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For FIFA, a Tumultuous World Cup

Allegations Mount About Qatar World Cup Before Brazil Opener

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said he knows of no wrongdoing. ENLARGE
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said he knows of no wrongdoing. Reuters

Rio de Janeiro

On the eve of the 2014 World Cup, all the talk is about a World Cup that won't start for eight years.

Allegations are mounting that FIFA, soccer's world-wide governing body, awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar on the basis of something other than a first-class bid. From the instant that Qatar beat out the U.S., Japan, Australia and Korea in the 2010 competition, observers scratched their heads because of the 110-degree heat during the summer in Qatar, and because the U.S. had been seen as a heavy favorite.

Then various parties, particularly British journalists and soccer officials, began alleging that financial payoffs played a role in Qatar's victorious bid. These allegations of corruption in 2012 prompted FIFA President Sepp Blatter to hire a former U.S. prosecutor to investigate the allegations. Blatter has withheld comment on the allegations pending the release of that report, which won't come out until after the tournament in Brazil is finished.

Representatives of Qatar's bid committee have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection with the bid.

This month new allegations have surfaced, leading to unprecedented internal strife. On Tuesday in Sao Paulo, on the first day of FIFA's two-day annual congress, several representatives of European football's regional organization, UEFA, told Blatter to step down next year rather than run for re-election, according to the Associated Press. Blatter has led FIFA since 1998.



"The image of FIFA has been tarnished by everything that has happened over the last years," Michael Van Praag, an executive member of UEFA told the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant. England's UEFA vice-president David Gill called for Blatter to step down, telling the AP, "I think we need a full, frank and open debate about what FIFA needs going forward."

On Wednesday, Blatter was expected to address the allegations during the second day of FIFA's annual congress.

The allegations of corruption have created unprecedented pressure on the 110-year-old organization, which controls everything from sponsorships and ticket sales to broadcasting rights for one of the planet's most-loved events. (See key players to watch, from Lionel Messi to Xavi to Cristiano Ronaldo.)

In recent days, major sponsors of the World Cup have issued statements expressing concern about the Qatar controversy. An Adidas statement called the public debate about how Qatar received the bid "neither good for football nor for Fifa and its partners.'"

"The perception being built is that this is an institution that has issues," said Chris Renner, chief executive of Helios, a leading international sports consulting firm. "The popularity of the tournament is as big as ever, but you have to consider if you are a sponsor and you are looking to associate with the World Cup, you have to ask yourself some hard questions."

Any of the potential outcomes are messy. If bribery allegations are proven, FIFA could be faced with relocating the 2022 World Cup, a move sure to anger the Qataris. Meantime, if the Cup is held in Qatar, it is almost sure to fall under a cloud.

Adding to the pressure on FIFA is widespread unrest in Brazil about the $11.5-billion cost of the tournament in a country plagued by poverty and poor infrastructure. "Every World Cup has been seen as a success (until now), and everyone thought Brazil would be a slam dunk. But suddenly the crows are coming home to roost. It is as if all the sins of the past are being visited on this Cup," Stefan Szymanski, co-author of Soccernomics and a University of Michigan professor of sports management said in an interview. Part of the problem, he said, is that you now have two Cups in a row where the cost of the event is out of proportion with the nation's capacity to pay, referring to 2010 host South Africa and Brazil.

After Qatar won 14-8 over the U.S. in the final round of the 2010 vote, internal budget documents from Qatar's bid showed how the nation had spent some $200 million on the campaign. The U.S. bid was a small fraction of that amount. The documents also showed that Qatar had promised to build soccer development academies in the home countries of key executive committee members.

In recent weeks, new allegations have surfaced. The U.K.'s Sunday Times this month alleged that Mohammed Bin Hammam, Qatar's former FIFA representative who resigned in 2012, paid some $4 million to buy support from other soccer officials for Qatar's successful bid. Hammam couldn't be reached for comment.

Blatter has hired Michael Garcia, the former U.S. attorney for New York's Southern District, to conduct a report that focuses largely on the bidding process for the 2022 competition. Mr. Garcia has pursued documents related to the bid and interviews with dozens of key players.

In the past, FIFA has successfully weathered allegations of corruption and calls for reform, and soccer-passionate fans have never shown much concern about host cities are chosen.

During an interview last month, Jeffrey Webb, a FIFA executive committee member from Grand Cayman, said the organization had rooted out the bad characters. Webb said since soccer is such a global game, with hundreds of millions of participants, a certain amount of corruption is inevitable, but that a process of reform was underway with the election of 12 new executive committee members.

"Some might have wanted more," Webb said of the pace of the reform. "I think the accountability is there." He endorsed Blatter's presidency, stating that international soccer on solid financial footing.

Allegations of corruption at FIFA resonate deeply here because Brazilians have played key roles at the organization.

Joao Havelange, a 98-year-old former Olympic swimmer, ran FIFA's governing body from 1974 to 1998, and, until recently, held the title of FIFA honorary president. Havelange's former-son-in-law, Ricardo Teixeira, was a member of the FIFA executive committee and head of the Brazilian soccer federation in 2007 when Brazil's won the bid to host the 2014 World Cup.

From 2011 to 2013, FIFA conducted a two-year internal investigation that found that Havelange and Teixeira received bribes in the 1990s from sports entertainment firm International Sports and Leisure, which went bust in 2001. The internal FIFA report absolved Blatter of any wrongdoing, though it faulted him for failing to run a tighter ship.

