Speaker 1: This is today, friends. The dollar bills, hundreds of them,
Speaker 1: gently cascaded down on the head of FIFA's disgrace, seventy
Speaker 1: nine year old president Well the money shower, looking like
Speaker 1: something out of a strip club fantasy, was an act
Speaker 1: of public shaming. British comedian Simon Broadkin, posing as a
Speaker 1: North Korean soccer official, made it rain just seconds after
Speaker 1: Set Bladder, the godfather of international soccer in FIFA's long
Speaker 1: time but in battled president, sat down to discuss his
Speaker 1: resignation and the upcoming vote to replace him. It was
Speaker 1: two thousand and fifteen, just two months before FIFA had
Speaker 1: been rocked by the arrest of half a dozen soccer
Speaker 1: officials at the Barlack Hotel and blindsided at the realization
Speaker 1: that one it's loyal confidence Chuck Blazer and Josie Avila,
Speaker 1: had provided US prosecutors with a roadmap to FIFA's criminal empire.
Speaker 1: I'm Connor Powell. This is episode four, The Fall of SEC.
Speaker 1: But it's my sec. Bladders sat there, covered in cash, confused, angry,
Speaker 1: and looking every bit the butt of the joke. He
Speaker 1: and FIFA had become the root of all of FIFA's problems. Instead,
Speaker 1: Bladder's long rain has been money, and the British comedian
Speaker 1: who beat security at their headquarters provided a stark visual
Speaker 1: representation of the corruption years Have you made his point?
Speaker 1: Broadkin was led away by security. A clearly stunned Bladder
Speaker 1: promised to return once the mess was cleaned up. Ladies
Speaker 1: and gentlemen, we have to clean here at first, all
Speaker 1: the ways. I will not be able to speak your,
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. Then vsp about football. He says, nothing
Speaker 1: to do with the football. I'll be back in a
Speaker 1: few minutes, thank you. Oh and what a mess it was?
Speaker 1: Of course, Bladder meant the one left by Broadkin's prank,
Speaker 1: not the one left by his seventeen years as FIFA president.
Speaker 1: Bladder returned later that afternoon to answer questions from reporters.
Speaker 1: He remained defiant, contending until the very end he was
Speaker 1: a hero, not a villain, and that FIFA was as
Speaker 1: beautifully managed under his watchful eye as the game that
Speaker 1: was played on the pitch. Whatever his claims, bladders days
Speaker 1: as FIFA's ruling godfather were numbered. So how did we
Speaker 1: get here? How did set Bladder the Swiss sports marketing
Speaker 1: executive with an Elvish grin get the job in the
Speaker 1: first place. The blue ballot box on the stage was
Speaker 1: only slightly larger than a shoebox. It was stuffed and
Speaker 1: overflowing with pieces of small yellow paper. A half dozen
Speaker 1: or so FIFA officials, all men, of course, furiously sorted
Speaker 1: and then counted the ballots. This was the scene at
Speaker 1: FIFA presidential election. It looked more like something from a
Speaker 1: high school student body contest than a multibillion dollar international
Speaker 1: sporting organization choosing its next president. Despite its simplicity, the
Speaker 1: campaign to replace FIFA's outgoing president, Jao Havalanche had been
Speaker 1: as fevered as any political election. The horse trading had
Speaker 1: been going on for months. Havalanch had been in control
Speaker 1: of FIFA since nineteen seventy four, almost twenty five years.
Speaker 1: But it was time for a new president, and the
Speaker 1: one hundred and nine member nations that made up FIFA
Speaker 1: would choose the Brazilian successor. The front runner to succeed
Speaker 1: Havalanche European Soccer Association President Leonard Johansson of Sweden. He
Speaker 1: had locked up most of Europe's fifty votes with a
Speaker 1: message of reform and transparency, and you can see what
Speaker 1: kind of people is surrounding me and supporting me and
Speaker 1: helping me. I am very confident about tomorrow's election. The
Speaker 1: imposing yet jovial Swede was the driving force behind the
Speaker 1: Champions League UEFA's annual club football tournament. He was well
Speaker 1: respected and seen us relatively honest rare qualities in FIFA's
Speaker 1: governing structure, which had a reputation for dodgy business practices
Speaker 1: during the twenty five years Havalanche was president. I think
Speaker 1: there was always sort of an undercurrent of discussion of
Speaker 1: like FIFA's kind of shady. That's journalist Grant Wall who
Speaker 1: covered the nine election. For me, that was probably the
Speaker 1: first time that I sort of paid attention to what
Speaker 1: was being said about corruption in FIVA. Indeed, battling corruption,
Speaker 1: even the appearance was at the heart of election. Many
Speaker 1: soccer insiders believe the sport was in desperate need of
Speaker 1: a new brand of leadership. Among those backing Johansson the
Speaker 1: retired Brazilian superstar Pale, perhaps the most recognizable name in
Speaker 1: the sport at the time. Paley also happened to be
Speaker 1: one of Jao Havalanch's most vocal critics. Once friends, the
Speaker 1: two Brazilians had a falling out and by were let's
Speaker 1: just say, running in different crowds. Havalanche had cozied up
Speaker 1: to dictators and South American gangsters as a way to
Speaker 1: build FIFA's global influence, a practice that would have a
Speaker 1: lasting impact on FIFA, but more on that later. Here's
Speaker 1: Pale on why he supported Johansson though, I just to
Speaker 1: because I like his program. I like democracy, like an
Speaker 1: opening to discussing the problem of the spot and it's different,
Speaker 1: the different division. Peleey feared Johanson's challenger, and he wasn't alone.
Speaker 1: His has been a long career, if not always distinguished.
Speaker 1: Set Bladder, then FIFA's General Secretary, was on the ballot.
