Podbit · Fin vs History
FIFA commissioned a $27 million propaganda film about itself, starring Tim Roth as a hero fighting a misunderstood organisation. It earned $918 in its US opening weekend and holds 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Released in the middle of the FBI investigation.
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At 52:35 · chapter starts 49:40
The payoff for the Chuck Blazer subplot arrives as Swiss plainclothes police, acting on FBI instructions, storm a Zurich hotel and arrest FIFA's top officials just two days before Blatter's presidential re-election vote. Blazer's hidden keychain recording device — brought to the 2012 London Olympics FIFA meetings — was the linchpin. A €2 million payment from Blatter to Platini, made nine years late and described as back-payment for consultancy, becomes the 'disloyal payment' that triggers both men's bans by the FIFA Ethics Committee (whose very existence prompts incredulity from both hosts). Blatter's original 8-year ban is eventually overturned by a Swiss court, and he is cleared again on appeal as recently as March 2025. The segment's comic centrepiece is United Passions — FIFA's $27 million corporate vanity film starring Tim Roth as a heroic FIFA pioneer, released in the middle of the corruption investigation, which earned $918 in its US opening weekend and holds 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Swiss plainclothes police acting on FBI orders stormed a Zurich hotel and arrested FIFA's top officials. It happened two days before Blatter's presidential re-election vote, timed to maximum effect. Blazer's hidden keychain recording device was the linchpin of the entire case.
A €2 million transaction from Sepp Blatter to Michel Platini, paid 9 years late, became the 'disloyal payment' that triggered their bans from football.
Sepp Blatter was originally banned from football for 8 years by the FIFA Ethics Committee, but a Swiss court later acquitted him and he was cleared again on appeal in March 2025.
FIFA's self-produced propaganda film United Passions, with a $27 million budget, earned only $918 in its US opening weekend.
United Passions, the FIFA-funded vanity film starring Tim Roth, holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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