June 23, 2022 • 32 mins
The five-star Baur-Au-Lac Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland caters to the world’s elite. Among its regular patrons, members of FIFA, which has its headquarters nearby. In May of 2015, just as the sun rose over bucolic Lake Zurich, authorities raided the hotel. The corrupt empire the Lords of Soccer had built was crashing down around them. Many FIFA’s biggest names would find themselves in handcuffs, led out by Swiss police as part of a raid that took down more than a dozen soccer officials, indicted on a range of charges, from money laundering to racketeering.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our story moves from the gaudy lobby of New York's
Trump Tower to the elegant one hundred and seventy seven
year old Barlock Hotel located on the banks of Lake
Zurich in Switzerland. The five star Borlock Hotel is the
type of place you walk in and immediately stand up
(00:21):
a little straighter. You can expect to find businessmen and
handcrafted suits alongside exquisite women wearing the latest fashion from
Paris in Milan. With its manicured private gardens along Lake Zurich,
a lobby adorn not just with art, but with nineteenth
century European tapestries, its rooms can run into the thousands
(00:44):
of dollars a night. It is as much a hotel
as it is a parade of wealth, power and privilege.
Another important fact, the Borlock is the place FIFA executive
stay when they're in down visiting the organization's headquarters. Just
(01:07):
a short ten minutes or so dry from the hotel,
you'll find FIFA House, as the headquarters is called. It
couldn't be more different than the ritzy Bora Lack Hotel.
A modern steel and glass structure, FIFA House is a fortress.
It was built two thirds underground, almost as if FIFA
meant it to be impenetrable, almost as if FIFA had
(01:32):
something to hide. The headquarters was built on the watch
of longtime FIFA president sept Bladder, who like to say,
and I quote, places where people make decisions should only
contain indirect light. So why have I taken you on
this architectural tour of Zurich Because this is where that
(01:56):
two thousand and ten meeting between Chuck Blazer and Age
from the FBI and the I R S would lead us.
I'm Connor Powell. This is episode two the Raid. On
the morning of May two thousand and fifteen, just as
(02:18):
the sun was coming up over Zurich, soccer's most powerful
men were gathered in the Barlock Hotel for a meeting
later that day at FIFA House. Unbeknownst to them, to
New York Times reporters had taken up seats in the
hotel's lobby, tipped off that something big was about to
go down. We told the gentleman behind the front desk
(02:40):
that we were there for a breakfast meeting and wouldn't
be all right if we waited, and he said sure,
that's Sam Borden, a long time sports journalist now with ESPN.
Sam doesn't normally wear a suit, but he told me
he decided that spring morning he should the boar Lock
he thought was the type of place where men wait
in the lobby should look the part boarding and investigative
(03:04):
reporter Michael Schmidt, where they're on assignment for The New
York Times. They knew something important was about to happen,
something that would rock the cloistered world of international soccer.
Then it began, and about six six am, all of
a sudden, a group of a dozen, maybe eighteen sixteen
(03:26):
eighteen men walk into the lobby. It became very clear
that something was going to happen. Wearing jeans, dark sweatshirts
and sneakers, this pedestrian mix of Swiss police and American
FBI agents couldn't have looked more out of place, and
yet the hotel was now firmly in their control. They
(03:47):
go to the front desk and they show a whole
bunch of paperwork to the gentleman behind the front desk.
Presumably these are arrest warrants. And obviously at this point
there's sort of a commotion in the lobby because there's
like one, maybe two people working this early morning shift
for the hotel, and now all of a sudden, there's
several dozen police officials in the lobby. Schmidt sent a
(04:09):
tweet to his thousands of followers. It read Swiss law
enforcement getting room numbers for FIFA executives. They are heading
upstairs to arrest. Schmidt and Borden were recording the initial
moments of the most significant corruption takedown in international sports history,
(04:30):
and yet it was a surprisingly civilized affair. I'm sitting
there and I'm just watching the elevator looking to see, Okay,
when an elevator leaves the lobby, I'll be able to
tell what floor it goes to by looking at the
numbers above the doors. And at some point the elevator
starts moving and I see that it's going to I
think it was either the third of the fourth floor.
(04:51):
So I go up to the third of the fourth
floor and I follow several police officials as they go
down the hall. You know from existence, would follow them
and they knock on the door. I was sort of
expecting it to be like something you would see from
a movie, where these guys would be like in you know,
uniforms and you know, riot gear and carrying like big
(05:13):
guns and to sort of kick the door in, And
it was not like that at all. I remember thinking
in the moment that if you were sleeping in the
room next door, I don't know that you would have
been woken up. Sam Borden went on to describe the
raid in a way I've never heard a police raid described.
It was very pleasant, as pleasant as law enforcements demeanor
(05:34):
might have been. It was a rude awakening for the
seven FIFA officials whose hotel doors received those polite knocks.
These lords of soccer had entered the Barlock hotel expecting
to enjoy the protections that come with great privilege. Now
they were being marched out in the harsh morning light,
(05:55):
indicted criminals, using whatever they could to shield themselves from
the public's glare. We saw several of those FIFA officials
led from the hotel. I think it was the hotel
staff trying to protect their appearance, if not their dignity,
with white hotel sheets. Word of the dawn raids spread
quickly around the world as newspapers, TV stations, and social
(06:17):
media reported the arrest. Major corruption crackdown going down right now.
Arrest made around the world this morning was like something
out of a crime thriller. High ranking officials from FIFA,
the sports governing body, arrested in an overnight rate in Switzerland,
the result of a sweeping FBI investigation. The US Justice
Department accuses them of corruption and bribe taking, involving tens
(06:40):
of millions of dollars. The raid was the culmination of
a US federal case years in the making, an investigation
that had largely stalled until the I R s Flip
Chuck Blazer that fateful November day outside Trump Tower in Manhattan.
The allegations hardly came as a surprise to long time
FIFA critics, but the fact that it was breaking out
(07:03):
in the open was, in a word, shocking. FIFA had
operated with impunity for decades, and yet as significant as
these arrests were, the scope of the scandal was only
just coming into focus. Now. You might ask yourself, why
(07:25):
did it take so long to do something about FIFA
and its corrupt leadership. Part of the answer is and
how absolutely huge soccer is as a sport, and how
important it is to the leaders of FIFA's member nations.
