WEBVTT - The Fall of Sepp 0:00:02.400 --> 0:00:12.520 This is today, friends. The dollar bills, hundreds of them, 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:16.160 gently cascaded down on the head of FIFA's disgrace, seventy 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:23.960 nine year old president Well the money shower, looking like 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:26.640 something out of a strip club fantasy, was an act 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:31.080 of public shaming. British comedian Simon Broadkin, posing as a 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:35.680 North Korean soccer official, made it rain just seconds after 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:39.959 Set Bladder, the godfather of international soccer in FIFA's long 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:43.400 time but in battled president, sat down to discuss his 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.640 resignation and the upcoming vote to replace him. It was 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:51.879 two thousand and fifteen, just two months before FIFA had 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.360 been rocked by the arrest of half a dozen soccer 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:59.280 officials at the Barlack Hotel and blindsided at the realization 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:03.320 that one it's loyal confidence Chuck Blazer and Josie Avila, 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:08.600 had provided US prosecutors with a roadmap to FIFA's criminal empire. 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:16.800 I'm Connor Powell. This is episode four, The Fall of SEC. 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:24.199 But it's my sec. Bladders sat there, covered in cash, confused, angry, 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:26.920 and looking every bit the butt of the joke. He 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.720 and FIFA had become the root of all of FIFA's problems. Instead, 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.800 Bladder's long rain has been money, and the British comedian 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.200 who beat security at their headquarters provided a stark visual 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:41.520 representation of the corruption years Have you made his point? 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:45.480 Broadkin was led away by security. A clearly stunned Bladder 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.640 promised to return once the mess was cleaned up. Ladies 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:53.920 and gentlemen, we have to clean here at first, all 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:57.320 the ways. I will not be able to speak your, 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:02.040 ladies and gentlemen. Then vsp about football. He says, nothing 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:04.320 to do with the football. I'll be back in a 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:08.680 few minutes, thank you. Oh and what a mess it was? 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.880 Of course, Bladder meant the one left by Broadkin's prank, 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:16.200 not the one left by his seventeen years as FIFA president. 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.320 Bladder returned later that afternoon to answer questions from reporters. 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:24.200 He remained defiant, contending until the very end he was 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:28.119 a hero, not a villain, and that FIFA was as 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:32.600 beautifully managed under his watchful eye as the game that 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:36.800 was played on the pitch. Whatever his claims, bladders days 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:41.160 as FIFA's ruling godfather were numbered. So how did we 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:45.280 get here? How did set Bladder the Swiss sports marketing 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.519 executive with an Elvish grin get the job in the 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:56.480 first place. The blue ballot box on the stage was 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:59.679 only slightly larger than a shoebox. It was stuffed and 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.720 overflowing with pieces of small yellow paper. A half dozen 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:07.480 or so FIFA officials, all men, of course, furiously sorted 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.880 and then counted the ballots. This was the scene at 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:15.639 FIFA presidential election. It looked more like something from a 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:19.799 high school student body contest than a multibillion dollar international 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:25.840 sporting organization choosing its next president. Despite its simplicity, the 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:30.120 campaign to replace FIFA's outgoing president, Jao Havalanche had been 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.440 as fevered as any political election. The horse trading had 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.560 been going on for months. Havalanch had been in control 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:40.760 of FIFA since nineteen seventy four, almost twenty five years. 