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World cup 2026 now accepting bribes: a fundamental transformation of FIFA’s world cup bid process

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Abstract

The beauty of the game of football, while being played on the pitch, is unquestioned; however, the widespread corruption within the Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) has tarnished the on the field beauty of the game. The perception that football is corrupt became a reality after the allegations of bribery and vote trading that surrounded the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process. This article argues that to restore the public confidence in FIFA, specifically in the World Cup bid process, FIFA must aggressively punish individuals, nations, and confederations guilty of accepting or offering kickbacks, bribes, or vote trading, as well as protecting those guilty, or reasonably believed to be guilty, of such crimes. To assure that such a fundamental shift will occur, FIFA must work with other sports governing bodies to establish a World Anti-Corruption Agency. Additionally, FIFA must internally change its World Cup vote procedures to ensure fairness and transparency. FIFA must act with honor, integrity, and transparency to regain credibility and public trust. This article outlines the current rules and regulations that govern the selection of the host nation for World Cup, addresses the controversy centered on the selection process for 2018 and 2022 World Cup, and recommends a three-part solution detailing the necessary steps both FIFA and FIFA members must take to ensure the integrity of the FIFA World Cup bid process.

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Notes

  1. Brian Philips (2011). The remark from Sepp Blatter occurred after the FIFA President had been hassled by reporters, and questioned about the integrity of FIFA. Specifically he was haggled about the internal corruption within FIFA.

  2. Id.

  3. Id. Bin Hammam, a Qatari national, is the former the president of the Asian Football confederation and a former member of FIFA’s Executive Committee. After his corruption allegations the Qatari Football Association attempted to distance itself from Bin Hammam. To this day, there is speculation about what Bin Hammam’s role was or was not with the successful 2022 Qatari World Cup Bid.

  4. Id.

  5. Tony Bryant (2011) Bin Hammam advocated and fully supported FIFA’s internal investigation.

  6. Id. The FIFA Ethics Committee is an independent Ethics Committee that constitutes FIFA’s third judicial body. The committee investigates and rules on violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics. FIFA Code of Ethics, FIFA.com, http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/footballgovernance/codeethics.html.

  7. Id. FIFA’s Ethics Committee determined that Blatter would not face any investigation that he knew about the payments Bin Hammam had allegedly made. Additionally, the ethics behind Blatter’s campaign tactics were questioned. Prior to the election, Blatter announced $1,000,000 in extra funding for CONCACAF. Sepp Blatter’s (2012), http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/mar/07/sepp-blatter-fifa-investigated-committee.

  8. The Football Association is the governing body of football in England.

  9. FIFA Should Probe Sepp Blatter’s Re-election, Says Council of Europe, BBC.co.uk, 7 Mar 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17289237. Bernstein’s postponement proposal centered on an effort to help to repair the tarnished image of FIFA.

  10. John Edwards (2011), the vote to postpone the FIFA presidential election requires 75 % of the members of the FIFA Congress to vote in favor of the postponement.

  11. Id.

  12. Mike Collett (2011), The FIFA Congress elects the President of FIFA. The President is elected to serve a 4-year period in the year immediately following the World Cup. FIFA does not limit the amount of terms a president can stay in power. FIFA statues: regulations governing the application of the statutes, standing orders of the Congress, Art. 27 (2012), available at http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/01/66/54/21/fifastatutes2012e.pdf (hereinafter FIFA statutes).

  13. Supra note 8. The Council of Europe is an international organization that promotes co-operation between all countries of Europe in legal standards, human rights, democratic development, rule of law, and cultural co-operation. Council of Europe, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Europe.

  14. Sepp Blatter’s (2012), The committee met in Paris to focus on good governance and ethics in sport.

  15. Id.

  16. About the President, FIFA.com http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/president/aboutpresident.html.

  17. Id.

  18. Id. The Secretary General is also responsible for FIFA’s finances, international relations, the organization of the World Cup, and other FIFA football competitions. Administration, FIFA.com, http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/administration/index.html.