Speaker 1: It was widely believed he would simply be a continuation
Speaker 1: of Havalanche and if elected that nothing would change. But
Speaker 1: Bladder wasn't simply a clone of FIVA's long ruling monarch.
Speaker 1: While Havalanche ruled FIFA with an iron fist, Bladder would
Speaker 1: rule with the combination of an iron fist and handouts.
Speaker 1: From the start, he saw the power of using financial
Speaker 1: enticements to secure support, like sending payments to help national
Speaker 1: federations boost soccer and developing nations. Bladder also promised to
Speaker 1: expand the World Cup and share FIVA's growing revenues with
Speaker 1: nations in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. The Caribbean itself
Speaker 1: has twenty five votes, Africa has more than fifty votes.
Speaker 1: And if you increase the ability for these countries to
Speaker 1: compete in the World Cup, to partake in the revenues
Speaker 1: of FIFA, which were growing during this time frame, you
Speaker 1: can make promises and give out money to the member
Speaker 1: federations and you'll get their vote. To win the election,
Speaker 1: Bladder would need a two thirds majority, or one hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty eight votes. The Caribbean and African delegations had
Speaker 1: seventy seven alone. Well, neither was guaranteed the vote as
Speaker 1: a whole block, they often did so. Bladder's campaign promise
Speaker 1: was essentially, here's a million for you Burkina Fosso, here's
Speaker 1: a million for you Paraguay, and here's a million for
Speaker 1: you Trinidad and Tobago. Do what the money as you please,
Speaker 1: just don't forget where it came from. It's patronage politics
Speaker 1: where if you give money to each member nation, you'll
Speaker 1: get their vote and it helps also that there was
Speaker 1: never a lot of due diligence from FIFA's side into
Speaker 1: where that money they gave these individual federations was going.
Speaker 1: As noble as this strategy appeared on the surface, a
Speaker 1: promise to expand opportunities in poorer countries, grant Wall says
Speaker 1: it was only a part of Bladder's campaign. There were
Speaker 1: all sorts of allegations in the media at that point
Speaker 1: in time that votes were being bought for that presidential election,
Speaker 1: and talk of envelopes full of cash in Paris. Behind
Speaker 1: the scenes, Bladder supporters, aided by Havalanche, placed envelopes stuffed
Speaker 1: with fifty dollars each into the hands of voters from
Speaker 1: African and Caribbean countries. Those helping hands are believed to
Speaker 1: have belonged to Mohammed bin Hammam, a Guitari billionaire and
Speaker 1: a FIEFA executive committee member. He's denied buying any votes,
Speaker 1: but was undeniably a staunch Bladder supporter. Mohammed been ha
Speaker 1: Mom name sound familiar, well, you'll remember him as the
Speaker 1: architect of Qatar's World Cup winning bid in two thousand
Speaker 1: and ten and the man who a year later would
Speaker 1: challenge Bladder for FIFA's presidency and who was then accused
Speaker 1: of giving conquer Cap president Jack Warner the money he
Speaker 1: needed to buy off Caribbean voters in that dodgy meeting
Speaker 1: held in Port of Spain. That meeting, you might also remember,
Speaker 1: was videotaped capturing Warner doing his best impersonation of a
Speaker 1: mafia boss nudging his foot soldiers to do what's expected
Speaker 1: of them. You want to use it if if anybody
Speaker 1: is who was unconscious, I wish money a ticket. But
Speaker 1: back ben Ha Mom and Warner were anything but adversaries
Speaker 1: the Bladder. They played a crucial role in distributing payments
Speaker 1: to boost Bladders campaign. Now I have to point out
Speaker 1: both Bladder and bin Hammam deny doing this, but the
Speaker 1: evidence really does suggest otherwise. In return, Warner was given
Speaker 1: access to thousands of World Cup tickets, which he then
Speaker 1: resold and was able to purchase TV rights for the
Speaker 1: two thousand and two World Cup for his home country
Speaker 1: of Trinidad and Tobago for just one dollar. That's right,
Speaker 1: one dollar. He went on to allegedly sell those TV
Speaker 1: rights for an incredible profit. In the end, financial enticements
Speaker 1: beat out ethics and transparency. It was a lesson set
Speaker 1: Bladder and his acolytes would learn again and again. Thank you.
Speaker 1: When the final votes recounted, Hanson was easily defeated. FIFA's
Speaker 1: corruption machine ran rough shot over the u A for
Speaker 1: for President Bladder. The winner promised continuity, and by continuity,
Speaker 1: he and money in the hands of FIFA officials who
Speaker 1: wanted it. This isn't hyperbole, it's not an exaggeration. After
Speaker 1: Bladder was announced as the victor and Johansen conceded, it
Speaker 1: was reported that several FIFA delegates stood up in the
Speaker 1: meeting hall, raised their hands and began rubbing their fingers
Speaker 1: together as they smiled and laughed. The message was clear,
Speaker 1: time to pay up. Yeah, there was no embarrassment whatsoever
Speaker 1: about any of this, stepping side of FIFA. Under a
Speaker 1: light blue FIFA banner which read for the good of
Speaker 1: the Game, FIFA presidents set Bladder in, General Secretary Michelle's
Speaker 1: and Ruffin sat side by side waiting to answer questions
Speaker 1: from journalists. As flashbulbs flashed and cameras clicked. The two
Speaker 1: men stared in opposite directions, each pretending the other wasn't there.
Speaker 1: Their faces couldn't hide the seething resentment each man had
Speaker 1: for the other. It was two thousand and two, four
Speaker 1: years earlier, Bladder had assumed FIFA's top spot in a
Speaker 1: contentious and dodgy election. Now four years later, Bladder was
Speaker 1: up for re election. As Bladder campaigned to retain his seat,
Speaker 1: claims of corruption and mismanagement were swirling. The allegations were
Speaker 1: coming from inside the FIFA family, including from Zen Rufenen,
Speaker 1: who was Bladder as fellow countrymen and one time protege.
