The Largest FIFA Scandals That Have Tarnished the Brand

FIFA is not the only entity involved in football, but it’s one that has major influence. After all, it’s responsible for organizing the most prestigious tournaments, like the World Cup, and developing the rules and regulations that make football what it is today. If you’re interested or involved in the sport in any way, shape, or form, you’ll hear “FIFA this, FIFA that” just about everywhere.

For almost 30 years, it was also the name of the famous video game franchise produced by EA Sports, and for an even longer time, the organization was highly respected around the world. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that its reputation began to suffer, no thanks to a variety of scandals relating to corruption and bribery. In a world where football fans regarded FIFA as a beacon and official overseer of the sport, this shift had serious repercussions and eroded the trust of everyone involved in the football community.

Despite these happenings, we can’t deny that FIFA still stands tall as the heart of international football, much like how casinos.com is one of the most trusted sources for online casino guidance. However, we can’t erase FIFA’s past wrongdoings and misconduct, as they have become a part of the organization’s history. Let’s dive into the details and examine the biggest FIFA scandals ever.

2015 FIFA Corruption Case

When the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) are involved, it’s a sign that there have been serious allegations going far beyond petty crimes. Although this list of scandals is in no particular order, the 2015 FIFA corruption case ranks as the most criminal.

A total of 14 people were indicted as a result of an investigation by the IRS-CI and FBI, accused of wire fraud, money laundering, and racketeering. The main cause of the investigation was the collusion between sports marketing executives and football bodies, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, relating to media and marketing rights. A number of presidents, executive committee members, and other high-profile figures were arrested, some just before the 65th FIFA Congress took place.

The scandal involved an estimated total of $150 million in money laundering and bribery and led several countries to open or push other criminal investigations into FIFA’s top officials. Part of the corruption case also involved bribery and vote-buying to secure hosting rights for the World Cup in Russia and Qatar.

2014 World Cup in Brazil

The 2014 FIFA World Cup was fraught with controversies—before, during, and after the event. To put it bluntly, it was an utter disaster that felt like one bad omen after another. Hosted in Brazil, the public was already unhappy with how much public money was spent to host the World Cup in the first place. This resulted in countless protests on top of the rioting that was already occurring due to the government’s poor financial management.

To add fuel to the fire, FIFA’s demand that Brazil change its law that prohibited alcohol sales in stadiums to appease Budweiser, one of the major sponsors of the World Cup, led to alcohol sales being allowed during the event. While this might sound like a positive development to most, it felt like an insult to others as Brazil originally passed that law in response to numerous deaths at football stadiums.

During the event itself, there were more scandals that had to do with refereeing, violent and abusive fan behaviour, roughhousing among the players, and injuries and tragic deaths that tarnished the World Cup and the FIFA organization. While we saw Neymar fracture his vertebra, disallowed goals, missed penalties, breaches into the stadiums, and unruly fans, the Belo Horizonte overpass collapse was the most devastating. The overpass was built as one of the infrastructure projects for the World Cup, but because of accelerated construction and poor management, it collapsed and left two people dead.

2022 FIFA World Cup

It’s hardly a surprise that another mention on this list has to do with the World Cup. With the clash of cultures, influx of tourists to a specific country, and heightened emotions, there’s bound to be some sort of contention. As the FIFA corruption case revealed, the 2022 World Cup was hosted in Qatar—a country actively trying to establish itself as an international sports hub.

While that aspect made sense, people instantly criticized this decision due to the country’s human rights violations, high costs, attitudes towards LGBT rights, and opinions that Qatar was simply sportswashing. All the criticism was bolstered as the country ended up exposing its treatment of women and migrant workers. At the same time, security officials confiscated rainbow items and intimidated those wearing rainbow colours—notably sports journalist Grant Wahl. Detained after wearing a T-shirt with a rainbow on it, he unexpectedly collapsed in his press box seat and was eventually pronounced dead. His death sparked outrage and scepticism after his brother stated that Wahl received death threats and believed that he was killed.

In specific football-related controversies, there was also much debate surrounding Messi’s long-awaited World Cup victory. People often wonder if it was too perfect a win and suspected FIFA of rigging the tournament to let the star player bring in the big bucks. Argentina garnering a record number of penalties that year and various controversial refereeing decisions fuelled these suspicions most.