The same leaders who are vying to host big tournaments
like the World Cup are the ones who would have
(07:46):
to take enforcement action against FIFA. Let me try to
offer some perspective. Yeah, it's the products ultimate gay. Soccer
is a popular game if you live in the United States.
It's hard to a's just how popular it is. Some
fans describe it as a religion, or at least as
(08:07):
important as religion, and they're not kidding. Here's a comparison.
About a hundred and three million people watch the Super
Bowl in two thousand and eighteen. That same year, some
three and a half billion people, if you can believe it,
watch the World Cup tournament, with more than a billion
(08:28):
alone tuning in for the final match between Croatia and France.
It will be some concin on the shows and they
say to nights from all the champions of the world. Well,
it's possible you weren't one of them. It's likely you
know someone who did, especially if you know someone who
lives in Europe, Asia, South America, or Africa, pretty much
(08:52):
the entire rest of the world where soccer is king.
Imagine then the power one has to oversee a sport
of that magnitude as you already know. FIFA runs the
World Cup, along with a host of other related tournaments,
but the organization thinks of itself as something more, almost divine.
(09:14):
But FIFA, it's our responsibility to develop the game for
future generations and to protect its integrity. That's part of
FIFA's mission statement from a few years ago. You can
find it on their website, and it's well, absolutely absurd.
Football is the hart and soul of FIFA. It's debatable
(09:34):
whether soccer the game or the lessons it imparts, or
even a top priority. Money and the making of money
and the finding ways the stuff that money into offshore
bank accounts. That seems to be far more important for
soccer's ruling elite. And here's how the FIFA machine is structured.
FIFA governs the sport internationally and organizes the Men's and
(09:57):
Women's World Cup tournaments, which are held be four years.
FIFA hosts several smaller tournaments as well. Collectively, they bring
in more than four billion dollars in revenue, pretty good
money for an organization that doesn't run any leagues, just
a few tournaments every couple of years. FIFA is for
the most part, an association of countries There are currently
(10:19):
two hundred and eleven members, which means FIFA is actually
larger than the United Nations because while the country, like
the United Kingdom, is part of the u N, Wales,
England and Scotland are all separate members of FIFA and
each has one vote in our democratic system. FIFA is
separated into six regional confederations, each with its own staggering
(10:43):
history of corruption, but most of our story will focus
on the Big three UEFA, the European Confederation CONKI, CAALF,
the North American one and came Bowl, South America's umbrella organization.
As the guardians of the global game, it is on
duty to serve the world of football. At the top
(11:03):
of FIFA is the President and the Executive Committee. These
are really the lords of soccer, several of whom in
two thousand and fifteen were arrested at the Barlock Hotel.
In theory, they set the vision and craft the strategy
for FIFA and the global soccer community. In reality, for
the most part, they treat the sport like their own
(11:24):
personal fiefdoms and FIFA like their own private piggy bank.
And on the long list of crooked soccer officials, Jack
Warner is a standout. He's the former president of Conka
caffeine buddy to Chuck Blazer. He also sent that email
to Blazer you heard about an episode one that caused
(11:44):
Blazer's meltdown. For years, Warner was one of the sports
most powerful executives and its most corrupt. Warner's story is
almost unbelievable, and it serves as an illustration of what
FIFA really was and how business really got done. The
(12:13):
honor guards snapped to attention as the frail South African
anti apartheid leader exited the Gulf Stream jet. It was
the spring of two thousand and four and Nelson Mandela
was unwell. He struggled to walk down the plan's short
staircase and then across the tarmac to where a small
podium was waiting. Mandela, the Nobel Prize winning activists, managed
(12:37):
only a few words, but the excited crowd of politicians
and locals didn't seem to care as they yelled at
his nickname, my Diba Madba. At eighty five years old,
Mandela was exhausted. He hadn't slept on the twenty four
hour flight from South Africa to Trinidad and Tobago. He
really didn't want to be there, but his country needed
(12:59):
him once again. And for Jack Warner, feva's powerful vice president,
that was leverage. Now. At this time, Mandela hadn't been
traveling anywhere under doctor's orders, but will I insisted, so
South Africa, for the sake of the World Cup bid,
essentially had doctors to make the trip across the ocean.
(13:25):
That's journalist Losana Liebird, who's been reporting on Conker Calf
for more than a decade. South Africa was on the
cusp of winning the right to host the two thousand
and ten World Cup, the first African nation to do so.
Four years earlier, South Africa had been the bookmaker's favorites
to win the two thousand and six World Cup bid.
(13:46):
After losing out unexpectedly, the pressure was on their leaders
to deliver Mandel's visit to Trinidad and Tobago was seen
as key to securing Jack Warner's all important support. He
was just one of twenty four voters, but Warner was
known as a kingmaker within FIFA. If Mandela could woo
(14:08):
the kg FIFA executive, South Africa would be one very
crucial step closer to hosting the two thousand and ten
World Cup. It was far from a done deal. As
a member of FIFA's executive committee, Warner had already been
to Morocco. In Egypt, Warner, along with Chuck Blazer and
(14:29):
other FIFA executives, had been wined, dined, and nearly bribed.
In Marrakesh, they were given fine China handmade rugs and
offered one million dollars for their votes. While in Cairo,
Warner asked for seven million dollars from the Egyptians. They
(14:49):
turned them down. Instead, the Egyptians organized the fifty car
motor Kid to the Pyramids of Giza, where the four
thousand year old Sphinx was fired with speakers and announced
I have waited thousands of years a host of FIFA
World Cup. The stunts didn't work, and here's why Warner
(15:14):
was an ambitious politician. He saw an opportunity at home
that went beyond money. Bringing the legendary Mandela to Trinidad
and Tobago with Bolster Warner politically in a way money couldn't,
and also illustrated the extent of his power in FIFA's world.
If Warner said jump, even South Africa's most famous Son
(15:36):
was forced to say how high South Africa's gamble appeared
to have worked. Once the votes were counted. The two
thousand and ten FIFA Bold Cup will be organized people
South Africa's moment. The country, indeed the continent, was at
(15:57):
the center of the world. A nation it text to
everyone said it was Mandela magic that bagged them the tournament.
