Speaker
Jonathan Clegg
Appearances over time
2 episodes
Episodes
2
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
FIFA's member base consists of 211 national associations, each with one vote — a democratic structure Blatter exploited to build his political power base.
Infantino created and awarded the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize to Donald Trump at the 2026 World Cup draw, with the entire event described as 'presented to an audience of one.'
Qatar, a country of just 3 million people with summer temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius where homosexuality is illegal, was awarded the 2022 World Cup over heavily favored bids from the US and Spain.
After fan outcry, FIFA introduced a small number of cheaper tickets, but they represented much less than 10% of total stadium capacity.
Infantino floated a proposal to make the World Cup a biennial event rather than quadrennial, which would have nearly doubled FIFA's revenue from the tournament.
Sepp Blatter was elected FIFA president five times before finally stepping down in the wake of the 2015 corruption scandal and indictments.
Chuck Blazer, the U.S. FIFA representative turned DOJ informant, kept two apartments in Trump Tower — one for himself and one specifically for his cats.
The football-versus-soccer debate is pure noise. Once you move to America and start calling it soccer, you quickly realise nobody cares — everyone knows what you mean and the game is just as beautiful.
The first World Cup in 1930 was supposed to have 14 teams, but Egypt missed the literal boat to Uruguay. The competing nations shared a single ship for a three-week Atlantic crossing, and Uruguay — fresh and unexhausted — won the whole thing.
Pelé debuted at the 1958 World Cup at 17 and shattered the dour, systematic European game with sheer individual brilliance. His legend grew with the tournament — by the time he retired, he was to soccer what Ali and Jordan were to their sports.
Every country in FIFA gets one vote regardless of size — and Blatter built his power base by funneling development money to small nations in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. They didn't see him as a politician; they called him a great humanitarian.
Chuck Blazer walked into FIFA executive meetings and tossed his keys on the table — just like everyone else. Except his keychain was a secret FBI recording device. The recordings captured explicit discussions of sweetheart broadcast deals and named the officials receiving corrupt payments.
Joshua Robinson was at the Zurich hotel with his $8 coffee when Swiss police — empowered by the FBI and DOJ — walked FIFA executives out in handcuffs. The 47-count RICO indictment against 14 officials was the law originally designed for the mob being turned on global soccer.
After stepping down, Sepp Blatter met Joshua Robinson for a two-hour French-language interview in a hotel above Zurich. He was unbelievably charming and not remotely contrite — insisting the DOJ investigation was a U.S. conspiracy over losing the World Cup hosting bid.
FIFA is a nonprofit based in Switzerland. Unlike a public company, it has no shareholders and no regulators it must answer to. That structural vacuum gave its executives decades of room to operate however they liked — and they did.
When Uruguay won the first World Cup in 1930, barely anyone in Europe knew it had happened. Television changed everything — first black and white, then color — transforming a boat-accessible local event into the most-watched sporting spectacle on Earth.
Chuck Blazer was the U.S. soccer representative to FIFA — a Santa Claus lookalike who kept two apartments in Trump Tower (one for his cats), walked Manhattan with a parrot on his shoulder, and owed $10 million to the IRS. The DOJ flipped him instead of prosecuting him.
Sepp Blatter understood something most sports administrators missed: the money isn't in what happens on the grass, it's in selling television rights. That insight turned an obscure Swiss nonprofit into an organization sitting on over $1.5 billion in cash reserves.
Spain was the favourite for 2018, the US was the front-runner for 2022. Then Sepp Blatter opened an envelope and awarded both to Russia and Qatar — a country of 3 million people with no football history, summer heat above 45°C, and no stadiums. Jonathan Clegg was in the room.
When Sepp Blatter took over, the World Cup was a 24-team summer tournament in one country. Now it's a 48-team, 3-country, $15 billion juggernaut held whenever and wherever FIFA decrees. Moving it to winter, banning beer, adding a halftime show — FIFA has proven it can survive anything. It's too big to fail.
Infantino swept into the FIFA presidency in 2016 promising radical transparency, ethical reform, and a return to football's roots — essentially 'Make FIFA Great Again.' A decade later, his big promises to fans remain largely unfulfilled.
At the 2018 World Cup opener in Russia, Infantino sat between Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman, making 'sheepish faces' as Russia dismantled Saudi Arabia. That image became a defining symbol of his presidency: always angling toward the most powerful person in the room.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Sports 70%
- Business 20%
- True Crime 10%
Connections
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