1 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:08,160 Speaker 1: Warning that this episode contains graphic language and descriptions of violence, 2 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: so you may not want to listen around your kids. 3 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: About it is that you never gained closure, never able 4 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: to grieve. That's what's truly wicked. I'm Connor Powell. This 5 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: is episode nine World Cup of Shame are two. It 6 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: was the cruelest moment of the day, day after day 7 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: after day, that pilgrimage through the heavily guarded doors of 8 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: a police station or government building or detention center, past 9 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: the signs of the area marked military control zone. Susanna 10 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: Philip Floor, like so many other mothers, came every week, 11 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: sometimes times every day, to these bleak government buildings to 12 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:09,479 Speaker 1: ask a simple yet deeply distressing question. Don't stand, don't 13 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: this stand? Where are they? Please? Do you have my child? 14 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:20,119 Speaker 1: She and the other mothers begged, pleaded. The soldiers behind 15 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: the desk, with their polished black boots were smug in 16 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 1: their own authority. They love to brandish it, and yet 17 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,480 Speaker 1: with all the power and control they possessed, they couldn't 18 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: or wouldn't answer that simple question, where is my child? 19 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: There's no information, the soldiers barked, come back another day. 20 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 1: The mothers were dismissed time and time again, forced to leave, 21 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: only to repeat the indignity of that walk, the inhumanity 22 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: of that request, endlessly. Most families have the disappeared chased 23 00:01:55,240 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: rumors in search of a crumb of hope. Understand Annibal 24 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: then that Marita Israel jumped at the news that her sister, Teresa, 25 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: a young human rights lawyer, taken in March of ninety seven, 26 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: had been seen alive. A woman that had been captive 27 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 1: with my sister was released. She was young and pregnant, 28 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,519 Speaker 1: and she eventually managed to leave the country, but before 29 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,079 Speaker 1: she did that, she informed us that she had been 30 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: detained with my sister. So at the time we still 31 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:34,359 Speaker 1: had the expectation that something would happen. Nothing came of 32 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: the rumor, but it didn't stop Marita from chasing other rumors. 33 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,399 Speaker 1: What else can you do when your loved one disappears. 34 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: Disappointment in despair spread like a virus in Argentina in 35 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: v seven. The mothers of the disappeared turned to Argentina's 36 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: Catholic church for help, only to be told they're missing 37 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: children were a test of their faith. It was a 38 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: ruthless and merciless brush off by religious men who made 39 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: common cause with Argentina's brutal military junta. Then, one day 40 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: in April of nine, after months of rejections and dismissals, 41 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: a small group of women, only about a dozen or so, 42 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: including a Susina Villaflor, quietly walked together not to a 43 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: police station, but to the Plaza de Mayo, the main 44 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: plaza and Buenos Aires. At first, no one noticed the 45 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: women with their plain white head scarfs. They were easy 46 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: to ignore. There were nobody's to anyone passing by. But 47 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: the photos they held, those couldn't be ignored. In their hands, 48 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: the mothers tenderly clutched the pictures of their disappeared children, 49 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: even if Argentine's refused to acknowledge the distressing rumors of 50 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: what was happening in their own country. In the Plaza 51 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: de Mayo, they were forced to see the faces of 52 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: the disappeared and the tears of the loved ones who 53 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: ate for information. The police arrived that first day, and 54 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: they were always lurking nearby. They told the mothers they 55 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: weren't allowed to gather in a group. The military dictatorship 56 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: forbade it, so the mother started walking around the plaza. 57 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: It couldn't be any less fruitful, they thought, then their 58 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: walks to the government offices. The next week, more mothers 59 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: and white scarves showed up. Then they returned every Thursday 60 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: afternoon to that busy square across from the Presidential Palace. 