To the outside world, it seemed as if Mandela's charm,
personal determination and strength of character had one over Warner,
who along with Blazer, helped secure South Africa's victory. But
(16:17):
after investigators raided the Barallac Hotel in May of two
thousand and fifteen, an entirely different, darker story emerged. It's
the ten million dollar question. Was this historic moment the
result of a ten million dollar bribe? A defining moment
in football? The twenty ten World Cup on African soil
(16:38):
for the first time and attended by Nelson Mandela, the
former president, synonymous with the end of apartheid in South Africa.
Now its legacy is at risk. US prosecutors alleged South
African football officials paid a ten million dollar bribe to
secure the rights to host the tournament. Warner wasn't moved
(16:58):
by Mantella. Warner was bribed. It's emerged the money was
first transferred to FIFA in Switzerland, then to Trinidadian and
former FIFA Vice president Jack Warner. The FBI says they
tried to disguise the bribe. South African officials insisted the
payment made to FIFA was above board and was supposed
to support the development of soccer among the African diaspora
(17:21):
in the Caribbean. Here's the South African sports minister at
the time. The fact that a payment of ten million
rand's u S dollars was made to an approved program
above bot does not equate to bribery. But the money
accepted by FIFA and then approved for payment by its
(17:42):
General Secretary Jerham Valc wasn't paid to Conquer CALF or
any other legitimate soccer organization in the Caribbean. Instead, it
was paid directly to Jack Warner. Here again, as journalist
Losana Liberd Warna didn't make a habit of Levigini's position
for the benefit of curry Ben Football or Tronadad and
Tobago football as much as he tried to pay in
(18:03):
that picture. As we've seen our particularly with the investigations
within the US. He leveraged his positioned the suit himself financially.
Here's the BBC confronting Jack Warner trying to get to
the bottom of the bribery scandal. He turns with a
ten million dollars Warner, Where did the ten million dollars
go to? Can you tell us warm projects? Mr? Warner?
(18:27):
When confronted, Warner couldn't account for the money, but journalists
later uncovered documents that showed FIFA's payments went straight into
accounts controlled by Warner. In Trinidad and Tobago. Nearly five
billion dollars came through here and there's not a football
pitching side. Once it was paid to Warner, the money
just disappeared. This type of brazen bribery was common, and
(18:52):
not only with Warner but throughout FIFA. Our problems here
always went well beyond Jack Warner, and I would say
that the corruption that we saw with Jackuana was really
only a symptom. It was always stage handled in Zurich.
It was set up for him the profit off of
because that's all we are to FIFA really just votes.
(19:16):
The votes like Bird refers to, are of course for
world cup bids. Jack Warner left FIFA in disgrace in
two thousand and eleven, kicked out, as you heard in
the previous episode, for trying to fix the presidential election
in favor of Mohammed bin Hamm. But Warner's exit didn't
change much. In fact, his successor at Conker Calf, Jeffrey Webb,
(19:38):
tried as hard as he could to replicate Warner's predatory ways.
It's January two thousand and fourteen and the car cynical
(19:59):
as Hanka Capps, new president, stride to the podium, he
radiates stylish sophistication with perfectly tailored suits and a designer
watch collection. Jeffrey Webb didn't just shine in the room,
he commanded it. On this night, he was getting honored
by the United Nations for his work to raise awareness
about HIV AIDS, just one of the many initiatives he
(20:23):
had launched when he took control of Conker Calf the
North American Soccer Confederation. I have the mindset that you
know what the game can can embark society. That's Webb.
But it was Webb's dual promise of confronting racism and soccer.
We are not going to to rid racism from from
(20:43):
our society, but we must read it from from our
game and of cleaning up corruption, we must move the
clouds and allow the sunshine in. It's a new Day
for CONCO. That added gravitas and legitimacy to his debonair appearance.
Long before Webb became the head of Conkercalf and a
(21:04):
FIFA Vice president, he was appointed to its Internal Audit Committee,
where he had defended Set Bladder against rumors of corruption
in two thousand and two. Webb builds a reputation as
a reformer and was even talked about as a successor
to Bladder by the time he took over Conka Caffe
in two thousand and twelve. The Cayman Island native embodied
(21:25):
the style and substance that so many FIFA officials before
him had only pretended to represent. Even with his two
million dollar a year Conka caff salary, frequent use of
private jets, and love of nightlife, Webb appeared to be
exactly what soccer needed after Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer's
(21:46):
scandalous tenure. But not everyone saw Webb as a savior
of global soccer. Certainly not Jose Avila. Avila was one
of soccer's most important dealmakers and the owner of the
sports marketing firm Traffic Group. Jose ah Vila got his
start as a sports announcer covering Brazilian soccer in the
(22:06):
nineties seventies. He built a small media empire with TV
stations and newspapers, then went into sports marketing. Traffic Group
came to dominate the lucrative contracts with FIFA's American and
Latin American football confederations. When the man known as the
Boss of Brazilian football first met Jeffrey Webb in London
(22:28):
in two thousand and twelve, all the sports marketing mogul
saw was another crooked FIFA official, albeit a well dressed one.
If a Vila wanted access to conker cops lucrative regional tournaments,
Webb demanded he pay him a jaw dropping on every
deal he made. Even by FIFA's greedy standards, it was
(22:52):
a stunning request. A Vila had been paying bribes for
more than twenty years. He knew he'd have to pay one.
He just hoped to talk Web down a little bit.
A few months later after their initial London meeting, Abilla's
firm wired one million dollars to web. The hands in
the cookie jar might have changed, but they were as
(23:14):
greedy as ever. After his meeting with the FBI and
I R S agents outside of Trump Tower in two
thousand and eleven, Chuck Blazer, Warner's right hand man turned
FBI informant, was asked to do what pretty much every
government snitches asked to do. At some point where a wire,
(23:38):
Blazer had already outlined FIFA shady inner workings for the FBI,
mapping out years of corruption. He not only connected the dots,
Blazer showed federal agents how soccer system of illegal payments
were made and who made him now. The FBI wanted
Blazer to record his conversations with dodgy soccer officials, but
(24:00):
there was just one problem. Blazer was physically too big
to wear a wire. When he moved, the wire disconnected
and his sweat threatened to short circuit the listing device.
