The scandal that every Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) sports fan is on the edge of their seats about is gaining more media attention everyday. The issue was brought to light in May 2015. So who and what did they do to create a controversy?
‘“The Justice Department’s announcement primarily cites deals between FIFA, sports marketing groups, and broadcast corporations for the television rights to air the World Cup and other international soccer tournaments. Dating back to 1991, the indictment alleges, those involved conspired to receive bribes from marketing firms in exchange for exclusive television contracts—to the cumulative tune of more than $150 million. As Attorney General Loretta Lynch stated, ‘It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks,” wrote K.M. McFarland, an author for WIRED.
That’s the basis of what is going on with FIFA. It’s usually a pretty serious issue when there is millions of dollars involved, especially in today’s world of sports.
“This is a federal case, and the indictment deals chiefly with alleged fraud and corruption in North and South America. Until now, FIFA has deflected widespread corruption allegations by finding and suspending scapegoats, rather than acknowledging any problems at an institutional level,” McFarland wrote.
Recently there have been speculations of more officials being involved with money laundering.
“FIFA is already facing investigations on several fronts. The U.S. Justice Department launched alarge-scale probe earlier this year, and charged several FIFA officials with bribery, fraud, and money laundering…The disciplinary arm of FIFA has already suspended three of its leading officials — including President Sepp Blatter — for 90 days,” Ivana Kottasova wrote.
FIFA is trying to work out the kinks in their corrupt organization. Only time will tell the fate of FIFA worldwide. But not only does this affect FIFA fans around the world; this also raises speculation on whether other organizations, such as the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB) or National Football (NFL) have a “suspicious” or “dark” side to them. It has probably already been forgotten by now, but the NBA did in fact have a dilemma when the referees in the 2002 NBA Western Conference finals between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers allegedly fixed the game. Click on this link for a more in-depth explanation. As the sports market continues to grow, we should probably expect to have more problems. Once you have money and fame, the next thing you should expect is scandal and shame.