FIFA’s selfishness causing unrest across the world
By: Oliver Straight Nissen
Football fans across the world have expressed disappointment with FIFA officials for their prioritization of money and self-gain over the game. After years of investigation led by the United States Department of Justice, an article exposed the shady dealings of many of FIFA’s top officials with Russia and Qatar. Julio Grondona, Nicolás Leoz, Ricardo Teixeira and Jack Warner, to name a few, were charged for receiving payments from Qatar in order to vote in their favor as host country. Another, Rafael Salguero, pleaded guilty in 2016 for money laundering and fraud. The corruption of FIFA is a good reason for millions of football fans across the globe to worry. For the future of football, FIFA should dissolve location-selecting bids altogether and instead select countries based on their excitement and passion for football.
What truly puts FIFA’s corruption into perspective is the amount of people that actually work for the organization. In total, about 850 people work for FIFA, 37 of those belonging to the Executive Council, meaning approximately one in seven people belonging to the Executive Council had been bribed by Qatar. This is a frightening statistic, as these FIFA executives dictate the future of football, and these examples of corruption recently brought to light have begun to tarnish football’s reputation.
Construction of Al Bayt Stadium, one of the eight multi million dollar stadiums
While companies need a source of revenue to be successful, FIFA has gone too far by taking under-the-table bribes from countries in order to gain hosting favor. It is no surprise that a massive organization such as FIFA rakes in billions of dollars every year. However, FIFA uses a bidding system, where countries can offer money in order to decide who should host. This system is corrupt, as it favors countries able to spend enough money to receive hosting rights, regardless of a country’s passion for the sport. An organization like FIFA should be utilizing more impartial forms of location selection, rather than choosing countries for events based on a corrupt system.
To bring more fan enjoyment, FIFA should bring future World Cups to “football” countries, where there is a much larger audience for the sport. A great example of this was Brazil, which hosted the World Cup in 2014. Often referred to as “the country of football,” a great number of Brazilians are passionate about the sport. In comparison, Qatar, a place not considered a “football” country, spent around $200 billion preparing for the World Cup, the most ever spent on a sporting event, only to receive about $7.5 billion in return. Coupled with their team’s lackluster performance, Qatar’s hosting does not even compare to the success of the World Cup in 2014.
Football fans are anxious for the future of this sport. Many are now looking to the next World Cup, hosted all across North America, hoping that it will leave the disaster of this World Cup, and all of the controversies that have sprouted from it, in the past. Still, this World Cup has also led many fans to worry about FIFA’s corruption and control over the sport, which only seems to be directed by money. As fans anxiously await for the 2027 World Cup, for the betterment of football, it is time for FIFA to look internally and make essential changes to its organization.
Fans protesting the illegitimacy of Qatar’s hosting rights at Lusail Stadium
