The Inside Man

The story of soccer, or football, as most of the world knows it is one of contradictions. There is the pure joy of the game, the beautiful game, the ballet of the masses that has made soccer a truly global sport with billions of fans. And then there are those men, and they were all men. They're the ones behind the World Cup, soccer's ultimate contest. They are the lords of soccer, and they've pocketed millions of dollars while failing to live

up to the basic standards of the game itself. This is the story of how their agreed finally caught up with him. Yeah, it's it's ultimate game. Is doing a really excellent job. Playing fair may have cost Australia a chance to host the World Cup. Crisis of corruption on full display for the world. The game was hijack. Keith's alleged tradition of bribery is taking a real human toll. I'm very proud of our accomplishments. I'm Connor Powell. This is episode one The Inside Man. It's a brisk November

evening in the year two thousand and eleven. An electric scooter rolls slowly across the pink and rose colored marble lobby of the fifty eight story Trump Tower in downtown Manhattan. The man on the scooter is Chuck Blazer. He's a rare American on FIFA's Executive Committee for nearly twenty years. He's traveled the world by private jet, stayed in five star hotels, and rubbed elbows with a host of celebrities,

sports stars, and world leaders. On this crisp Autumn night, Blazer, with a head of hair and beard as bushy and white as Santa Clauss, is making his way to Uncle Jack's, a posh New York steakhouse on the West Side. He's joined by friends, including the woman he's dating the former soap opera actress Marylynn Blanks. Because of his weight, which has balloon to more than four hundred pounds, he relies

on a mobility scooter for assistants. Like many FIFA executives, Blazers now in restaurants around the world for spending thousands of dollars on food, alcohol, and pretty much whatever the hell he wanted. In New York, Blazer was known as much for his love of strip clubs as he was for his love of Max, his blue and gold pet parrot. Max was regularly seen around town sitting on Blazer's shoulder. On this fateful night, Max the parrot was left upstairs

in one of Blazers too yes to luxury Trump Tower apartments. Combined, they cost nearly two thousand dollars a month. One of the apartments was just for his cats, who apparently paid a lot, and so we're rewarded with a residence of their own. You might be wondering, like I did, how this morbidly obese, clearly eccentric American sports marketing executive from Queens, New York ended up on soccer's international governing council. You might also asked, how can he afford such luxuries like

two penthouse apartments in downtown Manhattan. The federal agents, one from the Internal Revenue Service and the other from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have been wondering the same thing. They were waiting for Blazer in the atrium of Trump Tower that very night. Looking every bit the part of Gemen and their conservative business suits, they approached the surprise Blazer as he and his friends were leaving the building through its obnoxious gold awning entrance on East fifty six Street.

Steve Berryman of the i r S and Jared Randall of the FBI introduced themselves. They told Blazer they were investigating corruption in international soccer and especially at FIFA. Blazer froze, his face turned white. They informed them the I r S couldn't find any records of him paying US taxes for years now. Meeting outside of the glitsee Trump Tower would have been an awkward place to cry poverty, and anyways, Blazer was too proud of his extravagant life that he

had built to pretend it didn't exist. Blazer always knew this day might come. He was always really fundamentally insecure. That's Mary Pappenfuss. She co wrote the book about Blazer called American Huckster. How Chuck Blazer got rich from and sold out the most powerful cabal in world sports. And he told mary Lynn that he was afraid people are going to finally find out who he was. And she said, who's that? And he said, just a fat crook from Queens. And I think that was his self image. He was

a fat crook from Queens. He's gonna grab whatever he could when he could just gonna, you know, go to the wall and maybe die before anyone caught him. Berryman handed Blazer a white legal document. The subpoena ordered him to turn over all of his financial records. Blazer was facing at least thirty years in jail just for tax evasion and more many more. If the rumors of fraud, money laundering, racketeering that swirled around his time at FIFA we're true. That's why the FBI was there. But Randall

