Crazy World We Live: Here’s How The Feds Say The Alleged FIFA Bribery Schemes Worked

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Here’s How The Feds Say The Alleged FIFA Bribery Schemes Worked

The U.S. Justice Department is alleging massive corruption by officials associated with international soccer’s governing body. Here’s how the indictment says things went down.

Federal agents load a van with boxes and computers taken from the headquarters of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Wednesday, May 27, 2015, in Miami Beach, Fla.

Wilfredo Lee / AP

The U.S. Department of Justice announced more than a dozen indictments and guilty pleas in connection with an investigation into corruption in international soccer. The allegations cited a number of illegal financial schemes involving a network of FIFA officials, their associates, executives of sports marketing companies, and middlemen. United States federal officials allege these all relate to one another in a tangle of corrupt payments and favors.

Here are the basics of how prosecutors said the schemes worked and who the key players were.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the international governing body for professional soccer leagues around the world. FIFA organizes the World Cup, the most popular sporting event on the planet, and its member groups organize smaller championships around the world.

FIFA made close to $2.1 billion in 2014, with profits of $141 million, according to its financial reports. Much of this revenue comes from broadcasting and sponsorship deals.