  19. Brian Homewood (2012).

  20. Id.

  21. Ex-FIFA Duo Took Bribes, ESPN.com, 11 July 2012, http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1124076/documents-confirm-former-fifa-president-joao-havelange-took-bribes?cc=5901. Reports suggest that Joao Havelange and Ricardo Teixeira, both former members of FIFA’s Executive Committee, could have received as much as twenty one million nine hundred Swiss francs from ISL while they were in office.

  22. Supra note 19.

  23. Id.

  24. Supra note 21. FIFA’s payment to the Swiss Courts resulted in a dismissal of the criminal proceedings against Havelange and Teixeira. This decision was made after the Supreme Court of Switzerland ruled that the details of the case should be available to the media.

  25. Id. Such a finding was not questioned. In an effort to increase transparency within FIFA, the organization released a report detailing Havelange’s bribery charges.

  26. Id. See the history of FIFA Presidents, FIFA.com, http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/fifa/pastpresidents.html.

  27. Shostakovich (2007).

  28. For further discussion on match fixing see Brett Forrest (2012).

  29. Supra note 1.

  30. Id.

  31. Macdonald (2010).

  32. FIFA (2011).

  33. Id. FIFA correctly prohibited the two members of the Executive Committee involved in selling their bids from vote on the World Cup host; however, FIFA missed an opportunity to send a strong message to the world. If FIFA was serious about fixing its widespread corruption problem a serious punishment would have been administered to Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma. Additionally, FIFA should have punished Qatar for paying the Executive Committee members. Failing to do so showed FIFA’s true lack of commitment to combating corruption surrounding the World Cup bid process.

  34. Supra note 21. Blatter’s knowledge about bribery within FIFA has been the subject of an ongoing debate. Blatter has admitted that he knew of the bribes paid to his predecessor, Joao Havelange. Blatter has admitted that he only became knowledgeable after the collapse of International Sport and Leisure Marketing.

  35. A Confederation is a group of football associations recognized by FIFA that belong to the same continent or general geographical region.

  36. The majority of nations have enacted some form of criminal law modeled around the international Anti Bribery and Fair Competition Act of 1998. The United States passed its original anti-corruption act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices, in 1977. As international trade and international organizations increased over time, the need for policies against corruption and bribery increased. For more discussion, see Foreign Corrupt Practices Act , UHY Advisors, http://www.uhyadvisors-us.com/uhy/Default.aspx?tabid=392; Naftalis (2003).

    This article will not focus on specific criminal punishments administered by individual nations and states. This article will specifically focus on how FIFA must work to eliminate corruption within the World Cup bid process.

  37. Undoubtedly, corruption covers the very root of football. Stories of match fixing and fake games run rampant in the sport. But, for the purposes of this article, the author will not address any of those issues. For further discussion on match fixing, refer to Brett Forrest (2012). In addition to the rampant corruption, throughout the world racism plagues. This article will not address this issue nor propose a solution on how to solve such an issue. For further discussion on the solutions to ending racism in football, see Wynn (2011). This paper will focus on one narrow aspect of football: fixing the World Cup bid process.

  38. FIFA World Cup, FIFA.com, http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldcup/index.html. FIFA did not host a World Cup in 1942 and 1946 because of World War II.

  39. Allen Butler (2006).

  40. Simon Hooper (2010).

  41. Supra note 39.

  42. Id. FIFA World Cup qualifying has evolved over time. The second World Cup introduced the qualification round. Currently, FIFA is divided into six regions; these regions are allotted a specific number of slots for the World Cup. The sum of the spots allotted equals 31. The host nation automatically qualifies to participate at the World Cup, which makes a total of 32 teams. FIFA has the right to change the number of allotted slots each season based on skill level and performance of the region in prior World Cups. FIFA retains World Cup qualifying slots for 2014, The Canadian Press, 3 Mar 2011, http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2011/03/03/sp-2014-world-cup.html.

  43. Id.

  44. Id.

  45. Id.

  46. Id.

  47. Id.

  48. Host Country Selection, TopendSports.com, http://www.topendsports.com/events/worldcupsoccer/hosts/selection.htm

  49. Id. Interestingly, before the vote took place in 1996 for the 2002 World Cup host, South Korea and Japan were competitors. The two nations combined their bids minutes before the vote. Due to the many logistical difficulties that occurred during the 2002 World Cup FIFA no longer allows nations to co-host the World Cup.

