Speaker
Joshua Robinson
Appearances over time
2 episodes
Episodes
2
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
FIFA expects revenues of $15 billion from the 2026 World Cup, up from originally cited $11 billion, blowing all prior World Cups out of the water.
The first World Cup in Uruguay had only 13 teams because Egypt literally missed the boat that was carrying the competing nations.
European teams had to travel three weeks by boat to reach the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, severely limiting participation.
Pelé first played in the World Cup in 1958 in Sweden at age 17, dazzling the world with individual flair at a time when European teams played rigid, systematic football.
FIFA moved the 2022 Qatar World Cup from summer to November–December — the first time in history — to accommodate Qatar's extreme heat.
Qatar reportedly paid roughly $10 million each to major soccer stars like Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham to publicly endorse their 2022 World Cup bid.
Chuck Blazer, the U.S. soccer representative to FIFA, owed approximately $10 million to the IRS, which gave the DOJ leverage to flip him as an informant against FIFA.
At the 2018 World Cup opening match in Russia, Infantino was seated between Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, symbolizing his proximity-to-power ethos.
The US opener against Paraguay was held at SoFi Stadium, the home of the LA Rams, described as a five-day, $1.5 billion venue.
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.
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 37%
- Business 27%
- True Crime 27%
- Society & Culture 9%
Connections
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