Thursday, May 28, 2015

The human toll of Fifa’s corruption...

In the end, it only took a $150 million scandal to make Americans care about soccer.

Fifa, the notoriously corrupt and yet seemingly invincible governing body of world soccer, has finally landed itself an indictment that some would say is worthy of its reputation. The charges against a handful of senior Fifa officials include money laundering, racketeering, bribery and fraud. In short, the federal lawsuit alleges what millions of soccer fans have suspected all along: that Fifa officials have been using the organization's massive influence to line their pocketbooks.

On the surface, it's just another white collar crime story: rich, powerful men making themselves richer and more powerful. But a closer look suggests that there is a lot of real-world suffering and misery happening as a direct result of Fifa executive malfeasance.

For the most obvious example of this, look to Qatar. The decision to award the 2022 World Cup to the rich Gulf state with a terrible human rights record was a controversial one right out of the gate. There have been extensive allegations of bribery: why else, some figured, award the Cup to a tiny country with sweltering summer heat and no soccer culture to speak of? Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Qatar World Cup: Campaign to boycott the 2022 World Cup underway...
  2. 1,000 Indian workers dead. The grim reality of Qatar's FIFA World Cup...
  3. Qatar World Cup: Campaign to boycott the 2022 World Cup underway...
  4. A migrant worker's journey ends with a coffin, and mourning...
  5. A Nepalese World Cup worker dies every other day in Qatar...
  6. Nepal workers pay terrible price in Qatar World Cup build-up...
  7. Qatar's deadly World Cup...
  8. The Nepalis dying on Qatar's World Cup building sites...
  9. Qatar World Cup: 400 Nepalese die on nation's building sites since bid won...

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