I swear I'm not making this up. The FBI instead
came up with another plan and inserted a microphone inside
a small key fob. The idea was he would place
(24:23):
his keys on the table during a conversation. Blazer hated
the idea. I mean, he really loathed it. He argued
and fought with his FBI handlers. He insisted it was
beneath a man of his importance and taste to toss
keys on a table, which, considering the types of places
(24:43):
he frequented, expensive New York steakhouses and Michelin Star type restaurants,
it wasn't exactly wrong. And yet as Blazer sat down
at a table and a five star restaurant in London
and the closing days of the two thousand and t
of Summer Olympics with Jose Avila, the same man Jeffrey
Webb would later squeeze, they're the key fob sat waiting
(25:07):
for the two crooks to talk. Avila had been at
the center of soccer corruption ever since he founded his
sports marketing company, Traffic Group. The Brazilian Mogul started paying
bribes in the late eighties and never stopped regularly doling
out cash to win the rights to organize some of
FIFA's premiere events, including Conka Caps Gold Cup Tournament and
(25:30):
come Bols Copa America. Advertisers and broadcasters who wanted deals
with the coveted Copa America and Copa du Brazil tournaments
had to go through traffic because they had exclusive marketing rights.
That's from a CNN investigation. By the way, among the
many FIFA officials, a Vila bribed or Jack Warner and
(25:51):
Chuck Blazer. At first, the bribes were relatively small, a
few hundred thousand dollars, but as the advertising revenue rule,
so did the payoffs. Byteen avlan Co conspirators had agreed
to pay one d million dollars in bribes for a
COPA Medica contract spread among eleven different FIFA officials. As
(26:14):
Blazer and a Vela sat chatting that summer day in
two thousand and twelve, Blazer pressed Avila to talk about
a six hundred thousand dollar payment the Brazilian had made
to Blazer back in two thousand and three. Blazer had
requested the money years earlier as a loan. It was
the type of loan both men knew would never get
(26:35):
paid back. As they sat there in London talking, the
fob recorded every word. A Villa said he couldn't remember
the payment. He stalled suspicious maybe, but he promised Blazer
he would look into it. The Brazilian had avoided implicating
himself for now, But Blazer had told the FBI all
(26:57):
about how a Vela operated, and now the FEDS were
tracking the moguls every move. So who is Jose a Vila?
At sixty nine years old, a Vila had built a
fortune buying and selling the rights to broadcast soccer games.
(27:18):
He had almost sold his stake in Traffic Group, but
when the two thousand and eight financial crisis hit, his
two hundred and eighty million dollar paid a just disappeared overnight. Now,
five years later, he was once again ready to get out.
Sports marketing was getting more competitive and the payoffs were
getting larger and more difficult to facilitate. A Villa didn't
(27:41):
want the hassle anymore. He had already made a ton
of money, more than he knew what to do with.
Welcome to Miami and May of two thousand and thirteen,
the Brazilian businessman arrived in Miami, hoping to add a
four thousand square foot beach side home to his already
impressive stable of properties. Then his hotel phone rang and
(28:02):
the front desk asked him to come down to the lobby.
Avila was surprised it was six in the morning. What
came next terrified him. In the lobby was an FBI agent,
Jared Randall, introduced himself and asked if Avila had ever
tried to bribe soccer officials. Then Agent Randall listed off
(28:25):
several names, Nicholas Leo's, Ricardo to Shara, and Chuck Blazer. Stunned,
Avila pleaded ignorance. After a short conversation, Randall thanked him
and left. Avila had just lied to the FBI, and
the FBI knew it. Chuck Blazer had provided federal investigators
(28:47):
with documents and receipts of wire transfers detailing hundreds of
thousands of dollars and bribes he had received from a
villa and traffic group. Now, this is another key moment
in the two thousand and fifteen FIFA case that led
to the raid at the Borlak. There was a whole
group of people that paid bribes, There's a whole group
(29:09):
of people that assisted and facilitated the movement of those bribes,
and then there's a whole bunch of people that accepted
those bribes. That's former I R. S. Special Agent Amy
Schabillion pointing out that bribery in the twenty century requires
a lot of people to facilitate illegal payments, particularly bribes
paid by wire transfer, which is how many of FIFA's
(29:31):
illegal payments were made. Even though their originate, let's say,
from Switzerland, and they end up in Uruguay, they still
have to come through the US. The US financial system
is the foundation of global finance. Just about every payment
made in the world touches an American bank, which means
the US government has jurisdiction in just about every case
(29:52):
of financial corruption. So if you ever wondered how the
FBI and the I r S got involved in a
global SoC or bribery scandal, well it's because the crooks
at FIFA used the U S system to make their payments,
giving the Department of Justice jurisdiction. And once Jose ah
Vila lied to FBI agent Jared Randall that early morning
(30:16):
in Miami, the FBI had all it needed to arrest him.
A few days later, the FBI did just that. Not surprisingly,
the multi millionaire who spent his life frolicking among the
rich and famous, chose the flip just like Chuck Blazer,
rather than risk spending the rest of his life in
a US prison. After his arrest, A Villa took up
(30:40):
residence in an apartment in New York City as he
worked with investigators. FIFA's corruption the most well known secret
and global sports would soon be printed in black and
white and held up by America's Attorney General for the
whole world to see. They were expected to uphold the
rules that keeps soccer honest and to protect the integrity
(31:01):
of the game. Instead, they corrupted the business of worldwide
soccer to serve their interests and to enrich themselves. You'll
hear that and more in the next episode of The
Lords of Soccer. The Lords of Soccer Al FIFA Stole
the Beautiful Game is an Inside Voices Media production in
(31:24):
conjunction with I Heart Radio. The series was written and
executive produced by Gary Scott and me Connor Powell. Logan
Heftell and Katie mcmurran provided the sound design with assistance
from j. C. Swaddick and Jake blue Note. Alec Cowen
is our associate producer and Jeffrey Katz was our story editor.