61 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: They would confront the man who held the real power 62 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: in Argentina. They would force General Jorge Vedela to hear 63 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: their voices, to see the faces of their children. They 64 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: would stand outside of his home until he answered their 65 00:04:51,040 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: only question, where are our children? As FIFA and the 66 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: generals began their final preparations for the World Cup, the 67 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: hunter's vice like grip on Argentina was only tightening. By 68 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: the end of nineteen seven, as new stadiums were being finished, 69 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: thousands of so called subversives had disappeared, their last traces 70 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: lost in a black hole of bureaucratic indifference and state 71 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: sanctioned cruelty. The question became much husher, and thousands and 72 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 1: thousands of people were enlisted, tortured, killed. As Latin American 73 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: history professor Ron and Ryan reminded me, the horrors were 74 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: an open secret. It was no secret that the army, 75 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 1: the military was involved in massive human rights violations. Day 76 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: by day, the regime's brutality grew, Argentina's opposition was weak. 77 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,720 Speaker 1: There were no large scale protests against the military hunter, 78 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: just a you dozen women walking in circles around the 79 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 1: Plaza de Mayo. In Argentina's newspapers, words like disappeared or 80 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: human rights were absent from the stories penned by journalists. 81 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: Then came the challenge on the morning of October Mother's 82 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: Day in Argentina. Printed in black and white, the message 83 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: was a simple one. We do not ask for anything 84 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: but the truth. The paid advertisement in La Princea included 85 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,359 Speaker 1: two hundred and thirty seven I D card photos of 86 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: the missing. The generals were forced in their own newspaper, 87 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 1: mind you, to see the faces of the children they 88 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: had ripped away from the grieving mothers. Days later, hundreds 89 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: of women in white head scarves and flat soled shoes 90 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: marched on Congress, armed with a petition that demanded a 91 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: full investigation. The others of the Plaza de Mayo were 92 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: no longer just the despondent women of the square, not 93 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: the hysterical mothers as the generals like to call them. 94 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: They were now subversives, and their boldness made them targets. 95 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: The mothers were harassed, detained, arrested. On December tenth, they 96 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: started to disappear. A Susana Villa Flora was only a 97 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: block and a half away from her home. The fresh 98 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: fish she had just bought was neatly wrapped and ready 99 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: to be prepared and cooked. The mother of four had 100 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: been one of the original protesters in April, begging for 101 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: information about her second child, Nestor. With her home in view, 102 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: villa floor was grabbed by security forces and, like her son, 103 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: shoved into the back of a Ford falcon. She was 104 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: never seen again. The abduction terrified the other mothers of 105 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: the Plaza. More mothers went missing. For a while, the 106 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: protests shrank in number. They might have given up, but 107 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: the regime couldn't help itself. It continued its kidnappings, its torture, 108 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: its killings. The mothers of the Plaza regrouped, their numbers swelled. 109 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: The regime did their work for them. Every new disappearance 110 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: was a face on a picture in the hands of 111 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: a mother and the Plaza de Mao with the World 112 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: Cup around the corner. It was the type of scene 113 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: neither the military, Junta nor FIFA wanted the outside world 114 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: to see. As the nineteen seventy eight World Cup approached, 115 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: the families of the disappeared had one more thing to 116 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: worry about, and as the national side progressed into the 117 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:57,439 Speaker 1: second round of play and then the third, their concerns 118 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: only grew. An Argentinian three, they feared would mean the kidnappings, 119 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: the torture, the murders were somehow justified. Marita Israel explains 120 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: their fears. We watched from a place where we felt 121 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: that the best thing that could happen would be that 122 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,440 Speaker 1: Argentina looms. What we wanted was for Argentina to lose 123 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: every game as a form of vindication. So the World 124 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: Cup wasn't as useful for the dictatorship. After all. General 125 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: Vedela's governing philosophy was as cruel as it was simple. 126 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: Many people must die for Argentina to be safe, and 127 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: a successful World Cup would prove his governing philosophy was working. 128 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: Shortly after taking power in nineteen seventy six, Videla met 129 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: within US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who told him 130 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: to speed up his dirty war against subversives. Kill him 131 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: if you must, Kissinger urged, but just do it fast. 132 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:01,599 Speaker 1: And probably before the American Congress caught wind, some of 133 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: the world had already started to figure it out. The 134 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: human rights group Emnancy International published a report just before 135 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: the World Cup detailing the horrors of the military junta, 136 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: torture with cattle products, jail cells smeared with urine feces, 137 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: and perhaps the most terrifying detail of them all prisoners 138 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: were drugged and then tossed alive from airplanes into the ocean. 