The DOJ gained jurisdiction over FIFA because FIFA conducted much of its business in U.S. dollars and key corruption deals involving South American TV rights were brokered through Miami and New York.
Where this was said
At 29:00 · chapter starts 28:40
Ryan Knutson poses the key legal question: how does the DOJ have jurisdiction over a Swiss nonprofit? Joshua Robinson's answer is precise. First, FIFA did enormous amounts of business in U.S. dollars, which gives the DOJ very long reach. Second — and more specifically — the corruption around South American and Latin American broadcasting rights kept pulling in Miami and New York: bank accounts, meetings, middlemen. Everyone who mattered in this ecosystem was touching U.S. financial infrastructure. The DOJ found easy payments to trace wherever it looked, and the absence of open tenders or standard business practices made it straightforward to characterise FIFA as a potentially corrupt organisation operating in violation of U.S. business laws.
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