representing the nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Russia (suspended by UEFA in 2022), and Turkey are UEFA members, although the majority or entirety of their territory is outside of continental Europe. Monaco is not a member of UEFA or FIFA.

References

Harris, Rob (14 August 2018). "Keep bribes quiet for 10 years, FIFA won't punish you". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.

Further reading

Paul Darby, Africa, Football and Fifa: Politics, Colonialism and Resistance (Sport in the Global Society), Frank Cass Publishers 2002, ISBN 0-7146-8029-X.
John Sugden, FIFA and the Contest For World Football, Polity Press 1998, ISBN 0-7456-1661-5.
Jim Trecker, Charles Miers, J. Brett Whitesell, ed., Women's Soccer: The Game and the Fifa World Cup, Universe 2000, Revised Edition, ISBN 0-7893-0527-5.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to FIFA.
Wikiquote has quotations related to FIFA.

Official website Edit this at Wikidata (in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Arabic, Indonesian, Japanese, and Korean)
"FIFA's Dirty Secrets" transcript—An episode of the BBC's Panorama
Document on alleged FIFA corruption

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FIFA1904 establishments in FranceAssociation football governing bodiesOrganisations based in ZürichInternational sports organisations based in SwitzerlandSports organizations established in 1904Association of Summer Olympic International Federations

This page was last edited on 27 December 2023, at 16:55 (UTC).

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Patriots agree to hire Jerod Mayo as next head coach, Bill Belichick's successor The New England Patriots have named Jerod Mayo to succeed Bill Belichick as the franchise's 15th head coach

ByKYLE HIGHTOWER AND ROB MAADDI AP sports writers January 12, 2024, 3:30 PM

FILE -New England Patriots outside linebacker Jerod Mayo (51) warms up on the field before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Oct.13, 2013, in Foxborough, Mass. The New England Patriots have agreed to hire Jerod Mayo to succeed Bill Belichick as their next head coach, according to a person familiar with the situation. Details were still being worked out on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the team hasn't announced the decision. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) FILE -New England Patriots outside linebacker Jerod Mayo (51) warms up on the field before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Oct.13, 2013, in Foxborough, Mass. The New England Patrio...Show more The Associated Press FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Jerod Mayo spent his entire professional football career learning from Bill Belichick, first as a player and then as an assistant.

He'll now have the weighty task of succeeding the future Hall of Famer and leading a New England Patriots team as its first new voice in more than two decades.

The Patriots named Mayo to succeed Belichick as the franchise's 15th head coach on Friday. Mayo is the first Black head coach in team history.

He will be formally introduced at a news conference on Wednesday, the team announced.

Mayo played eight NFL seasons and won a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots during the 2014 season. He has been an assistant under Belichick since 2019, serving primarily as the Patriots linebackers coach. He'll become the NFL's youngest head coach at age 37.

Mayo's hire comes a day after Belichick agreed to part ways with the Patriots after a 24-year run that included six Super Bowl wins.

Mayo immediately rose to the top of the list of viable Belichick successors after the Patriots took the unique step of announcing they were giving the assistant a long-term extension last offseason. Mayo, along with Belichick's son and fellow linebackers coach Steve Belichick, handled the play calling duties for the Patriots defense over the past two seasons.

Despite New England's 4-13 record this season, the team's defense has remained highly ranked in several categories despite losing top linebacker Matt Judon and rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez early to season-ending injuries.

Though it's unclear what the terms of Mayo's deal prior to last season entailed, it came after he interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs in Philadelphia and Carolina each of the past two years.

In announcing the decision to part ways with Belichick on Thursday, Patriots owner Robert Kraft promised to move quickly on trying to fill the hole.

Kraft said that the mandate for the next coach would be a return to the postseason for a Patriots team that has missed the playoffs in three of the past four seasons and hasn't won a playoff game since the 2018 season.

"We're looking for someone who can help us get back to the playoffs and win," Kraft said. "Believe me, after my family, this is really one of the two most important assets in my life. I am very upset when we don't win games. It carries the whole week. So, I promise you I'll be focused to do the best I can do to make sure we're putting ourselves in the best long-term position to win for many years."

During his time in the coaching ranks, Mayo has quickly developed a reputation for being able to relate to players.

Former Patriots safety Devin McCourty played alongside Mayo for six seasons and then under him from 2019-22.

During an appearance on NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk on Friday, McCourty pointed out that one thing that will benefit Mayo is that he also had the opportunity to hone his skills in other places as well, notably the time he spent working in finance at Optum.

"When you hear him talk, he talks not just leadership in football by kind of CEO talk in life leading people," McCourty said.

Patriots linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley said earlier this month that Mayo already garners lots of respect around the locker room.

"Players love him. I love to play for him. He gets the best out of his players," Bentley said. "At the same time, he understands as far as the culture and everything how to get everybody going."

But Mayo will likely get criticism from some about how much time he's spent inside the Patriot bubble. That's nothing he can't overcome, McCourty said.

"I understand the reservations of people who are like, 'Well, all he is, is a Patriot,'" McCourty said. "But when people get to be around him and talk to him, they'll see the differences in him and Bill and how the organization will be going forward."

One thing Mayo isn't expected to have is the same control over personnel matters like Belichick did for most of his tenure with the Patriots. Along with being coach, Belichick also served as New England's de facto general manager.

But Kraft pointed out on Thursday that Belichick didn't receive that power until after he won his third Super Bowl with the team following the 2004 season and that Belichick "earned it and it worked pretty well for most of the time."

That means a new general manager hire, or some other restructuring of the front office, is likely next on Kraft's plate.

"I think it's good to have checks and balances," Kraft said.

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