By Georg Neumann

It’s a story about money, power, family and football. The glittering cast: Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) president Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and Jean-Marie Weber as supporting player, Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) president Jack Warner as ‘enfant terrible’ and Horst “Q” Dassler, as the unseen operative pulling strings behind the scenes. Destroying this familial harmony is investigative reporter Andrew Jennings making the opaque world of FIFA more transparent with his new book FOUL! The secret world of FIFA: bribes, vote rigging and ticket scandals.

Since 2000 he has been aiming his investigative eye at FIFA and, more specifically, President Sepp Blatter in the “citadel” (FIFA headquarters) on Sunny Hill. His investigation into the FIFA family tree begins with the ticking bomb of their bank records. The starting point – a 1998 payment of one million Swiss francs from International Sports and Leisure (ISL) to a “senior official in football” was revealed as that company’s bankruptcy hit the news in 2001. ILS is the company which held the FIFA World Cup™ marketing rights.

Jennings describes how money started to change FIFA back in 1974, following the FIFA elections at the World Cup in Germany, when Joao Havelange assumed FIFA presidency. Taking over from Sir Stanley Rous, Havelange turned an honorary organisation into a professional organisation with a business volume of US$ 660 million. Jennings’ main focus, however, lies on the various presidential elections, the networking and campaigning behind the scenes. He gives proof of vote rigging and explains how the organisation is run on the exchange of promises and favours. The story culminates in the 1998 elections, when Blatter took over from Havelange.

Family is one of Blatter’s most used expressions when referring to the FIFA. It is indeed a fitting description of the network of relations and interdependence in the organisation. Another member in this family plot is FIFA´s Vice president and executive committee member Jack Warner, Blatter’s loyal friend. Warner has been involved in a series of dubious affairs such as the under-17 World Championships in Trinidad & Tobago and most recently selling tickets for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ through the family business Simpaul Travel. Yet, he has been able to keep his position as CONCACAF president, always finding a way out.

Jennings’ book provides a lively, interesting and overdue insight into FIFA politics and how mismanagement, misbehaviour and the pursuit of personal gain seems to have had few consequences for its leaders. Its evidence and findings will certainly be fodder for further investigations. Unfortunately, Jennings sometimes appears locked in a private feud with Blatter. By concentrating too heavily on Blatter, the prose often becomes tendentious and the full breadth of accountability issues in the organisation come short, such as the allegations against FIFA executive committee member Ricardo Teixeira. In fact, a lot of interesting material gets squeezed into the last two chapters, including the development and outcomes of investigations concerning embezzlement of funds at ISL and an inquiry at FIFA’s offices in 2005, a ‘spin-off’ based on information obtained during the ISL investigation.

Blatter, as FIFA’s main representative, still receives ‘boos’ at every public appearance. Despite official commitments to organisational transparency and the establishment of a Code of Ethics for FIFA officials, much remains to be done. The best Code of Ethics is useless if there is no effective enforcement system to back it up and when tainted FIFA officials such as Teixeira and Warner can remain safely within the family fold. After reading 360 pages, combing through fifa.com and carefully studying the FIFA financial report, one question remained unanswered: Exactly how much does FIFA president Blatter make?