Speaker 1: He was a lawyer, a former FIFA referee and had
Speaker 1: risen to the organization's number two spot. Here's Zen ruffin
Speaker 1: In calling out his boss at this time for FIFA
Speaker 1: to clean its house. Just days before Bladder was the
Speaker 1: stand for re election, zen ruffin In accused him of
Speaker 1: running FIFA like a dictator and circulated a link feed
Speaker 1: dossier that detailed explosive allegations of corruption, mismanagement, fishy accounting practices,
Speaker 1: and unethical conflicts of interests by Bladder and other FIFA officials.
Speaker 1: FIFA's financial house had been disarrayed for months after its
Speaker 1: long time marketing partner International Sports and Leisure or i
Speaker 1: s L, went bankrupt, leaving debts of at least one
Speaker 1: hundred million dollars, with some estimates going as high as
Speaker 1: three hundred million. I s L was created by former
Speaker 1: adida's chairman Horse Dassler and handled all FIFA's TV negotiations. Basically,
Speaker 1: I s L bought marketing rights for the World Cup
Speaker 1: broadcast from FIFA on the cheap and then sold them
Speaker 1: at a huge markups. For most of the I s
Speaker 1: L was so profitable it was like they were printing money.
Speaker 1: It also served as a slush fund for FIFA, which
Speaker 1: you'll hear more about in the next episode. I L
Speaker 1: went bankrupt in two thousand and one. Court documents showed
Speaker 1: it paid millions in bribes to soccer officials, including former
Speaker 1: FIFA president Jaohavelange Bladder's mentor. I s l s collapse
Speaker 1: blew a massive hole in FIFA's coffers, which were normally overflowing.
Speaker 1: According to zen Rufinn, FIFA was running a budget deficit
Speaker 1: of more than one hundred million dollars. Any blame Bladder
Speaker 1: for the financial mess. I clearly ask now the president
Speaker 1: to provide the respective answers to me so that we
Speaker 1: can enter the new area of FIFA with a clean record,
Speaker 1: which from the moment and in my opinion, is definitely
Speaker 1: not the case. The knives were out. In a preview
Speaker 1: of the two thousand and fifteen FBI case, zen Ruffinan
Speaker 1: accused Bladder of authorizing TV deals for less than commercial value,
Speaker 1: making illegal payments to soccer officials, and providing loans that
Speaker 1: he knew would never be paid back. That la as
Speaker 1: to accusation, you'll want to file that away in your
Speaker 1: memory banks. At the same time, eleven FIFA Executive Committee
Speaker 1: members filed a criminal complaint against Bladder, accusing him of corruption.
Speaker 1: However mild manner Bladder may have looked and sounded, he
Speaker 1: was a savvy and ruthless administrator. He showered supporters like
Speaker 1: Chuck Blazer, Jack Warner, Nicholas Leos and Ricardo to share
Speaker 1: with money, and they weren't about to abandon him as
Speaker 1: he stood for re election. So despite the allegations and
Speaker 1: the internal revolt, FIFA's ruling monarch never came close to
Speaker 1: losing power. Bladder one a second term. He got more
Speaker 1: than two thirds of the vote, and who had to
Speaker 1: announce his reelection Zen ruffin In himself just hours after
Speaker 1: trashing bladder In front of hundreds of FIFA officials, number
Speaker 1: of votes for Mr Joseph as blatta what I meanum
Speaker 1: toty nine, and then Bladder spoke, You're deep, trust You're
Speaker 1: deep trusting fifand a contrasting chorus of cheers and booze
Speaker 1: filled the conference room. The mild mannered Swiss boss, looking
Speaker 1: as refined and sophisticated as any international businessman, glared over
Speaker 1: at zen Ruffenen and gestured menacingly at his former protege.
Speaker 1: The once loyal zen Rufenen had come with the king
Speaker 1: and he missed. Within days, San Ruffenen was gone from FIFA, booted,
Speaker 1: and the criminal complaint filowed by the eleven FIFA members
Speaker 1: was withdrawn. Bladder, sometimes mockingly called Don Bladderone by critics
Speaker 1: and a nod to the mafia Don and the Godfather Movies,
Speaker 1: was now firmly in control of world soccer. His opponents
Speaker 1: were given the option of getting in line or getting out.
Speaker 1: In Bladder's house, loyalty would be rewarded, betrayal punished. Thank
Speaker 1: you for this very special reception. For nearly two hundred years,
Speaker 1: the red walled in darkwood panel Debate Chamber of the
Speaker 1: Oxford Union has hosted a who's who of world leaders
Speaker 1: and celebrities, from Malcolm X to Ronald Reagan, from Yasser
Speaker 1: Arafat to David Chappelle. On a cool English night in
Speaker 1: October of two thousand and thirteen, FIFA's president sept Bladder
Speaker 1: joined that list. You may seeing you know who I am,
Speaker 1: what I stand for, what I'm like. As a man
Speaker 1: of utmost self importance who felt almost divine right to
Speaker 1: rule FIFA, the opportunity to address the students of Oxford
Speaker 1: University was yet another confirmation of his global importance. They
Speaker 1: would have you believe that I sit in my office
Speaker 1: with a sinister grin gently stroking the gene of an
Speaker 1: expensive white person cat. It was also an opportunity to
Speaker 1: challenge the now decades long narrative of FIFA's culture of
Speaker 1: corruption and it's mafia like. I don't know any other
Speaker 1: better words for code of conduct. You mis saying. You
Speaker 1: know what FIFA is, what it does, What it aspired
Speaker 1: to be, a faceless machine printing money at the expense
Speaker 1: of the beautiful game, with me pulling the strings and
Speaker 1: laughing all the way to the bunk. It's not exactly that,
Speaker 1: but bladders and passion speech at Oxford, where he compared
Speaker 1: himself to Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw taking from the
Speaker 1: rich and giving to the poor. Did little to challenge
Speaker 1: the narrative of impropriety or calm the storm of allegations
Speaker 1: that continued to build in the wake of FIFA's decision
Speaker 1: to give the World Cup to Russia in Qatar. The
Speaker 1: Oxford address came only three years after that announcement and
Speaker 1: just two years before the raid on the bar Lack
Speaker 1: Hotel that would lead to more than a dozen arrests.