and the FBI worn't after just Blazer. They had much bigger designs. So they made him an offer he couldn't refuse. It was maybe a thirty forty minute meeting and they said, we can arrest you right now or you can wear a wire, And he said, I'll wear a wire. In a heartbeat, FIFA's extraordinary greed was about to catch up with them. Blazer was just a vulnerable link in a corrupt chain, a pressure point the FBI and I r s could use to expose the wider fraud they had

suspected for years. For decades, the rules of the game had been rigged by FIFA. For FIFA, maybe it was inevitable, given the organization's history of playing footsie with murderous dictators and shady oligarchs. So let me take you back to the beginning of two thousand and eleven when it all really began to unravel for Blazer and ultimately for FIFA itself. It started when Blazer's longtime soccer partner, Jack Warner, was caught with envelopes full of cash trying to buy FIFA's

presidential election. But before we go too deep into our story, let me first explain what FIFA is besides the letters you see printed on official soccer balls. The Federation International Day Football Association was founded in in Paris. It runs international soccer, the World Cup, the Women's World Cup, and a host of other smaller tournaments. Collectively, these games are watched by more than four billion people. That's more than

half the planet. No surprise, then, that FIFA pulls in billions of dollars each year, and by these measures it's been a great success. FIFA is also an epic failure, a testament to greed. There's long been talk of widespread corruption, a rot at the highest levels of the organization. In two thousand and fifteen, two other organizations with acronyms you already know, the FBI and the i r S, arrested more than a dozen former in current FIFA members on

charges of bribery, fraud, and money laundry. These arrests, many of which can be traced back to that chilly fall meeting with Blazer, rip back the curtain of institutional rot and dirty dealings of an organization operating completely out of bounds. Even over the noise of the TV, Marylynn Blanks could hear the anger and her boyfriend, Chuck Blazer's voice as he talked on the phone with a soccer official from the Bahamas. Blazer's TV was always on and always loud.

It was a lot like Blazer himself, so when he threw his phone across the penthouse bedroom. Blanks knew whatever was wrong must be bad, and it was. You see, before he agreed to be a snitch for the US government, Blazer was a reluctant whistleblower. I mean, don't get me wrong. You wouldn't confuse him with some do good or anti corruption advocate. Blazer was just a crooked stuck in a

tug of war between two other crooks. And to understand on how all of this fits together and why Blazer threw his phone across his bedroom, you need to hear about an email Blazer received a couple of weeks before from his longtime boss, Jack Warner, a FIFA Vice president and the head of conker CALF, the Confederation of North Central America and Caribbean Association Football, one of FIFA's six

regional confederations. Blazer and Warner had been partners and allies in world soccer since Warner was first elected the head of Conker CALF. They had built a successful, lucrative relationship despite being polar opposites. They seem like Mutton Jeff, really very very different from completely different worlds, but for some reason they hit it off. Blazer was this physically imposing, gregarious,

Jewish marketing executive from Queens. He made his living traveling from sales convention to sales convention, selling you know, pretty much anything he could. He was also a suburban soccer dad, and that's when he spotted a trend that changed the course of his life. Says Mary papin Puss. He knew nothing about soccer, but what he did notice was that all of these kids were playing soccer, and all of these parents were into soccer, and he thought, this is

the future of sports. Through a combination of charisma and force of will, he rose through the ranks of international soccer. Along the way, he forged new and very profitable sponsorships and TV marketing deals in the US and around the world. Warner was every bit the soccer fanatic that Blazer wasn't. He was also wired, thin, brash, a black man raised Catholic who taught history on the tiny island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. He was known most for making things

happen for himself and his friends. He's journalist Grant Wall, who has covered international soccer for more than twenty years, describing Warner, he was always a pretty clever, kg guy, for Jack Warner, it was always about getting the best deal for himself. Two took over the poor and historically weak soccer federation Conker Calf. Together they built it into

a massive soccer marketing empire. In the late eighties, he teamed up with Jack Warner, who was the president of the Trendad and Tobago Federation, a guy who understood politics, and they decided that Jack Warner would run for president of Conkacalf, Chuck Blazer would run as general secretary, and that they would get all the votes in the Caribbean because Jack Warner was involved. They worked together for a really long time, with Warner's president and Blazer's general secretary.

