Sport

The Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) insists that governments are not permitted to interfere in football affairs, especially with FAs. But history tells a very different story. Many, many years ago FIFA failed its first test miserably.

FIFA (the Federation of International Football Associations) became a byword for corruption until the FIFAGate Scandal brought the Ancien Régime of football crashing down. Bizarrely, for a billion-dollar industry FIFA that organisation was established as a not for profit but came to symbolise graft

The FIFAGate Scandal of 2015 unmasked the industry and hypocrisy at the highest levels of the game. It resulted in bans and even jail for some. It was clear that FIFA (the Federation of International Football Associations) had become a bloated and corrupt institution. Joseph Sepp Blatter became the only FIFA President to be impeached and then banned from football. But for his age – he was in 90s – Blatter’s predecessor, João Havelange would have suffered a similar fate.