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.240 But it was time for a new president, and the 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.840 one hundred and nine member nations that made up FIFA 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.680 would choose the Brazilian successor. The front runner to succeed 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:54.880 Havalanche European Soccer Association President Leonard Johansson of Sweden. He 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.720 had locked up most of Europe's fifty votes with a 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:01.600 message of reform and transparency, and you can see what 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:05.760 kind of people is surrounding me and supporting me and 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:11.800 helping me. I am very confident about tomorrow's election. The 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:16.599 imposing yet jovial Swede was the driving force behind the 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:21.040 Champions League UEFA's annual club football tournament. He was well 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:26.080 respected and seen us relatively honest rare qualities in FIFA's 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:30.640 governing structure, which had a reputation for dodgy business practices 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:34.599 during the twenty five years Havalanche was president. I think 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:39.520 there was always sort of an undercurrent of discussion of 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:44.600 like FIFA's kind of shady. That's journalist Grant Wall who 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.960 covered the nine election. For me, that was probably the 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:52.560 first time that I sort of paid attention to what 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.839 was being said about corruption in FIVA. Indeed, battling corruption, 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:01.160 even the appearance was at the heart of election. Many 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:03.800 soccer insiders believe the sport was in desperate need of 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:08.160 a new brand of leadership. Among those backing Johansson the 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:13.240 retired Brazilian superstar Pale, perhaps the most recognizable name in 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:16.400 the sport at the time. Paley also happened to be 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:20.600 one of Jao Havalanch's most vocal critics. Once friends, the 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:25.440 two Brazilians had a falling out and by were let's 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:29.840 just say, running in different crowds. Havalanche had cozied up 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:33.400 to dictators and South American gangsters as a way to 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:37.120 build FIFA's global influence, a practice that would have a 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:41.520 lasting impact on FIFA, but more on that later. Here's 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:46.479 Pale on why he supported Johansson though, I just to 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:53.000 because I like his program. I like democracy, like an 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:57.760 opening to discussing the problem of the spot and it's different, 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:04.520 the different division. Peleey feared Johanson's challenger, and he wasn't alone. 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.480 His has been a long career, if not always distinguished. 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.760 Set Bladder, then FIFA's General Secretary, was on the ballot. 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.320 It was widely believed he would simply be a continuation 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:20.719 of Havalanche and if elected that nothing would change. But 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:25.120 Bladder wasn't simply a clone of FIVA's long ruling monarch. 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.640 While Havalanche ruled FIFA with an iron fist, Bladder would 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:33.240 rule with the combination of an iron fist and handouts. 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:38.040 From the start, he saw the power of using financial 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:42.560 enticements to secure support, like sending payments to help national 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:47.240 federations boost soccer and developing nations. Bladder also promised to 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:51.000 expand the World Cup and share FIVA's growing revenues with 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:55.839 nations in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. The Caribbean itself 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:59.799 has twenty five votes, Africa has more than fifty votes. 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:03.719 And if you increase the ability for these countries to 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:08.280 compete in the World Cup, to partake in the revenues 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:12.080 of FIFA, which were growing during this time frame, you 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:14.760 can make promises and give out money to the member 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:18.120 federations and you'll get their vote. To win the election, 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.960 Bladder would need a two thirds majority, or one hundred 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:25.720 and twenty eight votes. The Caribbean and African delegations had 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:30.160 seventy seven alone. Well, neither was guaranteed the vote as 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:34.480 a whole block, they often did so. Bladder's campaign promise 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.960 was essentially, here's a million for you Burkina Fosso, here's 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:40.440 a million for you Paraguay, and here's a million for 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:43.800 you Trinidad and Tobago. Do what the money as you please, 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:49.040 just don't forget where it came from. It's patronage politics 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:53.560 where if you give money to each member nation, you'll 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:56.760 get their vote and it helps also that there was 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:01.320 never a lot of due diligence from FIFA's side into 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.360 where that money they gave these individual federations was going. 