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Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It boasts some 250 million players in 200 nations. It's the sport of the people. At the top of the professional pyramid is FIFA - a somewhat mysterious group of elite businessmen who promote the sport and organize the biggest international contest on earth, the World Cup. The contest generates billions in revenue and attracts billions of fans.But behind the spectacle lurks an ugly truth.
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- Sep 1, 202244 min
Qatar 2022
How did this small, Middle Eastern autocracy, with no international soccer pedigree or modern stadium infrastructure, land the ultimate international sporting competition: the 2022 FIFA World Cup? Money. Lots of money.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Aug 25, 202255 min
Equal Footing
Today’s episode is all about hope. The stunning success of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team offered FIFA a roadmap to a better way of doing business, one that promised soaring profits while embracing the organization’s core mission: to spread soccer and fair play around the globe. Instead, FIFA relegated the women’s game to second-class status even after seeing record crowds. In choosing to stick with its old corrupt ways, FIFA lost the one thing it cares about most: money. But women’s soccer still offers the last, best hope for a better FIFA.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Aug 18, 202237 min
White Elephants
FIFA’s appalling behavior in Chile and Argentina is ancient history…right? You’d think world soccer’s governing body would have learned its lessons and modernized by 2014, but you’d be wrong. In the soccer-mad nation of Brazil, FIFA was faced with a choice between profits and people, and FIFA did what it always does - it put profits first. Screw the consequences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Aug 11, 202238 min
The World Cup of Shame, Part 2
After spending millions of dollars they didn’t have to build World Cup infrastructure, and disappearing anyone opposed to their lavish plans, Argentina’s military junta turns its eyes on an even bigger prize – a World Cup victory on its home soil in 1978. How far would General Videla and his henchmen go to win? And would FIFA ignore their blatant efforts to rig the World Cup?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Aug 4, 202225 min
The World Cup of Shame, Part 1
In 1978, FIFA faced a simple choice: Play the World Cup in a nation ruled by a brutal military dictatorship, or move the tournament to a country that better represented the global values of fair play at the heart of FIFA’s mission. FIFA chose to chase dollars rather than stand up for human rights. This is Argentina ‘78, the World Cup of Shame, Part 1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Jul 28, 202228 min
See No Evil
In this episode, you’ll hear how the Lords of Soccer abused their positions to prop up and promote a violent dictatorship in Chile, all in the name of profit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Jul 21, 202239 min
The Era of Gold
The slow march toward corruption continues… When Brazilian businessman João Havelange took control of FIFA in 1974 it was still a modest operation, with six permanent staff and virtually nothing in the bank. By the time he retired in 1998, the soccer organization had $4 billion in the bank. But the man who built FIFA into a multi-billion dollar marketing machine would also be implicated in a string of scandals involving millions in bribes and kickbacks. Worse, Havelange had a nasty habit of cozying up to gangsters and dictators, and choosing profit over human rights.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Jul 14, 202234 min
The Colonialist
An organization like FIFA does not become corrupt overnight. So how did it happen? Well, long before FIFA became stuff of criminal lore, soccer’s governing body was simply known to be racist and morally corrupt. From supporting South Africa’s racist apartheid regime to propping up authoritarian dictators, FIFA’s so-called Golden Years were more blood red than gold. At the top of the pyramid for much of this, an Englishman named Stanley Rous.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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About Lords of Soccer
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It boasts some 250 million players in 200 nations. It's the sport of the people. At the top of the professional pyramid is FIFA - a somewhat mysterious group of elite businessmen who promote the sport and organize the biggest international contest on earth, the World Cup. The contest generates billions in revenue and attracts billions of fans.But behind the spectacle lurks an ugly truth.
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