The money started rolling in. With this ring of sponsorships and TV agreements. The duo turned the once backwater soccer association into a revenue generating powerhouse for FIFA. These guys were getting rich. Here's Blazer bragging about his accomplishments. Is doing a really excellent job of promoting football around the world. If I look back ten years, twenty years and see the progress we made, I'm very proud of our accomplishments. In the shady world of FIFA. The pair with sticky

fingers fit right in. Blazer became known as Mr ten percent because of a contract that entitled him to a ten percent commission on all of Conky Caps marketing deals and Warner. He had long been suspected of fixing matches, selling World Cup tickets on the black market, and even worse, seeking gifts in return for supporting World Cup bids. Their partnership made them fabulously wealthy, propelling them up the ranks of interne national soccers ruling elite, and landed them spots

on FIFA's all powerful Executive Committee. It also earned them the trust of President set Bladder, who led FIFA from until two thousand and fifteen. By trust, I mean no one got on FIFA's executive committee without bladders full support. The ultimate sporting power broker, the most powerful man in world football, Bladder, he's the mayor of World Soccer. FIFA is his baby. He's treated as a head of state, and he flies in private planes, and he's given great

difference around the world. Part politician and it seems to me part mafia boss. Bladder ruled international soccer with an iron fist, just like in the mafia. If you earn for the family. The family provides for you. Warner and Blazer owed their wealth and status to the empire. Bladder ruled. So back to that email Warner's sent to Blazer on April first, two thousand and eleven, Warner was about to risk all of their success and possibly fortunes on a

foolish scheme. When the email first arrived, Blazer was furious he couldn't believe what he was reading. Warner wrote in the email that he had decided to support set Bladder's challenger in the upcoming two thousand and eleven FIFA presidential election. Jack Warner was backing Mohammad been Hammam, a long time FIFA official and president of the Asian Soccer Federation. The battle for the presidency has been likened to a civil

war within the organization. The then sixty two year old from the oil rich nation of Qatar stood little chance of unseating Bladder on his own, but Qatar had already shocked the sports world once before. Do we know to organize the two twenty to FIFA vote? Cup is Ka That's right, just a few months before, in December of two thousand and ten, the small desert nation of just over a million and a half people was awarded the World Cup. It lacked modern FIFA style stadiums and had

no soccer pedigree whatsoever. What Qatar did have was money, lots of oil and gas money and a desire to be a player on the world stage, and so too did Mohammed ben Hamm, who orchestrated Qatar's World Cup winning bid over countries like Australia, Japan, and the United States. Still, Jack Warner's plan to back ben Hamm seemed needlessly reckless

the Blazer. As part of his scheme, Warner had invited bin Hamm to Trinidad and Tobago's capital, port of Spain, to meet with about twenty five of the Caribbean's most important soccer bosses who would vote in the upcoming FIFA election. Together, they could swing the vote against Bladder and in favor of ben Hamm. In the shadowy back rooms of FIFA dealmaking. That meant money, lots of money in the pockets of

soccer officials who would choose the next FIFA president. After reading the email, a panic Blazer immediately fired off a sarcastic response to Warner. Journalist Mary pap and Fuss saw the email. I think this first line was I hope this is an April Fool's joke, but actually was April Fool's Day. The Warner's plan was anything but a joke. Chuck heard about it and he was just panicky, and he told him, we can do this more discreetly, in

a better way. He said, please, don't do this. Weeks later, when Jack Warner in the Caribbean Soccer Bosses met in Port of Spain, he barreled ahead with his plan. Warner's lack of discretion was on full display when he told out one million dollars on behalf of ben Hamm and small brown paper envelopes. And that's what Blazer had learned in the call that made him so angry that he threw his phone across the room. They passed out forty thousand dollar bribes in cash to twenty five members of

the Caribbean Football Union. One of the officials from the Bahamas, who was in the room with Warner, had called Blazer to tell them about the bribes. What no one knew at the time but we know now was part of the two day meeting in Port of Spain was filmed.