139 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: This was undoubtedly the bloodiest, the most bootle dictatorship that 140 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 1: Argentina had. It was all well documented by a host 141 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: of human rights groups pressuring FIFA to relocate the upcoming 142 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: World Cup. Emnesty International had even issued a warning, it's 143 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:50,319 Speaker 1: a FIFA president, Jaojavlange. Sports is not separate from politics. 144 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: The stadiums of Argentina might appear, if not neutral, at 145 00:10:54,600 --> 00:11:00,839 Speaker 1: least clean, respectable, civilized, protected. The true Argentine no one 146 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: of prisons, torture, repression of political opposition will be carefully 147 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: hidden and denied Amnesty International. At the same time, groups 148 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: in Europe mobilized the pressure FIFA. The French newspaper Laman 149 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: was the first to call for a boycott domestic football 150 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: associations in Germany, France and Holland were also pressure to 151 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:29,080 Speaker 1: withdraw from the tournament. Some suggested moving it. Brazil and 152 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: Belgium were quietly put forward as alternative host countries. FIFA 153 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: president Jaohavlange wouldn't hear of it. FIFA stayed the course. 154 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:44,199 Speaker 1: Havalanche and Adidas CEO Horse Dassler were committed to keeping 155 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:49,719 Speaker 1: the World Cup in Argentina. Here's historian John Sugden, they 156 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: didn't here's their job to pressure the country that was 157 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:55,599 Speaker 1: hosted in the World Cup. They didn't see that was 158 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: that business. And of course much is the intention to 159 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: keep politics so out of sports. It was a way 160 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 1: of ignoring it. West Germany's left back Paul Brightener pulled 161 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: out of the tournament on moral grounds, but he was 162 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: the only player of note to do so. From FIFA's 163 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 1: point of view, getting involved in the messy world of 164 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: human rights and democratic advocacy were roadblocks to success. FIFA 165 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,680 Speaker 1: wasn't the business of making money, not taking political action. 166 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: Just as former FIFA president Stanley Rouse had connoodled with 167 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:35,599 Speaker 1: Chile's dictator and steered FIFA away from confronting apartheid in 168 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: South Africa. FIFA's new president, jel Haablange, barreled ahead as 169 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: soccer fans from around the world gathered in Buenos Areas 170 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 1: for the start of the eleventh People World Cup in June. 171 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: Of the military Hunta had never been stronger. They mocked 172 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: calls for human rights. We are human and we are 173 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: right became the unofficial slogan of the Military Hunta. We 174 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: are human and we are right kind of makes your 175 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 1: skin crawl. Even today, none of it mattered for FIFA's president, 176 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: and the face of all of that pressure, Hablanch doubled 177 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: down on Argentina and the converted cells of the Buenos 178 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: Areas Navy Training School. The muffled sounds of FIFA's opening 179 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: ceremony could be heard. Prisoners, some with festering wounds and 180 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: bloodstained clothes, could just make out the Catholic blessing the 181 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: TV on the guard's desk down the hall was even clearer. 182 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: General Vedella, the panther and pin stripes could be heard 183 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: promising global soccer fans a World Cup of peace. The 184 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: guards demanded prisoners cheer for General Vedella. There were just 185 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: a few hundred meters away from the newly redesigned National 186 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,040 Speaker 1: Stadium as May as the Navy Training School was known, 187 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: had long stopped being a school. Professor Ryan, who teaches 188 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: at Tel Aviv University, didn't mince words. There's no other 189 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: term to describe it but the Constipation Camp. From the outside, 190 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:30,359 Speaker 1: it was an impressive building with tall white columns. Inside 191 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: it housed thousands of so called subversives, and it was 192 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: the center of the junta's torture and interrogation machine that 193 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: FIFA in Argentina didn't want seen. And the mothers of 194 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: the Plaza tried to make their voices heard in the 195 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: opening days of the tournament, but foreign journalists who tried 196 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: to interview them were harassed and chased off. Once the 197 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: spectacle of the World Cup was under way and there 198 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: was little interest in talking about torture and murder. The 199 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: matches had begun, I saw making the break on the 200 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: left side. You heard earlier that FIFA wanted a well organized, profitable, 201 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: and beautiful looking tournament. The junt of hope this World 202 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: Cup would serve as a public relations boon for the regime, 203 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 1: a scrubbing of its dirty war. The junta got its 204 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 1: wish and then some Here's how Argentina fared on the pitch. 