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.920 As noble as this strategy appeared on the surface, a 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:14.360 promise to expand opportunities in poorer countries, grant Wall says 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.960 it was only a part of Bladder's campaign. There were 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:21.360 all sorts of allegations in the media at that point 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:26.200 in time that votes were being bought for that presidential election, 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:31.400 and talk of envelopes full of cash in Paris. Behind 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:36.160 the scenes, Bladder supporters, aided by Havalanche, placed envelopes stuffed 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:39.800 with fifty dollars each into the hands of voters from 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:43.760 African and Caribbean countries. Those helping hands are believed to 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:48.120 have belonged to Mohammed bin Hammam, a Guitari billionaire and 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:52.440 a FIEFA executive committee member. He's denied buying any votes, 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:58.959 but was undeniably a staunch Bladder supporter. Mohammed been ha 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:02.960 Mom name sound familiar, well, you'll remember him as the 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:05.960 architect of Qatar's World Cup winning bid in two thousand 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:08.880 and ten and the man who a year later would 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.440 challenge Bladder for FIFA's presidency and who was then accused 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.360 of giving conquer Cap president Jack Warner the money he 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.640 needed to buy off Caribbean voters in that dodgy meeting 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:22.400 held in Port of Spain. That meeting, you might also remember, 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:27.160 was videotaped capturing Warner doing his best impersonation of a 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:31.200 mafia boss nudging his foot soldiers to do what's expected 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:38.640 of them. You want to use it if if anybody 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:47.800 is who was unconscious, I wish money a ticket. But 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:53.440 back ben Ha Mom and Warner were anything but adversaries 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:57.680 the Bladder. They played a crucial role in distributing payments 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:01.400 to boost Bladders campaign. Now I have to point out 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:05.440 both Bladder and bin Hammam deny doing this, but the 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:09.600 evidence really does suggest otherwise. In return, Warner was given 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:13.199 access to thousands of World Cup tickets, which he then 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.880 resold and was able to purchase TV rights for the 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.600 two thousand and two World Cup for his home country 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:23.400 of Trinidad and Tobago for just one dollar. That's right, 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:30.080 one dollar. He went on to allegedly sell those TV 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:35.320 rights for an incredible profit. In the end, financial enticements 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:39.720 beat out ethics and transparency. It was a lesson set 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:45.760 Bladder and his acolytes would learn again and again. Thank you. 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:51.559 When the final votes recounted, Hanson was easily defeated. FIFA's 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:54.280 corruption machine ran rough shot over the u A for 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:59.720 for President Bladder. The winner promised continuity, and by continuity, 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.360 he and money in the hands of FIFA officials who 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:08.720 wanted it. This isn't hyperbole, it's not an exaggeration. After 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:13.160 Bladder was announced as the victor and Johansen conceded, it 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:16.280 was reported that several FIFA delegates stood up in the 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:20.160 meeting hall, raised their hands and began rubbing their fingers 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:24.480 together as they smiled and laughed. The message was clear, 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:29.800 time to pay up. Yeah, there was no embarrassment whatsoever 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:40.080 about any of this, stepping side of FIFA. Under a 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:43.560 light blue FIFA banner which read for the good of 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:48.240 the Game, FIFA presidents set Bladder in, General Secretary Michelle's 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:52.720 and Ruffin sat side by side waiting to answer questions 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:58.640 from journalists. As flashbulbs flashed and cameras clicked. The two 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:02.920 men stared in opposite directions, each pretending the other wasn't there. 