(31:45):
Our fact checker is Alexa O'Brien and thanks to Miles Gray,
who produced the series for I Heart Radio. If you
have any comments or questions, please reach out You can
find us on Twitter. I'm at Connor M Powell and
Gary is at Gary Robert Scott. And if you have
any stories about FIFA, let us know. If you like
(32:06):
what you hear, please give us a shout out at
the hashtag Lords of Soccer
Our story moves from the gaudy lobby of New York's
Trump Tower to the elegant one hundred and seventy seven
year old Barlock Hotel located on the banks of Lake
Zurich in Switzerland. The five star Borlock Hotel is the
type of place you walk in and immediately stand up
(00:21):
a little straighter. You can expect to find businessmen and
handcrafted suits alongside exquisite women wearing the latest fashion from
Paris in Milan. With its manicured private gardens along Lake Zurich,
a lobby adorn not just with art, but with nineteenth
century European tapestries, its rooms can run into the thousands
(00:44):
of dollars a night. It is as much a hotel
as it is a parade of wealth, power and privilege.
Another important fact, the Borlock is the place FIFA executive
stay when they're in down visiting the organization's headquarters. Just
(01:07):
a short ten minutes or so dry from the hotel,
you'll find FIFA House, as the headquarters is called. It
couldn't be more different than the ritzy Bora Lack Hotel.
A modern steel and glass structure, FIFA House is a fortress.
It was built two thirds underground, almost as if FIFA
meant it to be impenetrable, almost as if FIFA had
(01:32):
something to hide. The headquarters was built on the watch
of longtime FIFA president sept Bladder, who like to say,
and I quote, places where people make decisions should only
contain indirect light. So why have I taken you on
this architectural tour of Zurich Because this is where that
(01:56):
two thousand and ten meeting between Chuck Blazer and Age
from the FBI and the I R S would lead us.
I'm Connor Powell. This is episode two the Raid. On
the morning of May two thousand and fifteen, just as
(02:18):
the sun was coming up over Zurich, soccer's most powerful
men were gathered in the Barlock Hotel for a meeting
later that day at FIFA House. Unbeknownst to them, to
New York Times reporters had taken up seats in the
hotel's lobby, tipped off that something big was about to
go down. We told the gentleman behind the front desk
(02:40):
that we were there for a breakfast meeting and wouldn't
be all right if we waited, and he said sure,
that's Sam Borden, a long time sports journalist now with ESPN.
Sam doesn't normally wear a suit, but he told me
he decided that spring morning he should the boar Lock
he thought was the type of place where men wait
in the lobby should look the part boarding and investigative
(03:04):
reporter Michael Schmidt, where they're on assignment for The New
York Times. They knew something important was about to happen,
something that would rock the cloistered world of international soccer.
Then it began, and about six six am, all of
a sudden, a group of a dozen, maybe eighteen sixteen
(03:26):
eighteen men walk into the lobby. It became very clear
that something was going to happen. Wearing jeans, dark sweatshirts
and sneakers, this pedestrian mix of Swiss police and American
FBI agents couldn't have looked more out of place, and
yet the hotel was now firmly in their control. They
(03:47):
go to the front desk and they show a whole
bunch of paperwork to the gentleman behind the front desk.
Presumably these are arrest warrants. And obviously at this point
there's sort of a commotion in the lobby because there's
like one, maybe two people working this early morning shift
for the hotel, and now all of a sudden, there's
several dozen police officials in the lobby. Schmidt sent a
(04:09):
tweet to his thousands of followers. It read Swiss law
enforcement getting room numbers for FIFA executives. They are heading
upstairs to arrest. Schmidt and Borden were recording the initial
moments of the most significant corruption takedown in international sports history,
(04:30):
and yet it was a surprisingly civilized affair. I'm sitting
there and I'm just watching the elevator looking to see, Okay,
when an elevator leaves the lobby, I'll be able to
tell what floor it goes to by looking at the
numbers above the doors. And at some point the elevator
starts moving and I see that it's going to I
think it was either the third of the fourth floor.
(04:51):
So I go up to the third of the fourth
floor and I follow several police officials as they go
down the hall. You know from existence, would follow them
and they knock on the door. I was sort of
expecting it to be like something you would see from
a movie, where these guys would be like in you know,
uniforms and you know, riot gear and carrying like big
(05:13):
guns and to sort of kick the door in, And
it was not like that at all. I remember thinking
in the moment that if you were sleeping in the
room next door, I don't know that you would have
been woken up. Sam Borden went on to describe the
raid in a way I've never heard a police raid described.
It was very pleasant, as pleasant as law enforcements demeanor
(05:34):
might have been. It was a rude awakening for the
seven FIFA officials whose hotel doors received those polite knocks.
These lords of soccer had entered the Barlock hotel expecting
to enjoy the protections that come with great privilege. Now
they were being marched out in the harsh morning light,
(05:55):
indicted criminals, using whatever they could to shield themselves from
the public's glare. We saw several of those FIFA officials
led from the hotel. I think it was the hotel
staff trying to protect their appearance, if not their dignity,
with white hotel sheets. Word of the dawn raids spread
quickly around the world as newspapers, TV stations, and social
(06:17):
media reported the arrest. Major corruption crackdown going down right now.
Arrest made around the world this morning was like something
out of a crime thriller. High ranking officials from FIFA,
the sports governing body, arrested in an overnight rate in Switzerland,
the result of a sweeping FBI investigation. The US Justice
Department accuses them of corruption and bribe taking, involving tens
(06:40):
of millions of dollars. The raid was the culmination of
a US federal case years in the making, an investigation
that had largely stalled until the I R s Flip
Chuck Blazer that fateful November day outside Trump Tower in Manhattan.
The allegations hardly came as a surprise to long time
FIFA critics, but the fact that it was breaking out
(07:03):
in the open was, in a word, shocking. FIFA had
operated with impunity for decades, and yet as significant as
these arrests were, the scope of the scandal was only
just coming into focus. Now. You might ask yourself, why
(07:25):
did it take so long to do something about FIFA
and its corrupt leadership. Part of the answer is and
how absolutely huge soccer is as a sport, and how
important it is to the leaders of FIFA's member nations.
The same leaders who are vying to host big tournaments
like the World Cup are the ones who would have
(07:46):
to take enforcement action against FIFA. Let me try to
offer some perspective. Yeah, it's the products ultimate gay. Soccer
is a popular game if you live in the United States.