205 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: The veteran Argentinian side, led by the dynamic score Mario Kempis, 206 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: wanted its first two matches in advanced to the second 207 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: round group stage, where they defeated Poland two goals to nothing, 208 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:45,760 Speaker 1: but then their game with Brazil ended in a nil 209 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: nil draw. In Argentina's prospects for advancing to the World 210 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: Cup Final looked bleak. Argentina would have to win its 211 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,760 Speaker 1: match against Perue by at least four goals to get 212 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: past Brazil. Now, in today's world Argentina wouldn't have known 213 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,080 Speaker 1: how many goals it needed to win by, but they 214 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: got a little help. Let me explain. Under today's rules, 215 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: Brazil and Argentina would have played their respective matches at 216 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 1: the same time to avoid any trickery. But in with 217 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: future FIEFA vice president in Jaohavlan Jamigo Admiral Carlos Lacos 218 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: making the schedule, Brazil played first in the afternoon, Argentina 219 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: later that evening. Because of the friendly homemade schedule, the 220 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: host nation knew exactly how many goals it needed to 221 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: score against Peru to advance to the final. That's a 222 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: big advantage It was the first time the military junta 223 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: offered Argentina's national side of boost, but certainly not the last. 224 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: The fix was in. There are too many, too many 225 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: news items that make us all suspicious as to this 226 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: victory of Argentina of a pool. It was supposed to 227 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,159 Speaker 1: be the most important soccer match of their lives, but 228 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 1: all anyone on the bus could think about was where 229 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:15,719 Speaker 1: the are we? They screamed at the driver, how much longer? 230 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: The Argentine driver blamed the delay on a few mistaken turns. 231 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,880 Speaker 1: He was either exceptionally stupid or intentionally making them late, 232 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,879 Speaker 1: maybe both. The trip was supposed to take twenty five minutes, 233 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,400 Speaker 1: and after two hours on the bus, Peru's national team 234 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: was no closer to a Sario Central Stadium than when 235 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: they left the hotel. There was barely any traffic on 236 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,199 Speaker 1: the road. Everyone in the city of Sario, like the 237 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:46,639 Speaker 1: rest of the country, were at home to watch the 238 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:53,160 Speaker 1: semifinal match with Argentina. Peru's semifinal match against Argentina, well 239 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: they even have a chance to warm up. Some took 240 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,399 Speaker 1: long drags on their cigarettes. It was the seventies. Folks 241 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: and soccer players even smoked on the sidelines. Many of 242 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,680 Speaker 1: Prus players are already piste off even before they set 243 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: foot on the bus. They were tired and exhausted and 244 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: increasingly nervous. The night before, the Argentine's made sure they 245 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 1: had all the advantages of home soil, hotel security guards 246 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: actually Argentinian soldiers quietly disappeared in the night, only to 247 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 1: be replaced by dozens of fans shouting, singing, hanking car horns, 248 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,680 Speaker 1: and banging on pots and pans. The noise lasted well 249 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: into the evening. Now the provings were used to these 250 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: types of pre match antics. Every soccer player on the 251 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: road has been woken up by opposing fans. But the 252 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: reason you get to the stadium early is to warm 253 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: up and to rest on the day of their most 254 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,359 Speaker 1: important match. Everest players CRUs national team lost in a 255 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: black hole of a bus ride wouldn't get the opportunity 256 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 1: to do either. And this is just the start of 257 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,960 Speaker 1: the dirty tricks the military junta would pull to make 258 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 1: sure their team one. With his brown tortoiseshell glasses and 259 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: permanent pout, the now former U S Secretary of State 260 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 1: Henry Kissinger still carried himself like America's top divelmat when 261 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,159 Speaker 1: he arrived in boy in this areas, and he was 262 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,959 Speaker 1: treated like one by the gaggle of reporters following him 263 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: and the line of generals who welcomed him. Kissinger lost 264 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: the role of Secretary of State when Jimmy Carter was 265 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,200 Speaker 1: elected in nine six, but he still carried a great 266 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: deal of influence. I've always wanted to visit Argentina, he 267 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: told reporters in his famously gruff and almost guttural voice. 