Teixeira stepped down from FIFA and Brazilian soccer federation positions in 2012. Havelange gave up his FIFA honorary president title the next year.

No criminal charges were filed as a result of the report. Commercial bribery wasn't a crime in Switzerland, where FIFA is based, at the time the bribes were alleged to have been given. FIFA didn't have a code of ethics until 2004.

Havelange and Teixeira could not be reached for comment. A spokesperson for Brazil's soccer federation, which Teixeira ran for two decades, said Teixeira has relocated to Miami and avoids contact with the press. Brazilian newspapers reported this week Havelange was being treated in a Rio de Janiero hospital.

All the same, the Havelange Teixeira clan burst back into the public eye last week in the form of Teixeira's 36-year-old daughter, Joana Havelange, a paid member of the Brazil's World Cup organizing committee, a position she gained while her father was still a member of FIFA's executive committee.

Joana Havelange posted on Instagram a text written by a Brazilian journalist who urged critics to forget FIFA's shortcomings and support the event. Yet buried in that pro-tournament text was a line that raised eyebrows.

"I am not going to protest against [the Cup], because whatever money had to be spent, robbed, is already gone," the journalist wrote.

Joana Havelange did not respond to numerous messages left for her with the Cup organizing committee. She has not publicly denied posting the text on Instagram.

For some Brazilians the statement deepened suspicions of a lax attitude toward corruption among FIFA officials. A performance art group projected it onto the side of a building in Rio de Janeiro along with a picture of Joana Havelange.

"It's such a slap in the face, an absurd remark," said Vivian Orni, a Sao Paulo businesswoman and soccer lover.

Write to Matthew Futterman at and John Lyons at

Gautam De
Gautam De subscriber

FIFA, like Olympic committee, is trying to make the playing field even - no matter what. That is the real issue here. Such big events demand that the host country should have a standard infrastructure to host it.

Frank Napoli
Frank Napoli subscriber

I thought that awarding an event that attracts 3 million people was odd to award to a country that has 1 million.

The country is small so all the the games are close, but how can Qatar handle all the people?


It is easy to forget that what we call "bribery" has been a widely-accepted business practice in much of the world for a long time.  It is viewed in other cultures as more of an "expediting fee" when sclerotic institutions are often paralyized by bureaucratic indifference by underpaid, under-trained paper pushers.

Marian Nielsen
Marian Nielsen user

Why is one man in the same job for 16 yrs?  Time for change so someone else can look into their operations.

Patrick Brown
Patrick Brown subscriber

FIFa is rife with nepotism and corruption because there is no accountability for the old boys network that runs it. As long as you have the amounts of cash sloshing about that you now have and no controls or accountability nothing will change. Just replacing Blatter will do nothing.  Time fo rthe top countries to exit FIFA and set up a whole new governing organization.

Brian Seel
Brian Seel subscriber

I get the ethical principle, but on some level if a country is dumb enough and desperate enough to blow $200 million just trying to win an event that won't bring in 1% of that in economic impact, I say let them.  

Maybe we should just make it a bidding war, make it fair and open, whoever is willing to pay FIFA the most can have the event?  

Michael Salop
Michael Salop user

Something is very wrong with those huge sport events, like soccer world cup or Olympics. The whole system is rotten. It will be fundamentally reformed or has to collapse.

Michael Salop
Michael Salop user

A mistake in Team profiles: Russia took 4th place in 1966. You may rebound that it was Soviet Union, not Russia, then I'll rebound back that it wasn't Germany in 1954, it was West Germany.

Paul Gabos
Paul Gabos subscriber

and this article didn't even touch upon the working conditions in Qatar, verging on the point of slavery. It makes no sense to me why the world cup would ever be held in a nation that doesn't have the pre-existing infrastructure. Stadiums are being built in Brazil, most notably in remote places like Manaus, that willl play host to only four games and then never be used again.

Tom Topar
Tom Topar subscriber

Like the NCAA and F1 all these organizations eventually are in it for only themselves.They pay the spin meisters to present them as a altruistic org. but even the professional bs-ers can't hid the facts forever.


Just like the IOC, FIFA is totally corrupt ! Boycott both events until honesty is restored. The world does not need these elitist organizations that siphon money from the taxpayers of host countries. I see them as " sport event locust"  organizations. They devour and move on. We all will be better off if they disappear!

Marian Nielsen
Marian Nielsen user

@Gautam De  and Qatar will build a first class standard infrastructure. It's a shame that Brazil seems to be struggling which no one anticipated, given that Brazil is a emerging market/member of the BRIC-BRAC! It is disappointing but let's hope they can still pull it off. You would recall all of the nail biting stories just before the Olympics with G4S etc. but it all came good in the end!

Marian Nielsen
Marian Nielsen user

@Frank Napoli  trust me, Qatar can handle hosting the games and all the people if not mired in the bribery scandal. They have the financial resources to make it happen if investigations show that there wasn't any bribery involved. FIFA tries to do the right thing by giving opportunity to Countries outside of the Continents of North America and Europe, because it is a World Football event. South Africa hosted it and did great. So can others.

James Rice
James Rice accountSuspendeduser

@Frank Napoli,

Well, Qatar is planning not to allow supporters of some countries for political reasons. That by itself should be enough not to allow Qatar to host the World Cup games. 

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