It's hard to a's just how popular it is. Some
fans describe it as a religion, or at least as
(08:07):
important as religion, and they're not kidding. Here's a comparison.
About a hundred and three million people watch the Super
Bowl in two thousand and eighteen. That same year, some
three and a half billion people, if you can believe it,
watch the World Cup tournament, with more than a billion
(08:28):
alone tuning in for the final match between Croatia and France.
It will be some concin on the shows and they
say to nights from all the champions of the world. Well,
it's possible you weren't one of them. It's likely you
know someone who did, especially if you know someone who
lives in Europe, Asia, South America, or Africa, pretty much
(08:52):
the entire rest of the world where soccer is king.
Imagine then the power one has to oversee a sport
of that magnitude as you already know. FIFA runs the
World Cup, along with a host of other related tournaments,
but the organization thinks of itself as something more, almost divine.
(09:14):
But FIFA, it's our responsibility to develop the game for
future generations and to protect its integrity. That's part of
FIFA's mission statement from a few years ago. You can
find it on their website, and it's well, absolutely absurd.
Football is the hart and soul of FIFA. It's debatable
(09:34):
whether soccer the game or the lessons it imparts, or
even a top priority. Money and the making of money
and the finding ways the stuff that money into offshore
bank accounts. That seems to be far more important for
soccer's ruling elite. And here's how the FIFA machine is structured.
FIFA governs the sport internationally and organizes the Men's and
(09:57):
Women's World Cup tournaments, which are held be four years.
FIFA hosts several smaller tournaments as well. Collectively, they bring
in more than four billion dollars in revenue, pretty good
money for an organization that doesn't run any leagues, just
a few tournaments every couple of years. FIFA is for
the most part, an association of countries There are currently
(10:19):
two hundred and eleven members, which means FIFA is actually
larger than the United Nations because while the country, like
the United Kingdom, is part of the u N, Wales,
England and Scotland are all separate members of FIFA and
each has one vote in our democratic system. FIFA is
separated into six regional confederations, each with its own staggering
(10:43):
history of corruption, but most of our story will focus
on the Big three UEFA, the European Confederation CONKI, CAALF,
the North American one and came Bowl, South America's umbrella organization.
As the guardians of the global game, it is on
duty to serve the world of football. At the top
(11:03):
of FIFA is the President and the Executive Committee. These
are really the lords of soccer, several of whom in
two thousand and fifteen were arrested at the Barlock Hotel.
In theory, they set the vision and craft the strategy
for FIFA and the global soccer community. In reality, for
the most part, they treat the sport like their own
(11:24):
personal fiefdoms and FIFA like their own private piggy bank.
And on the long list of crooked soccer officials, Jack
Warner is a standout. He's the former president of Conka
caffeine buddy to Chuck Blazer. He also sent that email
to Blazer you heard about an episode one that caused
(11:44):
Blazer's meltdown. For years, Warner was one of the sports
most powerful executives and its most corrupt. Warner's story is
almost unbelievable, and it serves as an illustration of what
FIFA really was and how business really got done. The
(12:13):
honor guards snapped to attention as the frail South African
anti apartheid leader exited the Gulf Stream jet. It was
the spring of two thousand and four and Nelson Mandela
was unwell. He struggled to walk down the plan's short
staircase and then across the tarmac to where a small
podium was waiting. Mandela, the Nobel Prize winning activists, managed
(12:37):
only a few words, but the excited crowd of politicians
and locals didn't seem to care as they yelled at
his nickname, my Diba Madba. At eighty five years old,
Mandela was exhausted. He hadn't slept on the twenty four
hour flight from South Africa to Trinidad and Tobago. He
really didn't want to be there, but his country needed
(12:59):
him once again. And for Jack Warner, feva's powerful vice president,
that was leverage. Now. At this time, Mandela hadn't been
traveling anywhere under doctor's orders, but will I insisted, so
South Africa, for the sake of the World Cup bid,
essentially had doctors to make the trip across the ocean.
(13:25):
That's journalist Losana Liebird, who's been reporting on Conker Calf
for more than a decade. South Africa was on the
cusp of winning the right to host the two thousand
and ten World Cup, the first African nation to do so.
Four years earlier, South Africa had been the bookmaker's favorites
to win the two thousand and six World Cup bid.
(13:46):
After losing out unexpectedly, the pressure was on their leaders
to deliver Mandel's visit to Trinidad and Tobago was seen
as key to securing Jack Warner's all important support. He
was just one of twenty four voters, but Warner was
known as a kingmaker within FIFA. If Mandela could woo
(14:08):
the kg FIFA executive, South Africa would be one very
crucial step closer to hosting the two thousand and ten
World Cup. It was far from a done deal. As
a member of FIFA's executive committee, Warner had already been
to Morocco. In Egypt, Warner, along with Chuck Blazer and
(14:29):
other FIFA executives, had been wined, dined, and nearly bribed.
In Marrakesh, they were given fine China handmade rugs and
offered one million dollars for their votes. While in Cairo,
Warner asked for seven million dollars from the Egyptians. They
(14:49):
turned them down. Instead, the Egyptians organized the fifty car
motor Kid to the Pyramids of Giza, where the four
thousand year old Sphinx was fired with speakers and announced
I have waited thousands of years a host of FIFA
World Cup. The stunts didn't work, and here's why Warner
(15:14):
was an ambitious politician. He saw an opportunity at home
that went beyond money. Bringing the legendary Mandela to Trinidad
and Tobago with Bolster Warner politically in a way money couldn't,
and also illustrated the extent of his power in FIFA's world.
If Warner said jump, even South Africa's most famous Son
(15:36):
was forced to say how high South Africa's gamble appeared
to have worked. Once the votes were counted. The two
thousand and ten FIFA Bold Cup will be organized people
South Africa's moment. The country, indeed the continent, was at
(15:57):
the center of the world. A nation it text to
everyone said it was Mandela magic that bagged them the tournament.