268 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 1: I can see that Buenos Aires is simply dazzling, he added. 269 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:55,639 Speaker 1: For good measure, the Argentine's desperate for approval lapped it up. 270 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: A lifelong soccer fan who had attended multiple World Cup finals, 271 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: Kissinger's trip to Argentina was a mix of business and pleasure. 272 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: For days, he was photographed around town, meeting with celebrities, businessmen, 273 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 1: and politicians. If the only thing missing from the World 274 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: Cup was the official US government seal of approval, the 275 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:20,719 Speaker 1: ruling junta made sure everyone in Argentina new Kissinger had 276 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:25,399 Speaker 1: given them his support. His trip had been meticulously planned 277 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 1: by Argentina's generals. Kissinger was, after all, the guest of honor, 278 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:33,440 Speaker 1: so when the doors to the locker rooms swung open. 279 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,440 Speaker 1: Deep down in the bowels of a Sario's central stadium. 280 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: There was stunned silence. Everyone in Peru's locker room was 281 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:45,679 Speaker 1: scrambling to get ready. The noise from the crowd shook 282 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,959 Speaker 1: the dressing room walls. The Peruvians had finally arrived at 283 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: the stadium just an hour before kickoff. Then someone, no 284 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: one remembers who realized they were standing face to face 285 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: with Argentina's dictator general of a Della. What is he 286 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: doing here? Then they saw those tortoise shell glasses, that 287 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: infamous pout. But then I saw Kissinger and I thought, 288 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,640 Speaker 1: what's Henry Kissinger doing here? It was unsettling, to say 289 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: the least. Prue star player Jose Velasquez remembers that bizarre meeting. 290 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: He told the British broadcaster Channel four. We started looking 291 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: at each other and wondering, shouldn't they have gone to 292 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 1: the Argentine room. Not what's going on? I mean they 293 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 1: wished us luck. Why it left us wondering. Even in 294 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 1: both Adela and Kissinger had not quiet. I wouldn't want 295 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 1: to meet them in a dark alley reputations, but more 296 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: I don't really want to meet their associates in the 297 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: dark alley reputations. In front of the camera, both men 298 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:53,400 Speaker 1: were all smiles. Another Peruvian player, Hector chum Petez, told 299 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 1: Channel four that Vedela rambled on about the brotherly spirit 300 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 1: of sport that all South Americans suppose only shared. We're 301 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 1: not looking at Badela and Kissinger came into our dressing room. 302 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: It seemed like they were just that to greet us 303 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: and welcome us. They also said they hoped it would 304 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: be a good game because there was a great deal 305 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: of anticipation amongst the Argentinian public, respectful platitude decide. There 306 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,639 Speaker 1: was also a not so subtle, darker message, a threat 307 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: that really took a while to sink in. One Carlos 308 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 1: Oblitas told FIFA dot Com about it decades later. I 309 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: was changing and I didn't give it much importance. I 310 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,160 Speaker 1: gave it much more importance later when I thought about it. 311 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 1: General Vedela read a letter out loud from Peru's own 312 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: military strongman, General Francisco Morales Bermudez, which referenced the mutual 313 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:48,679 Speaker 1: cooperation between Argentina and Peru. General Vedela then looked at 314 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: the Peruvian players and added ominously that he hoped things 315 00:22:52,400 --> 00:23:06,199 Speaker 1: turned out well, and then he turned and left. No 316 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: One was thinking about how it happened, but everyone watching 317 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:14,439 Speaker 1: the World Cup semifinal was amazed that it was happening. 318 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: With a three goal lead over Peru, Argentina was on 319 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: the bleeding edge of a World Cup miracle. Now the 320 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:28,880 Speaker 1: impossible they probable. The veteran Argentinian side needed just one 321 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: more goal to knock out Brazil in clinching improbable spot 322 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: in the final. Trouble Okay checked out. The crowd unleashed 323 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: an earth shaking cheer when in the fiftieth minute Leopold 324 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 1: Luke headed the ball into the goal, the go ahead goal, 325 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: and then the earth really did shake. The bomb blast 326 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: left want A Alman's house a smoldering mass of debris. 