Speaker 1: Despite Bladder's best attempts to clean up FIFA's image, anyone
Speaker 1: paying close attention believe FIFA was utterly corrupt. There's been
Speaker 1: so many corruption scandals that FAIVA had to deal with.
Speaker 1: FIFA have become a punchline. Bribery and FIFA go together
Speaker 1: like peanut butter and jelly. Nothing Bladder or FIFA had
Speaker 1: done since the Russia and Qatar announcements in two thousand
Speaker 1: and ten had managed to quell or contain the crisis,
Speaker 1: and the prosecutors they were closing in we were promised cooperation.
Speaker 1: Michael Hershman is a co founder of Transparency International and
Speaker 1: had served on the U S. Senate Watergate Committee. After
Speaker 1: the Russia and Qatar announcements, he was asked to join
Speaker 1: an independent governance committee to look into allegations of wrongdoing
Speaker 1: within FIFA. That was a real eye opener for me
Speaker 1: into the world of sports and business, and unfortunately and
Speaker 1: I opened into the underbelly of the sports world. The
Speaker 1: pressure appeared to be having some effect. Today set Bladder
Speaker 1: finally unveiled his plans to reform the organization, promising to
Speaker 1: restore its tarnished image, unlike FIFA's normally highly produced and
Speaker 1: choreographed events where no amount of money was ever spared.
Speaker 1: When set Bladder announced an overhaul of FIFA's ethics bodies
Speaker 1: in October of two thousand and eleven, he was flanked
Speaker 1: by a lone soccer ball and what appeared to me
Speaker 1: as a half hearted attempt to remind the world FIFA
Speaker 1: was a soccer organization, not some tone deaf criminal gang.
Speaker 1: Like so many were saying, we should have this zero
Speaker 1: tolerance inside the FIFA, inside the football pitch, but outside
Speaker 1: the FIFA and outside the football pitch. Bladder didn't welcome
Speaker 1: the oversight or the reforms. FIFA's longtime corporate sponsors. Companies
Speaker 1: like Visa, Coca Cola, and McDonald's forced his hand. They've
Speaker 1: begun to get a touch nervous with all that negative
Speaker 1: media coverage, and pressured Bladder to institute reforms. Hershman's committee
Speaker 1: was independent in name only. It really had no power.
Speaker 1: FIFA could take the recommendations and do nothing, or blocked
Speaker 1: them from looking into things they didn't want looked at.
Speaker 1: The corruption was too entrenched and touched virtually every member
Speaker 1: of FIFA senior ranks, and it didn't take long before
Speaker 1: Hirshman realized FIFA and specifically Bladder, weren't serious about reform
Speaker 1: him at all. The internal politics really kind of circled
Speaker 1: the wagon so that no outside it could look in
Speaker 1: and see what was going on. Hirshman did try to
Speaker 1: work around this by reaching out to an unlikely friend,
Speaker 1: Chuck Blazer. When I was appointed to the Independent Governance Committee,
Speaker 1: I decided I was going to see Chuck Blazer and
Speaker 1: see if I could get him to cooperate with us. Hershman,
Speaker 1: also a native New Yorker, had known Blazer for years,
Speaker 1: consider the outgoing soccer official a friend. He was a
Speaker 1: very jolly guy, a very smart guy, very friendly guy,
Speaker 1: very jolly guy. It was hard not to like him.
Speaker 1: I mean, everyone who's ever met him liked him. Hershman
Speaker 1: hoped his jolly friend might be an ally in cleaning
Speaker 1: up soccer. Blazer rebuffed Hershman. I met with him in
Speaker 1: London and he didn't cooperate with me, and now I
Speaker 1: know why. At that time he was under orders he
Speaker 1: was cooperating with the FBI, and he was under orders
Speaker 1: not to talk about anything that he was doing with
Speaker 1: anyone outside of the FBI. Hershman and the committee were stuck.
Speaker 1: Just months after being created by Bladder, the quote Independent
Speaker 1: Governance Committee was being blocked by the Executive Committee and
Speaker 1: who controlled the Executive Committee, Ladder. Of course, among the
Speaker 1: many reforms the Independent Committee had recommended were term limits
Speaker 1: for the members of the Executive Council, including FIFA's President,
Speaker 1: and transparency for all salaries and payments made to Executive
Speaker 1: Committee members. Most of these reforms were ignored. Bladder would
Speaker 1: say to us, I can't get this through the Executive Committee.
Speaker 1: Now we knew that was a lie, because we knew
Speaker 1: that he had complete control of the Executive Committee as president.
Speaker 1: Bladder could have assigned allies to anyone FIFA's sprawling and
Speaker 1: well paid internal governance committees to get their reforms through.
Speaker 1: If Bladder want to change, all he had to do
Speaker 1: was say so. He set the tone in the culture
Speaker 1: in the organization. I believe that he was very instrumental. Really,
Speaker 1: what they didn't want is they didn't want outside oversight.
