How FIFA Tried (and Failed) to Sell the Soul of Football
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what this sound is.
Unlocking previously uncaptured commercial value. Right after this.
Let's begin with the exhale because you've been working, I presume, more after the World Cup, Adam Crafton, than you thought you were going to have to. How are you feeling?
Yeah, I mean, I was moving apartments this week, so it was really fun. But no, I mean, it's an amazing kind of development in some ways. It's also, it's like the most predictable. Yeah. Amazing development, you know, in the sense of Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president's proximity to the Trump family has, you know, ultimately, possibly brought about his downfall. I may be speaking too soon in that or may not be speaking soon enough. It is moving. at an extraordinary pace.
How this all got out into the open and where it started, how do you sort of tell that story?
I suppose if we just go back two or three weekends, It's the World Cup final.
Five weeks now into this tournament, 36 days of competition, down to two survivors, Argentina and Spain.
By the time of that World Cup final, for all of the scandals, I think four or five investigations by attorney generals across America into FIFA's ticketing practices...
There is now an investigation into FIFA's ticket practices and those soaring prices. Some fans feeling like they were deceived.
The visa scandal with the referee not being allowed into the country.
This week, the US found itself at the center of more controversy when a Somali referee was barred from entering the United States despite having a valid visa and all valid credentials.
How did the World Cup's $15 billion windfall set the stage for FIFA's controversy?
The phone call, of course, that happened with Trump that then kind of subsequently Balogun, the US forward, was then allowed to play the game.
Tonight, the stunning reversal reverberating through the soccer world as FIFA reinstates star striker for Lauren Balogun. Slated to sit out tomorrow's game against Belgium.
For all of that... FIFA ended the tournament celebrating what they deemed to be a huge success. You know, they upscaled their revenue projection from, I think, 11 to 13 billion up to 15 billion. So for all of the uneasiness and the criticism that people may have of Infantino and his leadership style in all these different federations, that money had a muzzling effect. Until...
Infantino has given football associations until the 19th of September to back his plan to sell off part of FIFA to private investors. I think that Infantino has overplayed his hand personally. I think we're reaching the point where I think Gianni Infantino is just... pushing his luck.
I'm hearing of a determined effort at the top of European football to ensure that Gianni Infantino leaves the FIFA presidency. It's now seemingly perhaps just a matter of how it ends.
I think we've got to the stage with Gianni Infantino where the ordinary fan looks at him and says he's motivated by power, money and then football. Football does not appear to be his main priority.
FIFA are not in distress and FIFA are not short of cash. So if you've just made $15 billion in cash revenue from a tournament and you have billions in reserves, why do you need to give away a stake? Why would you mortgage your future returns and take that risk when you have all of it there already? You don't need to do it. So that is the question that was on everyone's lips.
This is my vantage point as I'm watching all of this, right? You were on the show. We were tracking the before, how America got into business with FIFA, how at the local level people were wanting in on all of the windfall that was in excess, it turns out. And it feels like as everyone was maybe biting their tongue because they knew, wait a minute, this is all going to work out. We're all going to make money off of this. This is the biggest, richest World Cup ever. It takes us to when the news breaks in public. And it's Tuesday. It's July 28th. And this thing that has been happening in sports broadly seems to now be arriving at the doorstep of, yes, the most popular sport in the world.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:06
2
How did the World Cup's $15 billion windfall set the stage for FIFA's controversy?
2:06–22:01
3
Why would FIFA sell a stake in the World Cup if it already had billions in reserves?
22:01–30:49
4
What was FIFA Forward Enterprise and how would the proposed spin-off work?
30:49–33:59
5
Who were the proposed investors and why did the Kushner connection spark outrage?
33:59–40:39
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Pablo Torre Finds Out
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