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:08.120 Their faces couldn't hide the seething resentment each man had 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:12.360 for the other. It was two thousand and two, four 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.480 years earlier, Bladder had assumed FIFA's top spot in a 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:20.199 contentious and dodgy election. Now four years later, Bladder was 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.959 up for re election. As Bladder campaigned to retain his seat, 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:29.800 claims of corruption and mismanagement were swirling. The allegations were 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:34.480 coming from inside the FIFA family, including from Zen Rufenen, 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.080 who was Bladder as fellow countrymen and one time protege. 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.559 He was a lawyer, a former FIFA referee and had 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:46.480 risen to the organization's number two spot. Here's Zen ruffin 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.440 In calling out his boss at this time for FIFA 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:53.160 to clean its house. Just days before Bladder was the 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:56.160 stand for re election, zen ruffin In accused him of 0:12:56.240 --> 0:13:00.280 running FIFA like a dictator and circulated a link feed 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:06.719 dossier that detailed explosive allegations of corruption, mismanagement, fishy accounting practices, 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:11.280 and unethical conflicts of interests by Bladder and other FIFA officials. 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:15.560 FIFA's financial house had been disarrayed for months after its 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:19.240 long time marketing partner International Sports and Leisure or i 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.640 s L, went bankrupt, leaving debts of at least one 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:27.000 hundred million dollars, with some estimates going as high as 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:30.640 three hundred million. I s L was created by former 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:36.479 adida's chairman Horse Dassler and handled all FIFA's TV negotiations. Basically, 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:38.920 I s L bought marketing rights for the World Cup 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:42.600 broadcast from FIFA on the cheap and then sold them 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:46.959 at a huge markups. For most of the I s 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:50.480 L was so profitable it was like they were printing money. 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:54.120 It also served as a slush fund for FIFA, which 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.679 you'll hear more about in the next episode. I L 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:01.280 went bankrupt in two thousand and one. Court documents showed 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:05.199 it paid millions in bribes to soccer officials, including former 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:10.360 FIFA president Jaohavelange Bladder's mentor. I s l s collapse 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:14.920 blew a massive hole in FIFA's coffers, which were normally overflowing. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:18.960 According to zen Rufinn, FIFA was running a budget deficit 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:22.840 of more than one hundred million dollars. Any blame Bladder 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:27.200 for the financial mess. I clearly ask now the president 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:31.080 to provide the respective answers to me so that we 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:35.560 can enter the new area of FIFA with a clean record, 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.760 which from the moment and in my opinion, is definitely 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:44.680 not the case. The knives were out. In a preview 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:48.040 of the two thousand and fifteen FBI case, zen Ruffinan 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:52.080 accused Bladder of authorizing TV deals for less than commercial value, 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:56.640 making illegal payments to soccer officials, and providing loans that 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:00.080 he knew would never be paid back. That la as 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.280 to accusation, you'll want to file that away in your 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:07.840 memory banks. At the same time, eleven FIFA Executive Committee 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:12.280 members filed a criminal complaint against Bladder, accusing him of corruption. 