Speaker 1: They wanted to remain a closed facilitate and so we
Speaker 1: had limited success, and after two years we resigned because
Speaker 1: we knew that we likely couldn't go any farther. Bladder
Speaker 1: was in his fourth term and I in a fifth.
Speaker 1: He set the tone and it was his quest for
Speaker 1: complete control and complete power that, in part, in my judgment,
Speaker 1: led to the corruption scandal. The blade and undermining of
Speaker 1: the Governance Committee was just a small part of Bladder
Speaker 1: and FIVA's attempt at covering up past wrongdoings. FIFA also
Speaker 1: launched and official in tonal investigation into the Russia and
Speaker 1: Gutar bids. The official investigation proved to be an even
Speaker 1: bigger farce. The actual report wasn't initially made public. Instead,
Speaker 1: FIFA released the summary, and FIFA's own investigator would say
Speaker 1: that summary was a lie. For well over seven hundred years,
Speaker 1: the historic Fishmongers Hall, on the banks of the River
Speaker 1: Tim's had been home to London seafood merchants, having received
Speaker 1: its royal charter in twelve seventy two from the English
Speaker 1: King Edward Longshanks. Maybe more familiar to you is the
Speaker 1: evil monarch from Mel Gibson's film Braveheart. However, historically important
Speaker 1: the Fishmongers Hall maybe to me the name of Oakes,
Speaker 1: the stomach churning smell of slimy, slippery fish. So when
Speaker 1: FIFA's internal ethics investigator chose the Fishmongers Hall in October
Speaker 1: of two thousand and fourteen as the location to launch
Speaker 1: a broadside attack on the soccer organization and the leadership
Speaker 1: of step Bladder, the symbolism, at least for me, it
Speaker 1: was hard to ignore what is required as leadership. Leadership
Speaker 1: that sends a message that the rules apply to everyone.
Speaker 1: Leadership that wants to understand and learn from any mistakes
Speaker 1: or missteps. The ethics committee may identify. That's Michael Garcia,
Speaker 1: a former federal prosecutor who made his name investigating politicians
Speaker 1: and financial firms. Just days before, he had delivered a
Speaker 1: much anticipated four hundred and thirty page report into the
Speaker 1: two thousand and eighteen and two thousand twenty two World
Speaker 1: Cup bidding process. Garcia had been hired by FIFA as
Speaker 1: part of bladders reform agenda, but after an eighteen month
Speaker 1: investigation and more than seventy five interviews, Bladder was blocking
Speaker 1: the report's release. Officially, Bladder said he couldn't release it
Speaker 1: because FIFA had to respect the personal privious he writes
Speaker 1: of people mentioned in the report. As excuses go, this
Speaker 1: was a pretty flimsy one. When Garcia stepped up to
Speaker 1: speak at the Fishmonger's Hall, it was clear he was
Speaker 1: tired of Bladder's tactics and the stench of FIFA's corruption.
Speaker 1: True reform doesn't come from adding rules or creating new
Speaker 1: committee structures. It comes from changing the culture of the organization.
Speaker 1: Garcia called on his FIFA bosses to release the full report.
Speaker 1: Bladder refused. The next FIFA presidential election was coming up
Speaker 1: in the spring, and accountability really wasn't part of his
Speaker 1: election agenda. It is a face even by FIFA's standards. Instead,
Speaker 1: the Lords of World Soccer chose to release a shorter,
Speaker 1: less intrusive summary of Garcia's significantly more in depth findings.
Speaker 1: Garcia's four hundred and thirty page reports was whittled down
Speaker 1: to a forty two page summary by FIFA's ethics Judge
Speaker 1: Hans Joachim echoed, but a summary report cleared Russia and
Speaker 1: Qatar of any wrongdoings, and while Judge Eckart concluded that
Speaker 1: the behavior of some members of Qatar's bid team was improper,
Speaker 1: he said it didn't compromise the process. In effect, the
Speaker 1: judge's summary said the millions of dollars allegedly handed out
Speaker 1: by Mohammed bin Hamm had no effect on the final vote.
Speaker 1: But think about that for a second. Isn't the goal
Speaker 1: of giving cash payments to decision makers right before they
Speaker 1: vote a way to buy their vote? I think so,
Speaker 1: and maybe that's what Garcia concluded too, But frustratingly we
Speaker 1: don't know, because Garcia has refused to talk about it,
Speaker 1: except to call the summary from Eckart a whitewash. So,
Speaker 1: with a symbolic shrug of his shoulders, Judge Jackhart concluded,
Speaker 1: conveniently for FIFA, there was no need to hold a
Speaker 1: revote for either World Cup. The investigation was over a point.
Speaker 1: FIFA's chief spokesman Walter da Gregorio was quick to make
Speaker 1: the bidding process as a whole is not put in
Speaker 1: question and thus stuff for us. The main finding means
Speaker 1: of Russian cuta U. They won uh the the they
Speaker 1: were awarded the because they were the best. The only
Speaker 1: real ethics violation Judge Eckhart's summary did highlight was won
Speaker 1: by England, which lost the two thousand and eighteen World
Speaker 1: Cup bid to Russia. FIFA claimed that Ellen acted improperly
Speaker 1: when it promised a job to a friend, a FIFA
Speaker 1: executive and contract president Jack Warner, Well, no doubt improper.