  50. FIFA World Cup Host Announcement Decision, FIFA.com, http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mencompwc/51/97/81/fs-201_13a_fwc-host.pdf. Originally, FIFA’s Congress voted on which nation would host the World Cup. FIFA’s Congress is composed of one delegate from each member nation of FIFA; therefore, each national association had one vote.

  51. Id. On 7 June 1966 FIFA’s Congress voted on the location for the 1974, 1978, and 1982 World Cup locations.

  52. Id. In 1984, when the Executive Committee first voted on host cities for the World Cup, the Executive Committee consisted of 16 members. The Executive Committee expanded to 19 members in 1988. Then it expanded to 24 members in 1996. As of July 2012, the Executive Committee consists of 25 members: 1 president, 8 vice-presidents, 1 Representative of Women’s Football, and 15 members appointed by the Confederations and Associations. FIFA Statutes, supra note 11 at art. 30.

  53. Supra note 31. The majority of bidding nations will prepare their bids for the World Cup several years in advance.

  54. Id. In order to be considered by the Executive Committee. Each bidding nation must complete the following: (1) a pre-bid show of interest, (2) an official registration of the nation’s bid, (3) establish bid committees, (4) submit an official application, including a contractual commitment to host the World Cup (5) have a FIFA-preformed inspection of the host nation facilities, and (6) perform a final presentation to the FIFA Committee.

  55. Bidding Process for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, FIFA.com, 15 Jan 2009, http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/99/74/80/20182022invitationtobidcirculare.pdf. There is no requirement that the nation currently have the requirements for the stadium met. There must only be a plan to build such stadia.

  56. Id. FIFA does not offer specific guidelines on infrastructure or supporting facilities.

  57. Id. This requirement is adherent to FIFA’s global mission to spread football throughout the world.

  58. Supra note 31.

  59. Id. Each nation submits a Bid Book to the Executive Committee. The book contains a variety of information intended to persuade the Executive Committee into selecting that nation as the host of the World Cup.

  60. Id.

  61. Id.

  62. Id.

  63. Id.

  64. Id.

  65. Id.

  66. Supra note 61.

  67. FIFA: at least 1 billion saw cup final, ESPN.com, 11 July 2011, http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6758280/least-1-billion-saw-part-2010-world-cup-final. According to FIFA’s research, more than three billion people saw at least 1 min of the 2010 World Cup.

  68. Kevin Voigt (2010) Voigt argues that a poorly planned World Cup can place a long-term financial burden on the host nation. In the event of a poorly planned World Cup, the cost to keep stadiums open will be greater than the revenue generated from the stadiums. The potential long-term economic burden demonstrates the importance for host nations properly planning the long-term economic impact of hosting the World Cup.

  69. Loni Prinsloo (2010).

  70. Id.

  71. Almost half the world tuned in at home to watch 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, FIFA.com, 11 Jul 2011, http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/organisation/media/newsid=1473143/index.html. The number that over 3.2 billion people watched the 2010 World Cup is the number of viewers that watched a minimum of 1 min of live coverage. This number is an 8 % increase from the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

  72. RSM International, Economic Impact of the World Cup, RSMI.com, http://www.rsmi.com/en/global-challenges/economic-impact-of-the-world-cup—gc.aspx. To emphasize the feelings of violence and insecurity about going to the World Cup in South Africa, stores in England were selling stab-proof vest to fans making the trip to South Africa.

  73. Supra note 69.

  74. FIFA completes World Cup TV deals, ESPN.com, 27 Oct 2011, http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/7154917/fifa-completes-185-billion-world-cup-tv-deals. FIFA earns a large portion of their revenue through selling marketing and television rights for the World Cup.

  75. Id. In March of 2011 sales for the 2018 and 2012 World Cup had already reached $1.7 billion from the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

  76. Id. This includes other tournaments hosted by FIFA. FIFA hosts the U-20 men and women’s World Cup, the Confederations Cup, the Club World Cup, the Beach Soccer World Cup, and the women’s World Cup.