To the outside world, it seemed as if Mandela's charm,
personal determination and strength of character had one over Warner,
who along with Blazer, helped secure South Africa's victory. But
(16:17):
after investigators raided the Barallac Hotel in May of two
thousand and fifteen, an entirely different, darker story emerged. It's
the ten million dollar question. Was this historic moment the
result of a ten million dollar bribe? A defining moment
in football? The twenty ten World Cup on African soil
(16:38):
for the first time and attended by Nelson Mandela, the
former president, synonymous with the end of apartheid in South Africa.
Now its legacy is at risk. US prosecutors alleged South
African football officials paid a ten million dollar bribe to
secure the rights to host the tournament. Warner wasn't moved
(16:58):
by Mantella. Warner was bribed. It's emerged the money was
first transferred to FIFA in Switzerland, then to Trinidadian and
former FIFA Vice president Jack Warner. The FBI says they
tried to disguise the bribe. South African officials insisted the
payment made to FIFA was above board and was supposed
to support the development of soccer among the African diaspora
(17:21):
in the Caribbean. Here's the South African sports minister at
the time. The fact that a payment of ten million
rand's u S dollars was made to an approved program
above bot does not equate to bribery. But the money
accepted by FIFA and then approved for payment by its
(17:42):
General Secretary Jerham Valc wasn't paid to Conquer CALF or
any other legitimate soccer organization in the Caribbean. Instead, it
was paid directly to Jack Warner. Here again, as journalist
Losana Liberd Warna didn't make a habit of Levigini's position
for the benefit of curry Ben Football or Tronadad and
Tobago football as much as he tried to pay in
(18:03):
that picture. As we've seen our particularly with the investigations
within the US. He leveraged his positioned the suit himself financially.
Here's the BBC confronting Jack Warner trying to get to
the bottom of the bribery scandal. He turns with a
ten million dollars Warner, Where did the ten million dollars
go to? Can you tell us warm projects? Mr? Warner?
(18:27):
When confronted, Warner couldn't account for the money, but journalists
later uncovered documents that showed FIFA's payments went straight into
accounts controlled by Warner. In Trinidad and Tobago. Nearly five
billion dollars came through here and there's not a football
pitching side. Once it was paid to Warner, the money
just disappeared. This type of brazen bribery was common, and
(18:52):
not only with Warner but throughout FIFA. Our problems here
always went well beyond Jack Warner, and I would say
that the corruption that we saw with Jackuana was really
only a symptom. It was always stage handled in Zurich.
It was set up for him the profit off of
because that's all we are to FIFA really just votes.
(19:16):
The votes like Bird refers to, are of course for
world cup bids. Jack Warner left FIFA in disgrace in
two thousand and eleven, kicked out, as you heard in
the previous episode, for trying to fix the presidential election
in favor of Mohammed bin Hamm. But Warner's exit didn't
change much. In fact, his successor at Conker Calf, Jeffrey Webb,
(19:38):
tried as hard as he could to replicate Warner's predatory ways.
It's January two thousand and fourteen and the car cynical
(19:59):
as Hanka Capps, new president, stride to the podium, he
radiates stylish sophistication with perfectly tailored suits and a designer
watch collection. Jeffrey Webb didn't just shine in the room,
he commanded it. On this night, he was getting honored
by the United Nations for his work to raise awareness
about HIV AIDS, just one of the many initiatives he
(20:23):
had launched when he took control of Conker Calf the
North American Soccer Confederation. I have the mindset that you
know what the game can can embark society. That's Webb.
But it was Webb's dual promise of confronting racism and soccer.
We are not going to to rid racism from from
(20:43):
our society, but we must read it from from our
game and of cleaning up corruption, we must move the
clouds and allow the sunshine in. It's a new Day
for CONCO. That added gravitas and legitimacy to his debonair appearance.
Long before Webb became the head of Conkercalf and a
(21:04):
FIFA Vice president, he was appointed to its Internal Audit Committee,
where he had defended Set Bladder against rumors of corruption
in two thousand and two. Webb builds a reputation as
a reformer and was even talked about as a successor
to Bladder by the time he took over Conka Caffe
in two thousand and twelve. The Cayman Island native embodied
(21:25):
the style and substance that so many FIFA officials before
him had only pretended to represent. Even with his two
million dollar a year Conka caff salary, frequent use of
private jets, and love of nightlife, Webb appeared to be
exactly what soccer needed after Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer's
(21:46):
scandalous tenure. But not everyone saw Webb as a savior
of global soccer. Certainly not Jose Avila. Avila was one
of soccer's most important dealmakers and the owner of the
sports marketing firm Traffic Group. Jose ah Vila got his
start as a sports announcer covering Brazilian soccer in the
(22:06):
nineties seventies. He built a small media empire with TV
stations and newspapers, then went into sports marketing. Traffic Group
came to dominate the lucrative contracts with FIFA's American and
Latin American football confederations. When the man known as the
Boss of Brazilian football first met Jeffrey Webb in London
(22:28):
in two thousand and twelve, all the sports marketing mogul
saw was another crooked FIFA official, albeit a well dressed one.
If a Vila wanted access to conker cops lucrative regional tournaments,
Webb demanded he pay him a jaw dropping on every
deal he made. Even by FIFA's greedy standards, it was
(22:52):
a stunning request. A Vila had been paying bribes for
more than twenty years. He knew he'd have to pay one.
He just hoped to talk Web down a little bit.
A few months later after their initial London meeting, Abilla's
firm wired one million dollars to web. The hands in
the cookie jar might have changed, but they were as
(23:14):
greedy as ever. After his meeting with the FBI and
I R S agents outside of Trump Tower in two
thousand and eleven, Chuck Blazer, Warner's right hand man turned
FBI informant, was asked to do what pretty much every
government snitches asked to do. At some point where a wire,
(23:38):
Blazer had already outlined FIFA shady inner workings for the FBI,
mapping out years of corruption. He not only connected the dots,
Blazer showed federal agents how soccer system of illegal payments
were made and who made him now. The FBI wanted
Blazer to record his conversations with dodgy soccer officials, but
(24:00):
there was just one problem. Blazer was physically too big
to wear a wire. When he moved, the wire disconnected
and his sweat threatened to short circuit the listing device.
