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On May 27, Swiss authorities arrested seven high ranking officials of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the world’s governing body for soccer. The arrests were due to a United States investigation into bribery and corruption within the organization that federal prosecutors allege played a role in the awarding of television, licensing, and hosting rights to soccer competitions, notably the World Cup. In addition to the United States investigation, Swiss officials are also examining how corruption may have influenced FIFA’s decision in 2010 to grant future World Cup competitions to Russia and Qatar. Longtime FIFA President Sepp Blatter has already been forced to resign over the investigations and observers are likening the scandal to what the International Olympic Committee (IOC) dealt with in the late 1990s. The ongoing investigation into FIFA should produce some momentum to reform the organization, while potentially producing geopolitical fallout if the organization revokes Russia and Qatar’s World Cup hosting rights. The investigation will also be a test of how far the U.S. Justice Department can apply American law abroad.
This topic brief will summarize the ongoing investigations into FIFA, discuss what changes may take place within the organization in light of these investigations, and then analyze the geopolitical factors associated with the scandal.
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