FIFA is horrible and untold numbers of people will needlessly die so Qatar can have its soccer stadiums for the World Cup. You know that already, but sadly there’s always more corruption and exploitation to expose when it comes to FIFA.


The latest details comes from a pair of German networks, ARD and WDR. Journalists working on the project said they were detained, had all their material erased, and their equipment demolished while shooting in Qatar. The full program, about 45 minutes long, aired tonight on Germany’s Das Erste channel.


The clip above shows some of the deplorable conditions of the workers in Qatar. Below, the confront the director of Cypriot oil company Petrolina; this magnate is a member of the FIFA executive committee who voted for Russia and Qatar. His company’s profits went up by a third after they signed a contract with a a subsidiary of Gazprom, the state-owned natural gas company in Russia. He also got a lucrative business deal in Qatar worth tens of millions of dollars, and both deals just happened to coincide with FIFA awarding the World Cups to those two countries. The Petrolina director insists it is all just business, and sees no conflict of interest:

Also in the show is discussion of Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou, outlining his past scandals and refusal to talk to reporters about them—despite FIFA claiming it is a “new, open era” of access for journalists:



This clip below discusses some of the accusations of embezzlement and misappropriation of public resources that have entangled two football administrators in Africa:

Will any of these horrible facts finally convince FIFA to change its ways? Probably not. FIFA pulled in more than $2 billion in revenue last year. Almost all of that money came from the World Cup.

[ARD and WDR]



Additional reporting by Raphael Orlove.