  77. Id. Fox Broadcasting Company paid $1.2 billion for by for World Cup rights in the United States.

  78. Economic Impact of Hosting the World Cup for Brazil, Street and Smith’s Sports Business Global, 22 June 2012 http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Global/Issues/2012/06/22/International-Football/WC-impact.aspx. The Brazilian Bank Itaú performed the study. They predicted that because of the World Cup, Brazil’s GDP would increase by 1.5 %.

  79. Id.

  80. Id.

  81. World Cup Uproar, Sports Illustrated, 8 July 2000, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/news/2000/07/07/2006_bribery_ap/.

  82. Id.

  83. Id. The Oceania Football Confederation ordered Dempsey to switch his vote from England to South Africa after England was eliminated from the bid process. But, instead of following the Oceania Football Confederation’s orders, Dempsey, after seeking advice from legal counsel, abstained from vote in the final round.

  84. Id.

  85. Id.

  86. Brooks Peck, Blatter not ruling out 2022 World Cup revote, Yahoo!, 19 May 2011, http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/dirty-tackle/post/blatter-not-ruling-out-2022-world-cup-revote?urn=sow-wp1771. The outrage was over potential bribes that the Germans offered and those bribes that the Executive Committee accepted.

  87. Supra note 1.

  88. Id.

  89. Gauthier 2011, p. 13.

  90. Id. at 15. Following the 58th Congress Sepp Blatter released the following statement: The Executive Committee of FIFA will decide the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups at the same time, and this will be before June 2011. Currently interested are Mexico, United States, England, Spain, Netherlands–Belgium, Russia, Qatar, China, Japan and Australia. If we can offer two competitions for 8 years to our partners and broadcasters and give extra time for planning, the economic result for FIFA will be better. The existing rule that a continent cannot host the FIFA World Cup twice in a row will not be changed. This was to make sure that it would go to Africa otherwise it never would have. As the next two World Cups will be in the southern hemisphere, it is perhaps logical that Australia concentrates on the 2022 tournament. The two tournaments will be held in different continents.

    Id. (citing, joint decision on 2018 and 2022, FIFA.com, 30 May 2008, http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/qatar2022/news/newsid=783630/index.html).

  91. Tom McGowan (2012), FIFA has denied the accusation, but Blatter has confirmed that bidders colluded. See Pail Kelso (2011).

  92. Id. at 16; Owen Gibson (2010) This perception forced Japan and Australia to change their original 2018 World Cup bid to a 2022 World Cup bid. After much resistance, the United States withdrew their bid for the 2018 World Cup on 15 October 2010. Like Japan and Australia, the United States submitted a bid for the 2022 World Cup.

  93. Id.

  94. FIFA’s Amos Adumu and Reynald Temarii Banned from Football After World Cup Vote Cprruption Probe, DailyMail.co, 18 Nov 2010, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1330770/FIFAs-Amos-Adamu-Reynald-Temarii-banned-football-World-Cup-vote-corruption-allegations.html#ixzz25f8KFKwN. Prior to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup vote, allegations of vote swapping between the 2018 Spain-Portugal bid and 2022 Qatar bid occurred. These allegations were dismissed by FIFA, but later, Sepp Blatter recognized the occurrence of vote swapping.

  95. Id.

  96. Kevin Fylan (2010). The 22 members who had a vote in the World Cup a vote were Sepp Blatter (Switzerland), Julio Grondona (Argentina), Issa Hayatou (Cameroon), Chung Mong-joon (South Korea), Jack Warner (Trinidad and Tobago), Angel Maria Villar (Spain), Michel Platini (France), Geoff Thompson (England), Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium), Ricardo Teixeira (Brazil), Mohamed Bin Hammam (Qatar), Senes Erzik (Turkey), Chuck Blazer (United States), Worawi Makudi (Thailand), Nicolas Leoz (Paraguay), Junji Ogura (Japan), Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Rafael Salguero (Guatemala), Hany Abo Rida (Egypt), Vitaly Mutko (Russia).

  97. Supra note 32.

  98. Russia and Qatar to host 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, respectively, FIFA.com, 2 Dec 2010, http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/russia2018/organisation/media/newsid=1344971/index.html.