327 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: The match against Peru cost me the bombing of my home. 328 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: The moment Argentina scored the fourth goal and qualified for 329 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:13,359 Speaker 1: the finals, a bomb exploded in my house. Almen was 330 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,919 Speaker 1: no left wing rebel or communists aversive. He was a 331 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: senior member of the Argentinian government, the finance minister, but 332 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 1: he'd opposed the military's wasteful World Cup spending, earning him 333 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: the wrath of Abriel, Miss Sarah and Captain Lacosse a 334 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,200 Speaker 1: present from mass Sarah because I had criticized the enormous 335 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,960 Speaker 1: amount of money spent on the World Cup. The present, 336 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: as the ailman described the bomb to Dutch filmmakers years later, 337 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,680 Speaker 1: it was time to coincide with the fourth goal, almost 338 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: as if someone knew the clinching score was coming. It 339 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: seems almost obvious that the Argentina put such a pressure 340 00:24:55,119 --> 00:25:00,080 Speaker 1: on Peru, and the Peruvian had no choice but in 341 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: the way to allow Argentina not just will but win 342 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,640 Speaker 1: seeks to zeal. The order to fix the match came 343 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: from the top, of course, but the other generals agreed 344 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: with Fidela's command. Argentina must win by any means necessary, bribes, threats, kidnapping. 345 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:23,399 Speaker 1: The regime was too close to realizing its destiny. Every 346 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:28,200 Speaker 1: victory made it stronger. How did the brutal regime ensure 347 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:34,159 Speaker 1: such a lopsided victory against Peru. Nothing is certain, but 348 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,159 Speaker 1: the evidence goes far beyond a reasonable doubt. At this point, 349 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 1: the cost in the military junta left nothing to chance. 350 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: Peru started the game brilliantly. Their first goal attempt in 351 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,560 Speaker 1: the early minutes hit the crossbar, just missing an opportunity 352 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,119 Speaker 1: to take an early lead. Then their energy just fizzled. 353 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 1: Prus defense wasn't just uninspired, it appeared to be non existent, 354 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,879 Speaker 1: almost comically so. Argentina scored two more times after the 355 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,400 Speaker 1: go ahead goal. The sixth to nothing thrashing left many 356 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 1: to speculate Pru's goalkeeper ramone A Loco Kiaroga was on 357 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: the take. His parents were Argentine, he was born there, 358 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: and six balls was just too many for a goalie 359 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 1: of his caliber to miss. It's long been rumored he 360 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: admitted to accepting bribes back in the day, but ki 361 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 1: Roga denies it and his blame Prus manager for assembling 362 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: a sub standard squad for the match. At least three 363 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:40,920 Speaker 1: Peruvian players, including Rodolfo Manzo, have acknowledged being offered bribes, 364 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 1: though not necessarily taking them. British newspaper The Sunday Times 365 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:52,639 Speaker 1: reported Argentina's ruling Hunta offered Prue's dictator a deal he 366 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:57,320 Speaker 1: couldn't resist through the match, weapons, thirty thousand tons of 367 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:00,119 Speaker 1: grain and a fifty million dollar line of credit. It 368 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: the evidence here is circumstantial, but it isn't some bar 369 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: stool conspiracy theory. Either pressed Yes, we were pressured. What 370 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,240 Speaker 1: kind of pressure pressure from the government, from the government 371 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,639 Speaker 1: to the managers of the team, from the managers of 372 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:20,399 Speaker 1: the team to the coaches. That's Jose Velasquez, one of 373 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: Prue's star players, telling the UK's Channel four News he 374 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,479 Speaker 1: believes the Provian government ordered his substitution. It was an 375 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: unusual move and a crucial game. Something happened. Our team 376 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,359 Speaker 1: was changed. I was dropped after ten minutes in the 377 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: second half, when we were already losing by two goals. 378 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 1: There's no reason to change me. I was always a 379 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: key player, so what can one think. In two thousand 380 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:51,399 Speaker 1: and twelve, former Peruvian senator Gennaro Ledesma offered testimony in 381 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 1: a special Argentine human rights court that backed up allegations 382 00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: at the Peruvian government was in on the fix. I 383 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: want to propose the anulment of the nineteen seventy eight 384 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 1: World Cup. Argentina should give it back. It should be 385 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: investigated by THIFA and by the Argentine judiciary. At the time, 386 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: La Desmo was a progressive labor activists in Peru. He 387 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 1: claimed he was one of thirteen people abducted by Peru's 388 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:22,119 Speaker 1: military regime and sent to Argentina again Channel four with 389 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,439 Speaker 1: the interview Perus sent its political prisoners to Argentina in 390 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,960 Speaker 1: order to disappear them. Peru's president offered to return this 391 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 1: favor by losing their World Cup game with Argentina by 392 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,480 Speaker 1: a large school. In addition to his testimony in court, 393 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: he signed an affidavit under penalty of perjury, meaning the 394 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: evidence of a fix is a bit more than circumstantial. Look, 395 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,760 Speaker 1: Argentina was likely always going to defeat Peru. They were 396 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 1: the better side, but winning by four goals was a 397 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: monumental task. Only two other teams had won by such 398 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,040 Speaker 1: a margin, Germany over Mexico and the Netherlands are for 399 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: Austria winning by six with all the rumors and accusations, 400 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: it starts to look a little well ridiculous, and for 401 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,959 Speaker 1: a regime willing to kill anyone to retain power, what's 402 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: a little match fixing. In the championship game, Argentina's star 403 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: striker Mario Kempis almost single handedly dismantled the Dutch defense. 