by Annie Straneva
Remember the “2015 FIFA Corruption Case” that yanked on the heartstrings for the world’s love of football? It had colorful characters accused of $10 million bribes by colorful characters like Jack Warner and a focus on the bribery surrounding the world cup.[2] Shockingly, the majority of the indictments concerned the commercial rights for international football in the America, to the tune of around $100 million.[2]
That’s right, spoiler alert, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) 2015 May indictment was not strictly limited to the FIFA World Cup, but rather several of FIFA’s regional bodies, namely CONCACAF (The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) and CONMEBOL (The Confederacion Sudamericana de Fútbol).[2] The investigation primarily revolved around the collusion between officials of CONMEBOL, CONCACAF and sports marketing executives. These individuals and organizations engaged in bribery to determine the television rights, location and the overseeing of the tournament. Paralleling the FIFA officials arrest in Zurich, there existing a parallel raid on the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami.[1] Yikes, sounds like the soccer officials and corporate executives were caught with their hands in multiple cookie jars once the lights turned on, serving dual and three way roles between FIFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL.
Please read “Copa America Centenario Finances: A Rampant, Systemic and Deep-Rooted Corruption Scheme” to discover:
- The 2015 FIFA Corruption Case Extends to North and South America?
- The Players Defined
- The Shadow game
- Why it’s being held in the U.S.
- Which Sponsors and TV Broadcasters are left, “picking up the pieces
- Insight as to where this story is to continue when looking to the future…