  99. Id.

  100. Id.

  101. Id. At first glance, a reasonable person could raise a suspicion on the fact that two bidders changed from Netherlands/Belgium. That suspicion can quickly be put to rest. Realizing that England only had two votes, even if both of those went to Netherlands/Belgium, they would still be eliminated for having the least amount of votes (under said scenario Russia would have nine, Spain/Portugal seven, and Netherlands/Belgium six). Therefore, to place a vote that would actually make a difference, those two individuals used their vote to assure Russia would be the host of the 2018 World Cup. Because the votes are kept secret, the real motive behind the change of vote is not known.

  102. Id.

  103. Id.

  104. Id.

  105. Id.

  106. Id.

  107. Id.

  108. Id.

  109. Id.

  110. Morris (2012).

  111. Id.

  112. Id. Morris argues the viability of his theory because the later rounds of vote are considered less predictable; therefore, Japan’s goal was to hopefully get the 2022 World Cup in the chaos that occurred in the later rounds. For Qatar, they were aware that many people would vote for them; therefore, to avoid the chaos and unpredictability of the later rounds, they attempted to gain an absolute majority in the very first round.

  113. James Dorsey (2012) Sepp Blatter stated: “I’ll be honest, there was a bundle of votes between Spain and Qatar. But it was a nonsense. It was there but it didn’t work, not for one and not for the other side”.

  114. Id.

  115. Matt Bonesteel (2010).

  116. Triesman Accuses Four FIFA Members, ESPN.com, 10 May 2011. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/917869/lord-triesman-accuses-four-fifa-officials-of-impropriety?cc=5901. If the Bribery Act of 2010 had been enacted, it is likely that these men would have faced prosecution in the United Kingdom. The Bribery Act was enacted on 1 July 2011. See Torres-Flower and Anderson (2011).

  117. Id.

  118. Id. Mike Lee, who worked with the Qatari bid committee, is on record saying that he did not see, nor did he sense any that any bribing of the voters occurred. Mike Lee is the former communications director for the Premier League, UEFA, and London’s 2012 Olympic bid.

  119. CONMEBOL is The South American Football Confederation. The name is derived from Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol. CONMEBOL is the governing body for association football in South America.

  120. CONCACAF is short for Confederation of North America, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football. CONMEBOL is the governing body for association football in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

  121. Supra note 129. Warner later asked for £500,000 to purchase Haiti’s World Cup TV rights. Both of these requests were to be placed into his own personal bank account.

  122. Id. Admittedly, Lord Triesman should have come forward with this information prior to the election. Though, in his words, he feared that coming forward with the information would significantly harm England’s chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup it is not an excuse. Failing to hold others accountable is an epidemic in FIFA. This must be address in order to change the image of FIFA.

  123. Id. It is believed that Bin Hamman had the Qatari endorsement for president.

  124. Id. Bin Hammam was originally banned for life for his bribery accusation; however, the Court of Arbitration of Sports reversed that for insufficient evidence. The court stressed that it was not an expression of innocence, but rather the evidence was merely circumstantial. A main reason for the lack of evidence is that the investigating party received only a limited amount of evidence from FIFA. The main difficulty the Court of Arbitration had was to establish the intent that the money paid was to influence votes. Soccer- Bin Hammam’s Suspension Extended by FIFA- Lawyer, Yahoo! Sports, 23 Oct 2012, http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-bin-hammams-suspension-extended-fifa-lawyer-162520303-sow.html.

  125. Supra note 114.

  126. Id.

  127. Jeremy Wilson (2010). Even though the Qatari bid proposal included stadiums that would be air-conditioned, the fans will still be greatly affected by such high temperatures. Yet, according to reports, the high-tech air-conditioned stadiums have been dismissed by the architect because they are “notoriously unsustainable”. The FIFA World Cup evaluation identified the great risk that Qatar’s air-conditioned stadiums had. Heat rises as Qatar dismisses plans for air-conditioned stadia at 2022 Football World Cup, DailyMail.co, 10 Nov 2011, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2059873/Qatar-World-Cup-Plan-air-conditioned-stadiums-dismissed.html.