404 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: Kempis scored twice, including the winning goal in a hundred 405 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:34,280 Speaker 1: and fifth minute. Argentina, the underdogs, the home team one 406 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,080 Speaker 1: three to one. It was a gritty and dramatic final 407 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 1: played on a pitch covered in white confetti, confetti that 408 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,720 Speaker 1: accumulated like snow as the game war on. It was 409 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: nothing short of surreal. Argentina's victory was celebrated as a 410 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 1: fairytale ending to a magical World Cup. Disney couldn't have 411 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:58,400 Speaker 1: written a more enchanting script, nor could the best Hollywood 412 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: cinematographers have designed the more visually stunning tournament just made 413 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: for color TV. A great football nation, rocked by political upheaval, 414 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: pulled off at home what it had never done before. 415 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: Argentina had won the World Cup. Thedela and his supporters 416 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 1: got everything they had hoped for in the short term. 417 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: It was a huge political victory for the military regime, undoubtedly, 418 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: and this allowed them to continue ruling, at least until 419 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: congratulations poured in from around the world. Argentina had overcome 420 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: the naysayers, the critics, the human rights activists, and former 421 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 1: U S Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was on hand 422 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: to congratulate his dear friend, General Jorge Videla. FIFA was 423 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: over the moon and how well the tournament was run. 424 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 1: The ruling military hunter basked in the global praise at 425 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: a lavish FIFA banquet in the ornate French style ballroom 426 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: of the Buenos Aires Plaza Hotel. The congratulatory hugs and 427 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: kisses on the cheek were only interrupted by the clinking 428 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: of champagne glasses to Argentina, to the military, to General Vedela. 429 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: Senior members of the ruling military junta shared canopies in 430 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,640 Speaker 1: a five course meal with FIFA's executive committee as they 431 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 1: savored Argentina's victory from the night before. The only ones 432 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,680 Speaker 1: missing were the Dutch players. After losing to Argentina three 433 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: to one, the Netherlands collectively turned their backs on FIFA 434 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: and the Argentinian regime. They refused to collect their second 435 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: place medals. The Dutch had no desire to rub shoulders 436 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: with General Vedela or the rest of his murderous military regime. 437 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: Some of the players also believed the referees were paid 438 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: to throw the game to Argentina. No that FIFA seemed 439 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 1: to care much about the rumors or the missing Dutch 440 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: players at the finals banquet, and the General certainly didn't. 441 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:12,120 Speaker 1: As the alcohol flowed, FIFA's president Gal Havlang stood up 442 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 1: to speak. The room quieted as the imposing Brazilian lifted 443 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: his glass and thanked his Argentine hosts. Havlang then singled 444 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 1: out Captain Carlos LaCosta, showering special praise on the soon 445 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: to be FIFA Vice President for his efforts. Havlanch ended 446 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: his toast by saying, without a hint of embarrassment, now 447 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:40,720 Speaker 1: the world had seen the true face of Argentina. Across 448 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:46,280 Speaker 1: the country, Argentinians celebrated the fairy tale championship for days. 449 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,520 Speaker 1: The streets overflowed with people dancing and cheering. A wave 450 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: of national euphoria swept through the country. Among the thousands 451 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:59,040 Speaker 1: in the streets of Buenos Aires were several dozen prisoners. 