Speaker 1: It's hardly the scale of wrongdoing that FIFA had been
Speaker 1: accused of by media watchdogs and even some of its
Speaker 1: reform minded members. Gussie's damning analysis of FIFA's forty two
Speaker 1: page report added that it contains numerous materially incomplete and
Speaker 1: erroneous representations of the facts and conclusion. Michael Garcia quit
Speaker 1: in December of two thousand and fourteen. He said he'd
Speaker 1: lost faith in FIFA's leadership. In his resignation letter, the
Speaker 1: Americans said Judge Eckart had misrepresented his work and that
Speaker 1: step Ladder initiated disciplinary proceedings against him for his criticism
Speaker 1: of FIFA. In the three years after Sep Ladder had
Speaker 1: launched this much celebrated reform agenda, most of the Independent
Speaker 1: Governance Committee had left in frustration, and now FIFA's handpicked
Speaker 1: ethics investigator, Michael Garcia, had resigned in protest. FIFA may
Speaker 1: have closed its own investigation into World Cup vote ringing,
Speaker 1: but that didn't mean Chuck Blazer's little key chain recorder
Speaker 1: had stopped recording, or that the U. S Department of
Speaker 1: Justice had taken its eye off the ball. An unbattled
Speaker 1: leader who faces his toughest test, FIFA president Set Bladder
Speaker 1: under pressure as this congress gets underway. Set Bladder was
Speaker 1: surrounded by security guards when he stepped out of his
Speaker 1: luxury sedan on two thousand fifteen. He had arrived at
Speaker 1: FIFA's World Congress, greeted by angry protesters hurling insults. It
Speaker 1: was the first anyone had seen him since the raid
Speaker 1: on the bar Alack Hotel the day before, and since
Speaker 1: Bladder had learned some of FIFA's own members had snitched
Speaker 1: about the secret of organizations illicit activities in Switzerland. Seven
Speaker 1: of the sports top international officials were arrested In a
Speaker 1: pre dawned raid in Miami, the FBI searched the headquarters
Speaker 1: of FIFA's US affiliates. Fourteen defendants, including sports marketing executives,
Speaker 1: faced corruption charges involving more than one hundred fifty million
Speaker 1: dollars in bribes and kickbacks. By any standard, the events
Speaker 1: of the previous twenty four hours had been unprecedented, not
Speaker 1: only for FIFA but for the world of sports. Plotter's
Speaker 1: oversized protection detail made the five ft seven Swiss man
Speaker 1: look even smaller, almost vulnerable. Despite the pressure of the
Speaker 1: US investigation, Bladder managed to display I can only be
Speaker 1: described as a politician in crisis. Smile, you know that
Speaker 1: grin from ear to ear. That's just a little two
Speaker 1: upbeat for the occasion. After putting on the jacket of
Speaker 1: his finally cut suit, Bladder walked inside to attend the
Speaker 1: first day of the two thousand and fifteen FIFA World Congress. President,
Speaker 1: how are you surely after all these allegations, it's time
Speaker 1: for you to resign. Calls for bladders resignation were growing
Speaker 1: louder as European and American soccer officials ganged up against them.
Speaker 1: It's time for change. It's not a condition. If he
Speaker 1: is in in in in in some cases, if he's
Speaker 1: get it, you're not get involved on not involved. It's
Speaker 1: time for change. After all this what in the last
Speaker 1: ten twenty years and now what we hear again. You
Speaker 1: cannot just say yeah, but I'm clean, I have nothing
Speaker 1: nothing to do with it. At disaster like this we've
Speaker 1: never had in life before, and we need to change.
Speaker 1: But the calls for his resignation weren't new Bladder and
Speaker 1: whether it's scandal after scandal after scandal, and Bladder wasn't
Speaker 1: treating this one any differently. He may have looked vulnerable,
Speaker 1: but Don Bladder Owne was set to win his fifth
Speaker 1: term as FIFA's president the following day. His entourage says
Speaker 1: he's a confident, calm Serreen. Bladder supporters had already been
Speaker 1: spinning the story that FIFA was an aggrieved the victim
Speaker 1: of over zealous US investigators. FIFA's chief spokesman and Bladder loyalist,
Speaker 1: Walter D. Gregorio, had said that Bladder was innocent of
Speaker 1: any wrongdoing. The president isn't involved. Of course, he is
Speaker 1: the head of FIFA, but he's not involved in any
Speaker 1: How can you can you can you say, okay, he
Speaker 1: has to whatsoever step down. No matter how bad the
Speaker 1: crisis looked. Step Ladder wasn't about to release his grip
Speaker 1: on power. He believed he was FIFA as much as
Speaker 1: FIFA was him. I know many people hold me ultimately
Speaker 1: responsible for the actions and reputation of the global football community,
Speaker 1: whether it's a decision for the hosting of a World
Speaker 1: Cup or corruptions condown we or I cannot monitor everyone
Speaker 1: all of the time. Speaking to FIFA's two nine voting delegations,
Speaker 1: Bladder sounded almost convincing that the next four years would
Speaker 1: be different. We will corporate if all authorities to make
Speaker 1: sure anyone involved in wrongdoing from top to botton is
Speaker 1: discovered and punished. There can be no place for corruption
Speaker 1: of any kind. The next few months will not be
Speaker 1: easy for FIFA. I'm sure more bad news may follow,
Speaker 1: but it is necessary to begin to restore trust in
Speaker 1: our organization. Let this be the turning point. The two
Speaker 1: and fifteen FIFA election would not be a turning point
Speaker 1: ignoring a major bribery and corruption scandal. FIFA soccer's world
Speaker 1: governing body has re elected its president, set Bladder. The
Speaker 1: election showed just how tightly Bladder held the reigns of
Speaker 1: world soccer, and just how much fear there was of
Speaker 1: his tight grip. There are fears that Bladder will treat
Speaker 1: the threat to his leadership as a mutiny. His rival,
Speaker 1: Durdennian Prince Ali bin l Hussain, said he conceded out
Speaker 1: of concern for his backers. Bladder said he was the
Speaker 1: victim of hatred and added, I forgive everyone, but I
Speaker 1: don't forget. The two thousand and fifteen FIFA election was
Speaker 1: never about reform or concern about the u S investigation,
Speaker 1: or hope or change. No, when step Ladder was re elected,
Speaker 1: it came down to the one thing. It always came
Speaker 1: down to money. The secret to sap bladders sticking it
Speaker 1: out for so long was his global vision. His investment
Speaker 1: in African and Asian football in particular, he won many
Speaker 1: friends there and in FIFA's one country, one vote system,
Speaker 1: friends translated into ballots. Bladder had a proven track record
Speaker 1: of keeping the money flowing to FIFA's coffers and then
Speaker 1: out to FIFA's voters in their national federations. Few outside
Speaker 1: of Europe and North America we're gonna walk away from that.