I swear I'm not making this up. The FBI instead
came up with another plan and inserted a microphone inside
a small key fob. The idea was he would place
(24:23):
his keys on the table during a conversation. Blazer hated
the idea. I mean, he really loathed it. He argued
and fought with his FBI handlers. He insisted it was
beneath a man of his importance and taste to toss
keys on a table, which, considering the types of places
(24:43):
he frequented, expensive New York steakhouses and Michelin Star type restaurants,
it wasn't exactly wrong. And yet as Blazer sat down
at a table and a five star restaurant in London
and the closing days of the two thousand and t
of Summer Olympics with Jose Avila, the same man Jeffrey
Webb would later squeeze, they're the key fob sat waiting
(25:07):
for the two crooks to talk. Avila had been at
the center of soccer corruption ever since he founded his
sports marketing company, Traffic Group. The Brazilian Mogul started paying
bribes in the late eighties and never stopped regularly doling
out cash to win the rights to organize some of
FIFA's premiere events, including Conka Caps Gold Cup Tournament and
(25:30):
come Bols Copa America. Advertisers and broadcasters who wanted deals
with the coveted Copa America and Copa du Brazil tournaments
had to go through traffic because they had exclusive marketing rights.
That's from a CNN investigation. By the way, among the
many FIFA officials, a Vila bribed or Jack Warner and
(25:51):
Chuck Blazer. At first, the bribes were relatively small, a
few hundred thousand dollars, but as the advertising revenue rule,
so did the payoffs. Byteen avlan Co conspirators had agreed
to pay one d million dollars in bribes for a
COPA Medica contract spread among eleven different FIFA officials. As
(26:14):
Blazer and a Vela sat chatting that summer day in
two thousand and twelve, Blazer pressed Avila to talk about
a six hundred thousand dollar payment the Brazilian had made
to Blazer back in two thousand and three. Blazer had
requested the money years earlier as a loan. It was
the type of loan both men knew would never get
(26:35):
paid back. As they sat there in London talking, the
fob recorded every word. A Villa said he couldn't remember
the payment. He stalled suspicious maybe, but he promised Blazer
he would look into it. The Brazilian had avoided implicating
himself for now, But Blazer had told the FBI all
(26:57):
about how a Vela operated, and now the FEDS were
tracking the moguls every move. So who is Jose a Vila?
At sixty nine years old, a Vila had built a
fortune buying and selling the rights to broadcast soccer games.
(27:18):
He had almost sold his stake in Traffic Group, but
when the two thousand and eight financial crisis hit, his
two hundred and eighty million dollar paid a just disappeared overnight. Now,
five years later, he was once again ready to get out.
Sports marketing was getting more competitive and the payoffs were
getting larger and more difficult to facilitate. A Villa didn't
(27:41):
want the hassle anymore. He had already made a ton
of money, more than he knew what to do with.
Welcome to Miami and May of two thousand and thirteen,
the Brazilian businessman arrived in Miami, hoping to add a
four thousand square foot beach side home to his already
impressive stable of properties. Then his hotel phone rang and
(28:02):
the front desk asked him to come down to the lobby.
Avila was surprised it was six in the morning. What
came next terrified him. In the lobby was an FBI agent,
Jared Randall, introduced himself and asked if Avila had ever
tried to bribe soccer officials. Then Agent Randall listed off
(28:25):
several names, Nicholas Leo's, Ricardo to Shara, and Chuck Blazer. Stunned,
Avila pleaded ignorance. After a short conversation, Randall thanked him
and left. Avila had just lied to the FBI, and
the FBI knew it. Chuck Blazer had provided federal investigators
(28:47):
with documents and receipts of wire transfers detailing hundreds of
thousands of dollars and bribes he had received from a
villa and traffic group. Now, this is another key moment
in the two thousand and fifteen FIFA case that led
to the raid at the Borlak. There was a whole
group of people that paid bribes, There's a whole group
(29:09):
of people that assisted and facilitated the movement of those bribes,
and then there's a whole bunch of people that accepted
those bribes. That's former I R. S. Special Agent Amy
Schabillion pointing out that bribery in the twenty century requires
a lot of people to facilitate illegal payments, particularly bribes
paid by wire transfer, which is how many of FIFA's
(29:31):
illegal payments were made. Even though their originate, let's say,
from Switzerland, and they end up in Uruguay, they still
have to come through the US. The US financial system
is the foundation of global finance. Just about every payment
made in the world touches an American bank, which means
the US government has jurisdiction in just about every case
(29:52):
of financial corruption. So if you ever wondered how the
FBI and the I r S got involved in a
global SoC or bribery scandal, well it's because the crooks
at FIFA used the U S system to make their payments,
giving the Department of Justice jurisdiction. And once Jose ah
Vila lied to FBI agent Jared Randall that early morning
(30:16):
in Miami, the FBI had all it needed to arrest him.
A few days later, the FBI did just that. Not surprisingly,
the multi millionaire who spent his life frolicking among the
rich and famous, chose the flip just like Chuck Blazer,
rather than risk spending the rest of his life in
a US prison. After his arrest, A Villa took up
(30:40):
residence in an apartment in New York City as he
worked with investigators. FIFA's corruption the most well known secret
and global sports would soon be printed in black and
white and held up by America's Attorney General for the
whole world to see. They were expected to uphold the
rules that keeps soccer honest and to protect the integrity
(31:01):
of the game. Instead, they corrupted the business of worldwide
soccer to serve their interests and to enrich themselves. You'll
hear that and more in the next episode of The
Lords of Soccer. The Lords of Soccer Al FIFA Stole
the Beautiful Game is an Inside Voices Media production in
(31:24):
conjunction with I Heart Radio. The series was written and
executive produced by Gary Scott and me Connor Powell. Logan
Heftell and Katie mcmurran provided the sound design with assistance
from j. C. Swaddick and Jake blue Note. Alec Cowen
is our associate producer and Jeffrey Katz was our story editor.
(31:45):
Our fact checker is Alexa O'Brien and thanks to Miles Gray,
who produced the series for I Heart Radio. If you
have any comments or questions, please reach out You can
find us on Twitter. I'm at Connor M Powell and
Gary is at Gary Robert Scott. And if you have
any stories about FIFA, let us know. If you like
(32:06):
what you hear, please give us a shout out at
the hashtag Lords of Soccer
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