The audio it isn't great, But if you could see the grainy video, you'd see a nondescriptive conference room in Trinidad's High Regency Hotel with about two dozen and Caribbean soccer officials sitting behind long rows of tables, each one with a small bottle of water and a clear drinking glass at their side. We do have the audio. You can hear Jack Warner on tape brazenly urging his fellow Caribbean soccer officials to accept the quote gift for Mohammed

bin Hammams. You want to use it. And if you ever wondered what it might sound like if ethics and integrity were blatantly mocked in the act of bribery, well Warner happily provided a script telling anyone who considered returning the money because of ethical concerns to go open to church. I know that us get some people here who believe the modo. If you churchmen, if you're pious, open to

church friends. No one would accuse Blazer of being pious, And yet he was beside himself after hearing about the bribes and the envelope stuffed with cash. His longtime partner in crime had crossed soccer's godfather, the most powerful man in world sport, Sep Bladder, Chuck Blazer, and Jack Warner were now on opposite sides of the battle for control of FIFA. Here again, Mary pappenfuss I think if it had been done more discreetly, with more sophistication, and Sep

Ladder would have been lost. The position Chuck wouldn't have cared. It was just it couldn't have been contained because there were whistleblowers calling people up. So he knew he had to come out fast on the right side. That was, you know, the red line. Chuck had to turn Jack in or go down in flames with him. Anxious, angry, afraid, Blazer knew he had no choice but to report Warner

to FIFA's leadership. Still, he hesitated for a few days, knowing full well that his longtime friend could be vindictive and that Warner knew all of Blazer's personal secrets, secrets that could in Blazer's FIFA career or even worse, Landaman prisons. A frantic Blazer made a call to FIFA's Secretary General Jerome Valk, the one man many thought could be taught football chiefs set Blatter withdraws. Mohammed bin Hammam of Kata

says he won't stand for FIFA president. It's a last minute decision taken just before he was due to answer claims of corruption, and soccer's ruling bosses immediately opened an ethics investigation. The FIFA scandal rumbles on. Within days, Warner and bin Hammam were out banned from the sport. Football's governing body is trying to tackle its shading inner workings

by suspending two executives on corruption charges. Bladder would easily be reelected for a fourth term as FIFA's president, and then he casually brushed aside the entire scandal that was steering his sport right in the face. Here's set Bladder crisis. What is a crisis? If somebody, if you would describe to me what there is a crisis, then I would answer football is not in the crisis. Blazer was hailed as a hero and went before the camera as the

clean face of an organization long suspected of corruption. Um, what can be tons playing up? Pay for what I did? And I just to turn around and do it, expose it where it exists. The journalist grand Wall notes the irony. For a while, it was hilarious check Blazer was being called a whistleblower when Chuck Blazer had been just as corrupt as Jack Warner hands in hand for decades. From the outside the chet holy Field Federal Building in Orange County, California,

I couldn't look more out of place. With its steep triangular walls, it looks more like an ancient Mesopotamian temple than the US government building. Inside, however, with its endless bright fluorescent lights, white tile floors, and rows of cubicles,

it looks and feels like what it is. The regional offices of the Internal Revenue Service in August of two thousand and eleven, just a few months after Warner tried to bribe those Caribbean soccer officials, Assistant Special Agent in charge Amy shaw Billion was at her desk when she was forwarded a news article from one of her senior agents, Steve Berryman. You'll remember Berryman as one of the two federal agents who stopped Blazer outside of Trump Tower on

that Chris November night in two thousand and eleven. Berriman rushed into Chabillion's office to show her a news article with the headline FBI examines US soccer bosses financial records. The British investigative journals Andrew Jennings detailed five hundred thousand dollars worth of suspicious payments made to Blazer from dodgy Caribbean soccer officials. The British public were irate with FIFA after losing out on the two thousand and eighteen World