452 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: Captors at the Navy training school had packed them in vehicles, 453 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,479 Speaker 1: forcing them at gunpoints to stick their heads out of 454 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:11,160 Speaker 1: car windows. That disappeared were allowed to breathe in the celebrations, 455 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: but not to taste them. They were forced to watch 456 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: as their countrymen, saying songs, drank to excess and pay 457 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 1: tribute to the regime that tortured them. That disappeared within 458 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:27,120 Speaker 1: returned to their cells, now filled with the knowledge that 459 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 1: the regime had succeeded, had hoisted the World Cup trophy, 460 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,719 Speaker 1: and in doing so, had erased them from their nation's 461 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:42,680 Speaker 1: collective consciousness. I remember a sort of euphoria, but a 462 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 1: euphoria that was yes, it was contradictory. For the families 463 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: of the disappeared, like Marita Israel, that victory has forever 464 00:33:54,960 --> 00:34:00,080 Speaker 1: damaged their relationship with Argentina's national soccer team. Even today, 465 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 1: the Hunter's use of the World Cup as a political 466 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 1: instrument for repression and to secure its own popularity still 467 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: cuts deep. I really like soccer, but when I watched 468 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 1: the World Cup, I don't cheer for Argentina. I can't 469 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:20,919 Speaker 1: may Argentina win. It's impossible for me to say that. 470 00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:32,640 Speaker 1: There's no way. The Argentinian journalists Ezekiel Fernandez More has 471 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:37,440 Speaker 1: described the World Cup as the most obvious political manipulation 472 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:41,160 Speaker 1: suffered by sports since the ninety six Olympic Games in 473 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:45,880 Speaker 1: Nazi Germany. Even today, the dark side of its fairy 474 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:50,759 Speaker 1: tale victory haunts Argentina. But there's no arguing the first 475 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,719 Speaker 1: championship was a huge boon for the military Hunta. It 476 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: helped them stay in power for five more years before 477 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:05,800 Speaker 1: democracy was restored in some thirty thousand people were killed 478 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,360 Speaker 1: during the junta's military rule. Many of the bodies of 479 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:16,239 Speaker 1: the disappeared remained missing, Teresa Israel's included and just as 480 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:20,239 Speaker 1: in the Mothers of the Plaza, at least the few 481 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:23,719 Speaker 1: that are still alive are at the square every Thursday, 482 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:29,560 Speaker 1: thirty four years later, still pleading, still demanding answers from 483 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:36,359 Speaker 1: their government. General Jorge Vedella and Armoral Emilia Massarah were 484 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 1: both tried and convicted for crimes against humanity and would 485 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:41,759 Speaker 1: spend most of the rest of their lives in and 486 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:46,000 Speaker 1: out of prison, and both would die behind bars. Vice 487 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:48,880 Speaker 1: Admiral Carlos Lacosse would later become a key member of 488 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:53,560 Speaker 1: FIFA's executive committee and a close ally of Jaohavlang. The 489 00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:56,160 Speaker 1: cost would later be forced to step down from FIFA 490 00:35:57,160 --> 00:36:00,000 Speaker 1: because of a long list of criminal charges he faced 491 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:04,160 Speaker 1: in Argentina, including the murder of General Actus, his predecessor 492 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:09,080 Speaker 1: on the World Cup organizing committee. Chall Hablan try to 493 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:14,160 Speaker 1: remain FIFA's president until he used a considerable amounts of 494 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:17,480 Speaker 1: his own political power to try and keep the Costs 495 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:21,760 Speaker 1: from ever seeing the inside of a prison. The shame 496 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:25,759 Speaker 1: of World Cup seventy eight is hard to calculate the 497 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:29,560 Speaker 1: institutional rot that let it happen. That's easier to figure. 498 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,439 Speaker 1: On the next episode of The Lords of Soccer, you'll 499 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:37,080 Speaker 1: see a direct line between FIFA's approach to Argentina and 500 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,880 Speaker 1: what happened in Brazil when the World Cup arrived in 501 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:56,320 Speaker 1: two thousand and fourteen. The Lords of Soccer, How FIFA 502 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: Stole the Beautiful Game is an Inside Voices Media production 503 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:03,680 Speaker 1: in conjunction with I Heart Radio. The series was written 504 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:07,320 Speaker 1: and executive produced by Gary Scott and me Connor Powell. 505 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,920 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Page Nichols, who helped produce this episode 506 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,960 Speaker 1: and conducted interviews in Argentina for US, and thanks to 507 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:18,040 Speaker 1: a Tea Bowie for voicing our translations, and special thanks 508 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: to Donna Carney who produced our interviews in Israel. Logan 509 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:26,759 Speaker 1: Heftel and Katie mcmurran provided the sound design with assistance 510 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,200 Speaker 1: from j. C. Swaddick and Jake Blue Note. Alec Cowen 511 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:34,040 Speaker 1: is our associate producer and Jeffrey Katz was our story editor. 512 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:38,600 Speaker 1: Our fact checker is Alexa O'Brien, and thanks to Miles Gray, 513 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,560 Speaker 1: who produced the series for I Heart Radio. If you 514 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,719 Speaker 1: have any comments or questions, please reach out. You can 515 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:48,799 Speaker 1: find us on Twitter. I'm at Connor M. Powell and 516 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,560 Speaker 1: Gary is at Gary Robert Scott and if you have 517 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:56,080 Speaker 1: any stories about FIFA, let us know. If you like 518 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: what you hear, please give us a shout out at 519 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:10,200 Speaker 1: the hashtag Lords of Soccer h