Speaker 1: In fact, Most of FIFA's delegations cheered and celebrated Bladder's
Speaker 1: reelection when he took the stage to thank them. I
Speaker 1: like you, I like my job, and that like to
Speaker 1: be the few. I'm not perfect, nobody is perfect, but
Speaker 1: we will do a good job together. I'm sure so.
Speaker 1: I thank you so much. I thank you for the
Speaker 1: trust and confidence. Dejected and resigned, Bladder's opponents figured if
Speaker 1: the arrest of fourteen soccer officials couldn't force him out,
Speaker 1: then nothing could. Then something strange happened, set Bladders passed,
Speaker 1: finally caught up with him. Well, it's the first day
Speaker 1: of the rest of FIFA's life, and the shoes or
Speaker 1: the soccer cleats is still dropping. What a difference a
Speaker 1: weekend makes. One minute, Bladder, in a mix of enthusiasm
Speaker 1: and defiance, is waving his arms and pumping his fists
Speaker 1: in victory. You get the vigo. Let's go FIFA, let's
Speaker 1: go PIPA thank you. He's promising the pilot FIFA's battered
Speaker 1: ship to shore and aggressively dismissing talk of being arrested
Speaker 1: by US authorities. Next squish, then the next minute, like
Speaker 1: someone flicked the light switch, soccer's raining monarch, Zep Bladder,
Speaker 1: is resigning. He's steadfastly clung on, resisting calls to stand down,
Speaker 1: But today set Bladder, the embattled FIFA president, finally through
Speaker 1: in the towel, Speaking in French in front of journalists
Speaker 1: at a hastily organized press conference, a far less confident
Speaker 1: almost sang wine step. Bladder announced his resignation on June second,
Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen. So what you asked changed between Friday's
Speaker 1: election celebration and Monday's resignation. Today he came fresh embarrassing
Speaker 1: revelations that brought to the accusations of bribery and corruption
Speaker 1: closer to the FIFA president's door. Quoting unnamed U S authorities,
Speaker 1: The New York Times reported Bladder's right hand man, FIFA
Speaker 1: General Secretary Jerome Valc, had approved the transfer of ten
Speaker 1: million dollars to the disgraced former Conky Calf president Jack
Speaker 1: Warner back in two thousand and eight. This is the
Speaker 1: payment to Warner I told you about in the previous
Speaker 1: episode he's alleged to have taken as a bride for
Speaker 1: having helped South Africa secure the World Cup. The payment
Speaker 1: to Warner was transferred using FIFA's own banking system. FIFA
Speaker 1: and South Africa insisted the money wasn't a bribe. Rather,
Speaker 1: they said it was an approved payment to a World
Speaker 1: Cup legacy fund for Africans in the Caribbean. At first,
Speaker 1: FIFA try to deny that Jerome Valc had any knowledge
Speaker 1: of the payment. But when in March two thousand and
Speaker 1: eight letter addressed to the General Secretary from South Africa
Speaker 1: detailing the payment emerged, FIFA's lies and criminal activities were
Speaker 1: laid bare for the world to see. The letter and
Speaker 1: the bribe it described where the last straw for set Bladder.
Speaker 1: Furious sponsors were demanding reform. FIFA's lawyers and more importantly
Speaker 1: sponsors like Budweiser, Coca Cola and Visa toll bladder it
Speaker 1: was time to go. There was a lot of pressure
Speaker 1: from corporate partners, big international global partners saying like, hey,
Speaker 1: this doesn't look right, and we're not sure that we
Speaker 1: want to have our brand attached to this organization that
Speaker 1: very clearly has some significant problems in terms of ethics
Speaker 1: and transparency. That's former New York Times reporters Sam Borden.
Speaker 1: You know, money talks, and so the real pressure came
Speaker 1: when these global brands said, hey, we're not sure we're
Speaker 1: on board with continuing with FIFA if this is the
Speaker 1: way that things are going to go. Bladder hoped his
Speaker 1: announcement that he would step down as FIFA's president would
Speaker 1: reduce the heat coming from investigators, but the King of
Speaker 1: Soccer's troubles were only mounting. In October of two thousand
Speaker 1: and fifteen, a few months after announcing his resignation, Swiss
Speaker 1: investigators sees boxes of documents from Bladder's FIFA office, including
Speaker 1: records detailing a two million dollar payment to UEFA president
Speaker 1: Michelle Platini. The payment from FIFA to Platini was made
Speaker 1: right as Bladder was facing that challenge for the FIFA
Speaker 1: presidency from the Qatari billionaire Mohammed bin ha Mom in
Speaker 1: two thousand and eleven. Bladder and Platini insisted for years
Speaker 1: the payment was done for consulting work. Yeah, consulting work
Speaker 1: that was done nine years earlier, But neither Bladder nor
Speaker 1: Platini could explain what the two million dollars worth of
Speaker 1: consulting work actually was. Swiss prosecutors in two thousand and
Speaker 1: fifteen seemed to think it was more likely a bribe
Speaker 1: to shore Platini's support for Bladder in the two thousand
Speaker 1: and eleven election, Bladder would stick around for a few
Speaker 1: more months a nominal figurehead president and name only, and
Speaker 1: that brings us back to the beginning of this episode.
