FIFA Corruption Scandal: 7 Most Damning Allegations Ever

The first major scandal to hit FIFA was allegations of large-scale bribery in 2006. British reporter Andrew Jennings and BBC programme Panorama screened an investigative piece about a secret deal for FIFA members to repay £1 million worth of bribes to International Sports Leisure (ISL).

It alleged that numerous officials had received money in exchange for giving ISL successive World Cup marketing contracts. Jennings also alleged that the money to be returned was a fraction of the 175 bribes paid by ISL to FIFA top brass - totalling more than $100 million in the past.

None of this would have likely come to light if it were not for the fact that ISL went bankrupt in May 2001. This begged the question: how many other organisations contracted to FIFA over the decades have operated in a similar fashion?

FIFA’s ethics committee – funded of course by FIFA - handled the investigation internally. Many have pointed out that the due process to investigate and then release these reports to the public take an extraordinarily long time. Dr. Nicolás Leoz, president of Conmebol – FIFA’s South American governing body – announced his retirement from the presidency in 2013 at the age of 84, one week before a FIFA ethics report was released implicating him of involvement in the ISL scandal.

It should be noted that this report came eight years after initial allegations were made, and 12 years after ISL went out of business. Dr. Leoz was another of the FIFA members arrested this week.