FIFA’s $260 million headquarters complex in Zurich, Switzerland, with its huge glass façade and attractive parks, conveys a sense of modernity, openness and transparency—all qualities the organization lacks. Accusations of illegal or unsavory activities by the organization’s leadership have dominated the headlines, supplying critics with plenty of material.
FIFA’s Honorary President, legendary football figure João Havelange, stepped down in April because of “morally and ethically reproachable activities” regarding a $100 million bribery scandal with now-defunct German sports marketing firm ILS, according to a FIFA Ethics Committee report. The Ethics Committee chairman found FIFA President Sepp Blatter guilty of “clumsiness” in his handling of the same ILS scandal. And in May, the Ethics Committee provisionally banned Chuck Blazer, General Secretary of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), for “alleged serious misconduct.”
But while the scandals have forced FIFA to do some damage control—and yes, heads have rolled—the sport itself remains unfazed. Football (or soccer, as it is known in the U.S.) is by far the most popular sport in the world, and it continues to grow. Fans continue to cheer passionately for both club and country—all the while generating major revenue for FIFA—regardless of the perceived corruption of a few faceless FIFA executives.
Obviously, football audiences worldwide want corruption at FIFA to go away. But they are willing to overlook questionable behavior as long as the beautiful game and the entertainment it provides remain uninterrupted.
To put things in perspective, it is important to understand the power of FIFA. Its membership includes more countries than those represented at the United Nations. Some 280 million male and female players are actively involved in the game, and tens of thousands of coaches and trainers, venue staff, agents, and advertisers profit from the FIFA system on every continent.
In an achievement no other sport can claim, one single event—the 2010 World Cup Final in South Africa—drew 3.2 billion viewers, half the world’s population. Compare that with the 116.8 million TV viewers worldwide who watched the Super Bowl in 2012. That was a record for American football’s premier sport spectacle, but it amounted to only 5 percent of the 2010 World Cup Final’s audience.
The bottom line: the passion for the game, the billions of dollars in legitimate income it produces, and the worldwide demand it generates for related products, services and brands trumps any doubts about
FIFA’s capacity to withstand the accusations and convictions levied against the organization’s officials.
The controversies have not, for example, had an impact on the growth potential of the sport in the U.S., a country already saturated with professional sports. There are now 20 million men and women in the U.S. competing professionally or at the college, amateur or youth level who are registered with FIFA. Major League Soccer, currently comprising 19 teams and 12 football-specific stadiums, will grow to 20 teams in 2015 with the announced addition of the New York City F.C.—a franchise purchased for $100 million by English Premier League’s Manchester City F.C. and the New York Yankees.
Fandom is also on the rise in the United States. Viewership of the 2010 World Cup increased by 40 percent over the previous tournament. And the U.S. was home to one of the best-organized Cups in history in 1994.
Meanwhile, the World Cup qualifying rounds for Brazil 2014 attract millions of viewers globally, match after match. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League, a competition between top European clubs, has expanded its live broadcasts into other continents. The same applies to South America’s Copa Libertadores and the CONCACAF Champions League. Russia and Qatar—countries that controversially won their bids to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively—are moving ahead with large investments in national infrastructure, building appropriate facilities and providing jobs to thousands.
As FIFA’s success continues, so, unfortunately, will corruption within the organization. Under-the-table-payments, vote-buying and embezzlement have been endemic to FIFA throughout its near-110-year history.
One thing is different today, though. Due to the ease with which the public can access and disseminate information through traditional outlets and social media, actions by FIFA leaders are subject to daily scrutiny. Even the findings of ongoing police investigations are leaked to the public ahead of official press releases, before FIFA can put a favorable twist to them.
The bigger question is why FIFA, with its tradition of closed-door corruption, remains powerful. The answer is two-fold.
First, FIFA has no competition. The organization does an excellent job in the eyes of fans, players and advertisers, with its range of tournaments and competitions, international friendlies, and massive events like the 2013 Confederation Cup and 2014 World Cup in Brazil. It is football’s only international governing body, and it has permeated every corner of this earth, and most televisions. FIFA is simply too big to fail.
Second, FIFA’s immense geographical reach has given it the financial resources and clout to withstand any outside efforts to impose reforms—and to argue it is capable of policing itself. The application of the 2004 FIFA Code of Ethics and a recently issued 4,000-page FIFA special report produced the suspensions and dismissals mentioned above. Underlining the point, after Europol investigations uncovered some 680 fixed “suspicious” matches in a two-year period, FIFA launched a special web page in February where whistleblowers can anonymously denounce corruption.
Such self-investigative procedures are also good PR. They allow one of the world’s most powerful business empires to not only avoid outside intervention, but reassure an audience of loyal fans who want the present crisis resolved to ensure continuity on the pitch.
Despite suffering through some of the most serious accusations ever leveled against the sport’s leadership, the beautiful game is not only healthy, but expanding. President Blatter will survive the rebuke to his management and FIFA will reform just enough to keep business running, uninterrupted.
Anyone doubting FIFA’s resilience and its ability to overcome the worldwide obsession with the organization’s scandals should ask the fans who were glued to their TVs for this summer’s Confederations Cup.
