Last week, seven top officials of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, were arrested amid Justice Department claims that they were involved in massive bribery and corruption. They, two other FIFA officials, and five corporate executives were indicted on charges of money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering. On Tuesday, the investigation claimed its highest-profile victim when embattled FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced he would resign as soon as a successor was named.
Blatter said in a statement given in French that he felt compelled to step down because while he had just been elected to a fifth term last week, “this mandate does not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football.” The real reason for the abrupt move became apparent hours later, when multiple media outlets–including The New York Times, ABC News, NBC News, and CBS News–reported that federal investigators now have Blatter in their crosshairs.
According to The Times, federal investigators are already hoping to get some of those indicted last week to cooperate in an effort to build a case against Blatter. An FBI source told ABC News that there is likely going to be “a race to see who will flip on [Blatter] first.” Even before the news that Blatter was a target of the investigation, the claims made by prosecutors were absolutely staggering. The nine FIFA officials are accused of taking $150 million in bribes over 25 years from the five executives named in the indictment, as well as from one corporate executive and two corporations who have already pleaded guilty.
There were already signs that the investigation was wading very close to Blatter. His top deputy, Jerome Valacke, is suspected of taking part in highly suspicious wire transfers related to World Cup bids–including a $10 million bribe for votes to award the 2010 World Cup. FIFA initially rebuffed these claims just hours before Blatter resigned.
Blatter had already been under pressure to step down in the face of the arrests. Despite this, he came up just a few votes short of winning reelection outright at last week’s FIFA congress. His main opponent, Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan, dropped out before the second round. However, ESPN’s top soccer play-by-play man, Ian Darke, said that something had to have changed Blatter’s mind–considering that this is very much out of character for him.
This couldn’t have come at a worse time for soccer in the United States. The game has never really been popular nationally, though my home state of North Carolina is one of the few hotbeds. The last thing soccer fans in this country need is the perception that the game is shot through with corruption. If there’s anything to the government’s claims, that perception may take a long time to shake. And that’s before we even talk about the ramifications of something that, to my knowledge, has never happened before–the head of a major sporting organization being the target of a federal criminal probe.