Cup to Russia. Britain's press were sniffing around for stories about FIFA corruption, confident that Russia and Qatar bribed FIFA officials to win their World Cup bids. At the time, Blazer was still flying high as the whistleblower on FIFA corruption. Is faith for inherently corrupt. I think individuals are for a long time followers of global sport, like Andrew Jennings,

Blazer's act was an ironic twist of events. Jennings had spent the better part of the previous two decades chronicling FIFA's shady inner workings, and had written several books about FIFA's corruption. Jennings knew Blazer's hands were dirty. When questioned by Jennings and other journalists, Blazer didn't deny receiving the offshore payments, he insisted, though all the transactions were done legally. Jennings new Blazer's explanation of the payments didn't add up.

Blazers carefully constructed house of cards was beginning to collapse, not only for him but also for FIFA, and after seeing the news that Jennings broke, Berryman, a lifelong soccer fan, thought it best to look more closely at Blazer's claims. He looked into the tax filing and discovered it there was a really good potential for a tax case. That's Amy Sabillian, Berryman's boss. We didn't see any open bank

accounts even in his name. From my perspective, I saw somebody that was living pretty high living here in the United States, clearly making income and not filing despite the appearance of overflowing wealth. Remember the two Trump Tower apartments. Blazer hadn't filed US taxes in years. Mary pap Infest told me there's an easy explanation. Blazer's money was in fact FIFA's money. He didn't spend a penny of his own money. Conker Calf, the local FIFA organization, paid his

rent every time he went out to dinner. Everything he ate was paid for. If the FBI was sniffing around FIFA, as media reports suggested, and Steve Berryman had just discovered a sure fire way to get inside a FIFA's inner circle, Chuck Lazier Chabillion's office reached out to the FBI to offer its help. The team presented it to them to see if they were interested in inviting us into their case. Again. The Department of Justice and the FBI have been tracking

FIFA's corruption for years. It's dodgy TV deals, the payments of crooked officials in World Cup vote buying, but federal investigators had made surprisingly little progress in their case against the secretive international organization based in Zurich, Switzerland, a country famous for its secretive banking system. What Berryman had uncovered and was now offering the FBI was what law enforcement agencies throughout history have needed to crack any large scale

corruption conspiracy. An inside man. Chabillion only realized later how important the Blazer break had been. I really did not understand the gravity of that connection with FIFA. There were members of the team that we're thinking this is huge. I remember thinking, uh, yeah, all right, you know, tax case sounds awesome. You know, that's what I want my agents to be working. And if it became something bigger

than all, all the better. What started as an I r S investigation into an eccentric and colorful sports executive turned into one of the largest international corruption cases in history and would lead to dozens of FIFA officials being charged with fraud, corruption, and money laundering. The investigation would wipe out most of FIFA's entrenched senior leadership and exposed the dark underbelly of world soccer. Butbi rate is only the start of our story. Actually, it's more like the

middle of our story. FIFA's corruption and depravity run deeper than money laundering and bribery. Since the nineteen fifties, FIFA's leaders have been accused of enabling dictators and turning a blind eye to gross human rights violations. Its history is one built on colonialism and inherent racism, and maybe it's no wonder that history led to an organization some say looks more like the mafia than a modern sports empire.

Its top executives are accused of using the organization's vast wealth to buy influence, line their pockets and remain in power. Coming up on Episode two, A corrupt kingdom that took decades to build comes crashing down as the Lords of Soccer get a rude awakening from the U. S. Department of Justice. The Lords of Soccer, How FIFA Stole the Beautiful Game is an Inside Voices Media production in 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. 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 what you hear, please give us a shout out at the hashtag Lords of Soccer