The USA’s case against FIFA

The recent FIFA arrests were an international legal bombshell, the repercussions of which remain to be seen. Thankfully, our criminal justice system is flexible enough to permit these prosecutions.

FIFA, or the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, is the governing body for the world’s most popular sport, futbol, or soccer. It sits at the pinnacle of the world’s regional and local governing bodies.

Our closest American analogue is probably the NCAA, which strides atop conferences (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, etc.) and different competition classification divisions. Just as the NCAA is lord of March Madness, FIFA markets and governs the World Cup and its feeder tournaments. The difference, though, is that the NCAA is answerable to a national government, whereas FIFA is its own king.

Someone finally had to do something about FIFA after its outrageously arrogant decision giving Qatar the 2022 World Cup hosting rights. Qatar is a desert nation where world class soccer professionals (and fans for that matter) would be baking in 120-degree heat for weeks in the 2022 World Cup. There is no logical reason for having given Qatar the 2022 rights, except for the suitcases of money.

Predictably, the usual suspects (like Vladimir Putin) are complaining this is just the latest example of America being a sore loser (for our 2022 host bid). No. FIFA is about the dark side of democracy, with each member country having co-equal voices, votes directly or indirectly bought and sold, and no one government having direct authority responsible for policing FIFA.

FIFA has deftly used a combination of corporate sponsorships and bribes to ingratiate itself with government members while lining officials pockets. Money flows everywhere, benefits showered on economically starving countries. FIFA’s corruptness has flourished because so many received crumbs from the spoils.

It fell to the FBI and our Justice Department to methodically build a case against FIFA. This investigation appears to have been conducted just like any other criminal enterprise: follow the money, nab lower to mid-level managers in the criminal enterprise, and leverage arrests with promises of more lenient treatment for cooperation. The incentive to bargain information for lesser prison sentences will be just as powerful for FIFA officials as it is for drug dealers.

Until you think it through, it may seem strange to think of American courts as having authority over foreign nationals. All that is needed is some tangible connection to American soil (banking transaction, a phone call, etc.). For example, Jeffrey Webb (a FIFA official from the Cayman Islands) is alleged to have had a pool installed at his Atlanta home as a bribe payoff.

This is just one specific criminal act; weaving each one together allows for a broader prosecution. Thus, a phone call made from the U.S. to someone overseas (or from there, here) might be a thread in proving a conspiracy. Once a conspiracy web is proven, the FBI and Secret Service can envelop co-conspirators into a single indictment, even for acts committed solely on foreign soil by foreign nationals.

More powerful is what is at the heart of the FIFA indictment: a RICO count. As long as two or more predicate acts occurred here, a racketeering umbrella can be used to prosecute individuals having no other nexus to the United States but for the criminal enterprise. These are the same principles used to prosecute terrorists and drug lords. It is also how we took down Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.

In the FIFA indictment, the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office sets out clearly and succinctly how our banks were utilized in so many of the criminal transactions. It goes on to define FIFA itself as a criminal enterprise. The marriage of these two elements, criminal act with criminal enterprise, gives the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office the power and authority to prosecute anyone who is a member of FIFA for any act committed world-wide.

This indictment is just the first stanza in a story yet to be fully written. In the next several months, we can expect some (if not all) of the 14 named co-defendants to turn on each other as well as those yet to be charged. Plea deals will lead to more evidence and more co-defendants being charged. FIFA exists today as we know it, but it might not tomorrow, when the final denouement is written. All thanks to our Justice Department’s hard efforts.

Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston Co. Chief Assistant District Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor. Visit www.rockefellerlawcenter.com to submit confidential legal questions, and to review former articles and Frequently Asked Questions.

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