Speaker 1: It was during this time that Bladder, stripped of power,
Speaker 1: was showered in cash by the British comedian Simon Broadkin
Speaker 1: in December. FIFA would ultimately banned Bladder, General secretary Joam
Speaker 1: Valk and UEFA President Michelle Platini from World Soccer all
Speaker 1: for violating ethics rules. In his final public appearance as
Speaker 1: FIFA president in December of two thousand and fifteen, and
Speaker 1: on shaven and disheveled, Bladder lashed out at the world
Speaker 1: like to the throne monarchy was but I'll fight, fight
Speaker 1: for me and fight for FIFA suspended eight years for
Speaker 1: what In the irony of ironies. His appearance came just
Speaker 1: days after yet another pre don raid by US and
Speaker 1: Swiss authorities that led to an additional sixteen arrests of
Speaker 1: current and former soccer officials on the charges of racketeering,
Speaker 1: money laundering, and fraud. Some of them were taken into
Speaker 1: custody at the very same Barlock Hotel authorities had rated
Speaker 1: that spring. Just a side note, FIFA has since broken
Speaker 1: its ties with the Barlack Hotel and moved its business
Speaker 1: to the Zurich Hyatt. Bladder meanwhile remained defiant. I'm really sorry.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I am still somewhere a
Speaker 1: punching bowl, but I'm sorry that I am as president
Speaker 1: of FIFA this punching bowl, and I'm sorry for for football.
Speaker 1: Seventy nine year old would spend the next few months
Speaker 1: appealing his suspension and fighting to hold onto power, but
Speaker 1: the jig was up. The money making machine that is
Speaker 1: FIFA had left Bladder behind. For years, it looked like
Speaker 1: step Ladder would escape prosecution. I mean, year after year
Speaker 1: after year, just ticked by and don bladderone just seemed
Speaker 1: to escape by. And then yes, some news just into
Speaker 1: us that former FIFA presidents Ladder and also Michel Platini
Speaker 1: have been charged with fraud and other offenses by Swiss prosecutors.
Speaker 1: After a six in November of two thousand and twenty one,
Speaker 1: six years after the original raid on the bar Lack Hotel,
Speaker 1: step Ladder and Shell Platini were charged with fraud for
Speaker 1: that secret two million dollar consulting payment. Bladder and Platini
Speaker 1: continued to insist on their innocence. Bladder, now in poor health,
Speaker 1: could face five years in prison if convicted. Hey, breaking
Speaker 1: news here. A day after this episode originally came out.
Speaker 1: Set Ladder and Michelle Platini were a quitted of corruption
Speaker 1: by a Swiss court on July eight. It's shocking news
Speaker 1: and honestly I'm a bit surprised by it. We'll update
Speaker 1: you in the coming days as we learn more. But
Speaker 1: now back to the rest of this episode. In the
Speaker 1: seven years since the first raid on the Borerlock Hotel,
Speaker 1: US authorities have continued rounding up soccer officials, arresting dozens
Speaker 1: of FIFA executives and their partners in the sports marketing world.
Speaker 1: To date, US prosecutors have charged more than fifty people
Speaker 1: connected to FIFA, with prosecutors announcing further mass indictments in
Speaker 1: December of two thousand and fifteen and again in April.
Speaker 1: Prosecutors have also clawed back more than two hundred million
Speaker 1: dollars that was siphoned from the sport over the decades
Speaker 1: to pay for bribes and kickback schemes. Most of that
Speaker 1: money will go back into FIFA's coffers, since under the
Speaker 1: law of the soccer organization is listed as the victim,
Speaker 1: even though it was plundered by its own members. And
Speaker 1: if you think it's all over now, the U. S
Speaker 1: Department of Justice has signaled more charges could be on
Speaker 1: the way set bladder and the larger cast of criminals
Speaker 1: from the two thousand and fifteen US investigation embody all
Speaker 1: that is wrong with modern day FIFA, the money laundering,
Speaker 1: the bribery, the vote rigging, the general disregard for basic
Speaker 1: transparency and ethics. But long before it's sorted activity, he
Speaker 1: is became the stuff of criminal lore. FIFA was known
Speaker 1: simply as a racist and morally corrupt organization, which in
Speaker 1: many ways is even worse, and I would argue absolutely
Speaker 1: explains how FIFA became a den of bribery and corruption,
Speaker 1: from supporting South Africa's racist apartheid regime to propping up
Speaker 1: Argentine dictators, to turning a blind eye to the brutal
Speaker 1: torture prisoners in Chile's National soccer Stadium. FIFA's so called
Speaker 1: golden years are more blood red than golden. So let's
Speaker 1: go back to when FIFA started. That's coming up on
Speaker 1: the next episode of the Lords of Soccer. The Lords
Speaker 1: of Soccer, How FIFA Stole the Beautiful Game is an
Speaker 1: Inside Voices Media production in conjunction with I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: The series was written and executive produced by Gary Scott
Speaker 1: and me Connor Powell, Logan he Tell, and Katie mcmurran
Speaker 1: provided the sound design, with assistance from j. C. Swaddick
Speaker 1: and Jake Blue Note. Alec Cowen is our associate producer
Speaker 1: and Jeffrey Katz was our story editor. Our fact checker
Speaker 1: is Alexa O'Brien and thanks to Miles Gray, who produced
Speaker 1: the series for I Heart Radio. If you have any
Speaker 1: comments or questions, please reach out. You can find us
Speaker 1: on Twitter. I'm at Connor m Powell and Gary is
Speaker 1: at Gary Robert Scott, and if you have any stories
Speaker 1: about FIFA, let us know. If you like what you hear,
Speaker 1: please give us a shout out at the hashtag Lords
Speaker 1: of Soccer