If you’re an American, you probably don’t know any more about FIFA, the international body that governs soccer, than you do about the IAEA, the international body that governs nuclear weapons.
So imagine US law-enforcement authorities announcing the indictment of former MLB commissioner Bud Selig on criminal charges for fraud, criminal mismanagement and forgery, and times the enormity of that scandal by, oh 100. Because only then will you have a fair appreciation of what this development means in the wide world of sports:
More than six years after being ousted in a sprawling soccer corruption scandal, the former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his onetime ally Michel Platini were indicted on fraud charges on Tuesday by the authorities in Switzerland, who accused the men of arranging a secret $2 million payment. …
The criminal charges for fraud, criminal mismanagement and forgery follow a yearslong investigation into the payment, which came to light in 2015 after prosecutors at the United States Department of Justice revealed corrupt practices at FIFA dating back at least two decades. That investigation resulted in the arrest and conviction of dozens of powerful soccer officials and marketing executives on charges that included racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Blatter was not charged at the time, even as the scandal brought down most of FIFA’s top leadership.
(The New York Times November 2, 2021)
iPINIONS warned Blatter this day would come as far back as June 2015.
That commentary argued Blatter had clearly timed his resignation to follow one last re-election coronation, making it appear more magnanimous than mandatory.
It also predicted that Swiss authorities would eventually work their way up the chain — arresting capos first, flipping them for plea deals, then going after the boss. And it noted the particular irony of African and Caribbean delegates, his most compromised supporters, having voted for him en bloc right up to the end.
Alas, at this rate, sickly 85 year-old Blatter is likely to die in hospital before he goes on trial, let alone spends a day in prison. And so, even though his name will be forever tarnished, it seems he will get away with having treated FIFA like his venal fiefdom for 17 years.
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