What You Don't Know About FIFA

The international governing body of soccer has been under attack.

FIFA, the federation of football, has once again broken trust of the world soccer community.

There is no doubt that the federation is under criticism for its international practices, and has received the attention of media outlets for many months. More importantly, the federation has been attempting to limit the scope of media reporting on its more questionable practices from over the last few World Cups.

The questioning comes in many forms. How are these bids being awarded for World Cup host states? Is there corruption?

The harder questions can be asked about the media reported. Are the sources biased? Are the social affects of FIFA's decision-making accurately investigated, as an international non-profit?

Think of the social affects of FIFA. When FIFA awards a World Cup host, do they ensure that the host country uses best practices in promoting the sport and its tournament?
....Or are 4,000 people dying in Qatar in order to build these stadiums?

Did the Board of FIFA consider the Brazilian economy when choosing them as a host country?

Or did riots happen on the streets and 4 stadiums go to waste, on their own accord?

The problem is not that FIFA is inconsiderate and damaging many different parts of social aspects in foreign soil (Like forcing Brazil to sell beer at soccer games).

The problem cannot be completely blamed on the executives of this office below (though, obviously there should be some comments about how productive they can really be with this lighting).

The problem is that these socio-political affects of the world's largest private federation are not monitored, nor reported on accurately. For example, FIFA has over a billion dollars in reserves, and still claims it is a non-profit organization. When the allegations surfaced towards accusations of bribery and negligence on behalf of international citizens, there was limited capability on how investigations can be conducted. Only recently have individual nations taken a stance against the Federation, and publicly investigated it's conduct.

But again, what is most important is the reporting. How is media portraying the Federation? What news surfaces and what news stays buried? Who is responsible for offering bribes, for agreeing to the terms of FIFA?

The issue arises because there is a lack of accurate documentation and reporting of FIFA's inner workings. Not surprisingly, no news source is dedicated to reporting on FIFA, and more importantly FIFA normally is only reported on in times of crisis, or when it commits an act directly related to a country.

For example, analytics website Alexa and Google trends reports that FIFA hit the news and flooded for months leading up to the World Cup in Brazil, stayed relevant with the aftermath, and quickly plummeted. Similarly, a few months later with the implications of the Qatar host news, FIFA flooded the news again.

This time called into question by news sources in the West. Specficially the United States.

Why might the United States news sources be reporting heavily on the implications of the soccer federation?
--It probably has a lot to do with the United States losing the host. IBM social analytics reported that over 50 articles written directly after the announcement of Qatar's host were a response to an American sentiment of outrage over what seemed like an absurd vote.

The conditions of Qatar have been widely exaggerated and emphasized. Again, thanks to the affects of sentiment, news sources have highlighted the downfalls of a Qatar host in 2022. Lo and behold, word begins to spread on corruption.

All of the sudden, a whistleblower (below, Chuck Blazer) emerges claiming there was corruption involved in FIFA's working.

Why is this important? Why is this suddenly relevant, and how did FIFA even come to trial for these issues?

All the horrors began to truly unfold as a result of the sentiment against a Qatari host in 2022. Outrage led to questioning. Questioning put pressure on methods, and logistics of the award. Finally, curiosity and a rising sentiment of negligence on behalf the International Federation for Football.

Sources: Creative Commons, CNN, New York Times, Alexa Analytics, and Google Trends.