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.760 However mild manner Bladder may have looked and sounded, he 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:20.760 was a savvy and ruthless administrator. He showered supporters like 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:24.560 Chuck Blazer, Jack Warner, Nicholas Leos and Ricardo to share 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.760 with money, and they weren't about to abandon him as 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:31.760 he stood for re election. So despite the allegations and 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.840 the internal revolt, FIFA's ruling monarch never came close to 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:40.480 losing power. Bladder one a second term. He got more 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:43.480 than two thirds of the vote, and who had to 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:49.520 announce his reelection Zen ruffin In himself just hours after 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:53.800 trashing bladder In front of hundreds of FIFA officials, number 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:58.200 of votes for Mr Joseph as blatta what I meanum 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:10.520 toty nine, and then Bladder spoke, You're deep, trust You're 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:17.440 deep trusting fifand a contrasting chorus of cheers and booze 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:22.320 filled the conference room. The mild mannered Swiss boss, looking 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:27.800 as refined and sophisticated as any international businessman, glared over 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:32.440 at zen Ruffenen and gestured menacingly at his former protege. 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.360 The once loyal zen Rufenen had come with the king 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:44.040 and he missed. Within days, San Ruffenen was gone from FIFA, booted, 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:48.200 and the criminal complaint filowed by the eleven FIFA members 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:54.800 was withdrawn. Bladder, sometimes mockingly called Don Bladderone by critics 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:57.520 and a nod to the mafia Don and the Godfather Movies, 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:02.200 was now firmly in control of world soccer. His opponents 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:05.760 were given the option of getting in line or getting out. 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:24.440 In Bladder's house, loyalty would be rewarded, betrayal punished. Thank 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:30.040 you for this very special reception. For nearly two hundred years, 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.960 the red walled in darkwood panel Debate Chamber of the 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:36.479 Oxford Union has hosted a who's who of world leaders 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:40.840 and celebrities, from Malcolm X to Ronald Reagan, from Yasser 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:45.480 Arafat to David Chappelle. On a cool English night in 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:49.720 October of two thousand and thirteen, FIFA's president sept Bladder 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:53.760 joined that list. You may seeing you know who I am, 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:57.040 what I stand for, what I'm like. As a man 0:17:57.119 --> 0:18:01.200 of utmost self importance who felt almost divine right to 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:05.400 rule FIFA, the opportunity to address the students of Oxford 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:09.639 University was yet another confirmation of his global importance. They 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:11.960 would have you believe that I sit in my office 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:16.280 with a sinister grin gently stroking the gene of an 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:20.199 expensive white person cat. It was also an opportunity to 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:24.000 challenge the now decades long narrative of FIFA's culture of 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:28.119 corruption and it's mafia like. I don't know any other 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:31.720 better words for code of conduct. You mis saying. You 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.880 know what FIFA is, what it does, What it aspired 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:39.880 to be, a faceless machine printing money at the expense 0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:43.239 of the beautiful game, with me pulling the strings and 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:50.119 laughing all the way to the bunk. It's not exactly that, 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:54.520 but bladders and passion speech at Oxford, where he compared 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:58.399 himself to Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw taking from the 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.960 rich and giving to the poor. Did little to challenge 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:06.160 the narrative of impropriety or calm the storm of allegations 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:08.920 that continued to build in the wake of FIFA's decision 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:15.000 to give the World Cup to Russia in Qatar. The 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:18.760 Oxford address came only three years after that announcement and 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.360 just two years before the raid on the bar Lack 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.520 Hotel that would lead to more than a dozen arrests. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:29.720 Despite Bladder's best attempts to clean up FIFA's image, anyone 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:34.000 paying close attention believe FIFA was utterly corrupt. There's been 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:36.520 so many corruption scandals that FAIVA had to deal with. 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:40.399 FIFA have become a punchline. Bribery and FIFA go together 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:44.760 like peanut butter and jelly. Nothing Bladder or FIFA had 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:47.800 done since the Russia and Qatar announcements in two thousand 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.000 and ten had managed to quell or contain the crisis, 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:57.359 and the prosecutors they were closing in we were promised cooperation. 