  128. Id.

  129. Heat Rises supra note 127.

  130. Supra note 117.

  131. Id.

  132. Supra note 99. Sepp Blatter recommended that homosexual fans refrain from any homosexual activity while in Qatar for the World Cup. This recommendation was met with much criticism from the global community.

  133. Brian Whittaker (2012).

  134. Qatar warned over World Cup labor laws, CNN.com, 12 June 2012, http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/12/sport/football/qatar-world-cup-human-rights-watch/index.html.

  135. Id. Nearly 94 % of the workforce in Qatar is migrant workers.

  136. Id.

  137. Id.

  138. Carolyn Bandel (2011) quotation from Hans-Peter Margulies, a retired lawyer, from Zurich, Switzerland.

  139. It is regarded that when Japan, who co-hosted the World Cup in 2002 with Korea, applied for the 2022 World Cup, the majority of voters did not honestly consider the proposal set forth by the Japanese.

  140. FIFA Statutes, supra note 12 at Art. 30. In 2012, FIFA expanded their executive committee to 25 members. For the 2010 World Cup bid there were only 20 members vote after two members of the Executive Committee were accused of selling their votes for money. For the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids, there were only 22 members vote.

  141. Supra note 50.

  142. Supra note 89.

  143. Collusion is an agreement to defraud another or to do or obtain something forbidden by law. Collusion, Black’s Law Dictionary 9th edn. (2009).

  144. During the 2018/2022 World Cup bid, FIFA acknowledged that Spain/Portugal and Qatar colluded to exchange votes. Simply having a smaller number of vote members does not reduce the chances of collusion.

  145. See note 50. Previously, FIFA has granted multiple nations the right to host the World Cup. In 2002, Japan and Korea co-hosted the World Cup.

  146. FIFA Brand- Our Commitment, FIFA.com, http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/mission.html.

  147. Supra note 68. One of the largest costs with hosting the World Cup is erecting new stadiums. If the bidding nation already has many of the stadiums that are required the long-term finical burden on that nation is greatly reduced. This creates a more positive long-term result.

  148. For further discussion on FIFA’s Green Goal Initiative see Kotula (2012).

  149. Supra note 31.

  150. The World Anti-Corruption Agency is described in Sec. 3.3.

  151. Convention on combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions addressed the widespread problem in international business transactions that raised several serious moral and political concerns; these issues undermined good governance and economic development. This problem of bribery distorts the international competitive condition. The convention was clear that all nations have a responsibility to combat bribery in international business transactions. Currently 39 nations have adopted the convention on combating bribery. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, convention on combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions (2011), http://www.oecd.org/investment/briberyininternationalbusiness/anti-briberyconvention/38028044.pdf. Convention on combating bribery. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, convention on combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions, OECD, 2011, http://www.oecd.org/investment/briberyininternationalbusiness/anti-briberyconvention/38028044.pdf. The Convention was entered into on 15 February 1999, called signing nations to enact anti-bribery laws against “foreign public officials” which include “any official or agent of a pubic or international organization. These policies are adapted in the United States Foreign Corrupt Policy Act. Additionally, the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Commerce held a hearing on the need for reform in the International Olympic Committee’s site selection process. The subcommittee recommended that the United States Olympic Committee request an executive order designating the IOC as a “public international organization”. In the United States, this would make bribing an IOC official a crime punishable under the Foreign Corrupt Policy Act. The Subcommittee also requested the President of the United States to encourage others to enact similar orders. Hamilton 2010.

  152. Supra note 145. Switzerland’s Minister for Sport has been open to repealing FIFA’s not-for-profit exception in an effort to send a message to the entire organization that its corrupt acts and parties will be held accountable for their corrupt actions.

  153. Martyn Ziegler (2011).

  154. Justin Bergman (2010). Though it is still several years from being bade on, the 2026 World Cup is all but certainly China’s to host.

  155. Supra note 148.

  156. Id.

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    Ryan J. Becker

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Becker, R.J. World cup 2026 now accepting bribes: a fundamental transformation of FIFA’s world cup bid process. Int Sports Law J 13, 132–147 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40318-013-0011-7

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