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:01.760 Michael Hershman is a co founder of Transparency International and 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:05.200 had served on the U S. Senate Watergate Committee. After 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:08.280 the Russia and Qatar announcements, he was asked to join 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:12.560 an independent governance committee to look into allegations of wrongdoing 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:16.359 within FIFA. That was a real eye opener for me 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:20.800 into the world of sports and business, and unfortunately and 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:25.000 I opened into the underbelly of the sports world. The 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:29.360 pressure appeared to be having some effect. Today set Bladder 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:34.280 finally unveiled his plans to reform the organization, promising to 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:38.879 restore its tarnished image, unlike FIFA's normally highly produced and 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:42.360 choreographed events where no amount of money was ever spared. 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:46.159 When set Bladder announced an overhaul of FIFA's ethics bodies 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:49.080 in October of two thousand and eleven, he was flanked 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:52.240 by a lone soccer ball and what appeared to me 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:55.600 as a half hearted attempt to remind the world FIFA 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:59.920 was a soccer organization, not some tone deaf criminal gang. 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:03.600 Like so many were saying, we should have this zero 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:11.520 tolerance inside the FIFA, inside the football pitch, but outside 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:15.680 the FIFA and outside the football pitch. Bladder didn't welcome 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:20.440 the oversight or the reforms. FIFA's longtime corporate sponsors. Companies 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:25.320 like Visa, Coca Cola, and McDonald's forced his hand. They've 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.480 begun to get a touch nervous with all that negative 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:34.720 media coverage, and pressured Bladder to institute reforms. Hershman's committee 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:39.600 was independent in name only. It really had no power. 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:44.119 FIFA could take the recommendations and do nothing, or blocked 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:46.600 them from looking into things they didn't want looked at. 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:51.160 The corruption was too entrenched and touched virtually every member 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:54.760 of FIFA senior ranks, and it didn't take long before 0:21:54.880 --> 0:22:00.000 Hirshman realized FIFA and specifically Bladder, weren't serious about reform 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:05.280 him at all. The internal politics really kind of circled 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:08.280 the wagon so that no outside it could look in 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:12.240 and see what was going on. Hirshman did try to 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:15.600 work around this by reaching out to an unlikely friend, 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:22.400 Chuck Blazer. When I was appointed to the Independent Governance Committee, 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:25.600 I decided I was going to see Chuck Blazer and 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:30.200 see if I could get him to cooperate with us. Hershman, 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:33.240 also a native New Yorker, had known Blazer for years, 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:37.760 consider the outgoing soccer official a friend. He was a 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:41.280 very jolly guy, a very smart guy, very friendly guy, 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:44.440 very jolly guy. It was hard not to like him. 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:48.680 I mean, everyone who's ever met him liked him. Hershman 0:22:48.800 --> 0:22:51.919 hoped his jolly friend might be an ally in cleaning 0:22:52.040 --> 0:22:57.040 up soccer. Blazer rebuffed Hershman. I met with him in 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:03.280 London and he didn't cooperate with me, and now I 0:23:03.359 --> 0:23:06.679 know why. At that time he was under orders he 0:23:06.720 --> 0:23:09.280 was cooperating with the FBI, and he was under orders 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:12.880 not to talk about anything that he was doing with 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:17.959 anyone outside of the FBI. Hershman and the committee were stuck. 0:23:18.920 --> 0:23:22.320 Just months after being created by Bladder, the quote Independent 0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:26.199 Governance Committee was being blocked by the Executive Committee and 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:31.199 who controlled the Executive Committee, Ladder. Of course, among the 0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:34.919 many reforms the Independent Committee had recommended were term limits 0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:39.080 for the members of the Executive Council, including FIFA's President, 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:43.160 and transparency for all salaries and payments made to Executive 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:48.280 Committee members. Most of these reforms were ignored. Bladder would 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:51.080 say to us, I can't get this through the Executive Committee. 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:53.640 Now we knew that was a lie, because we knew 0:23:53.680 --> 0:23:57.560 that he had complete control of the Executive Committee as president. 0:23:57.600 --> 0:24:01.439 Bladder could have assigned allies to anyone FIFA's sprawling and 0:24:01.480 --> 0:24:04.720 well paid internal governance committees to get their reforms through. 0:24:05.440 --> 0:24:07.879 If Bladder want to change, all he had to do 0:24:07.920 --> 0:24:10.560 was say so. He set the tone in the culture 0:24:10.600 --> 0:24:14.960 in the organization. I believe that he was very instrumental. Really, 0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:19.320 what they didn't want is they didn't want outside oversight. 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:24.800 They wanted to remain a closed facilitate and so we 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:29.680 had limited success, and after two years we resigned because 0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:34.480 we knew that we likely couldn't go any farther. Bladder 0:24:34.480 --> 0:24:36.879 was in his fourth term and I in a fifth. 0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:40.960 He set the tone and it was his quest for 0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:45.960 complete control and complete power that, in part, in my judgment, 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:50.000 led to the corruption scandal. The blade and undermining of 0:24:50.040 --> 0:24:53.200 the Governance Committee was just a small part of Bladder 0:24:53.200 --> 0:24:57.679 and FIVA's attempt at covering up past wrongdoings. FIFA also 0:24:57.760 --> 0:25:01.800 launched and official in tonal investigation into the Russia and 0:25:01.840 --> 0:25:06.440 Gutar bids. The official investigation proved to be an even 0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:12.120 bigger farce. The actual report wasn't initially made public. Instead, 0:25:12.280 --> 0:25:16.640 FIFA released the summary, and FIFA's own investigator would say 0:25:16.680 --> 0:25:27.520 that summary was a lie. For well over seven hundred years, 0:25:27.720 --> 0:25:30.840 the historic Fishmongers Hall, on the banks of the River 0:25:30.920 --> 0:25:35.520 Tim's had been home to London seafood merchants, having received 0:25:35.560 --> 0:25:38.360 its royal charter in twelve seventy two from the English 0:25:38.440 --> 0:25:42.639 King Edward Longshanks. Maybe more familiar to you is the 0:25:42.720 --> 0:25:47.560 evil monarch from Mel Gibson's film Braveheart. However, historically important 0:25:47.560 --> 0:25:50.840 the Fishmongers Hall maybe to me the name of Oakes, 0:25:50.920 --> 0:25:55.320 the stomach churning smell of slimy, slippery fish. So when 0:25:55.400 --> 0:25:59.440 FIFA's internal ethics investigator chose the Fishmongers Hall in October 0:25:59.440 --> 0:26:02.440 of two thousand and fourteen as the location to launch 0:26:02.480 --> 0:26:06.320 a broadside attack on the soccer organization and the leadership 0:26:06.320 --> 0:26:10.080 of step Bladder, the symbolism, at least for me, it 0:26:10.240 --> 0:26:14.080 was hard to ignore what is required as leadership. Leadership 0:26:14.119 --> 0:26:16.640 that sends a message that the rules apply to everyone. 0:26:17.280 --> 0:26:20.280 Leadership that wants to understand and learn from any mistakes 0:26:20.359 --> 0:26:24.480 or missteps. The ethics committee may identify. That's Michael Garcia, 0:26:25.000 --> 0:26:29.480 a former federal prosecutor who made his name investigating politicians 0:26:29.760 --> 0:26:33.879 and financial firms. Just days before, he had delivered a 0:26:34.000 --> 0:26:38.359 much anticipated four hundred and thirty page report into the 0:26:38.400 --> 0:26:40.960 two thousand and eighteen and two thousand twenty two World 0:26:41.000 --> 0:26:45.640 Cup bidding process. Garcia had been hired by FIFA as 0:26:45.680 --> 0:26:49.240 part of bladders reform agenda, but after an eighteen month 0:26:49.320 --> 0:26:53.640 investigation and more than seventy five interviews, Bladder was blocking 0:26:53.640 --> 0:26:57.359 the report's release. Officially, Bladder said he couldn't release it 0:26:57.359 --> 0:27:00.520 because FIFA had to respect the personal privious he writes 0:27:00.560 --> 0:27:03.800 of people mentioned in the report. As excuses go, this 0:27:03.880 --> 0:27:07.199 was a pretty flimsy one. When Garcia stepped up to 0:27:07.240 --> 0:27:10.040 speak at the Fishmonger's Hall, it was clear he was 0:27:10.080 --> 0:27:13.920 tired of Bladder's tactics and the stench of FIFA's corruption. 0:27:14.400 --> 0:27:18.760 True reform doesn't come from adding rules or creating new 0:27:18.800 --> 0:27:23.400 committee structures. It comes from changing the culture of the organization. 0:27:24.440 --> 0:27:27.800 Garcia called on his FIFA bosses to release the full report. 0:27:28.560 --> 0:27:32.480 Bladder refused. The next FIFA presidential election was coming up 0:27:32.520 --> 0:27:36.439 in the spring, and accountability really wasn't part of his 0:27:36.520 --> 0:27:41.680 election agenda. It is a face even by FIFA's standards. Instead, 0:27:41.960 --> 0:27:45.399 the Lords of World Soccer chose to release a shorter, 0:27:45.640 --> 0:27:51.120 less intrusive summary of Garcia's significantly more in depth findings. 0:27:51.720 --> 0:27:54.960 Garcia's four hundred and thirty page reports was whittled down 0:27:55.000 --> 0:27:58.119 to a forty two page summary by FIFA's ethics Judge 0:27:58.119 --> 0:28:02.000 Hans Joachim echoed, but a summary report cleared Russia and 0:28:02.080 --> 0:28:07.280 Qatar of any wrongdoings, and while Judge Eckart concluded that 0:28:07.320 --> 0:28:10.959 the behavior of some members of Qatar's bid team was improper, 0:28:11.640 --> 0:28:15.119 he said it didn't compromise the process. In effect, the 0:28:15.240 --> 0:28:19.480 judge's summary said the millions of dollars allegedly handed out 0:28:19.480 --> 0:28:23.080 by Mohammed bin Hamm had no effect on the final vote. 0:28:24.080 --> 0:28:27.240 But think about that for a second. Isn't the goal 0:28:27.280 --> 0:28:30.920 of giving cash payments to decision makers right before they 0:28:31.000 --> 0:28:34.880 vote a way to buy their vote? I think so, 0:28:35.400 --> 0:28:39.640 and maybe that's what Garcia concluded too, But frustratingly we 0:28:39.720 --> 0:28:42.520 don't know, because Garcia has refused to talk about it, 0:28:42.760 --> 0:28:46.719