The Era of Gold

Lords of Soccer

07/21/22 • 39 min

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The slow march toward corruption continues... When Brazilian businessman João Havelange took control of FIFA in 1974 it was still a modest operation, with six permanent staff and virtually nothing in the bank. By the time he retired in 1998, the soccer organization had $4 billion in the bank. But the man who built FIFA into a multi-billion dollar marketing machine would also be implicated in a string of scandals involving millions in bribes and kickbacks. Worse, Havelange had a nasty habit of cozying up to gangsters and dictators, and choosing profit over human rights.

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07/21/22 • 39 min

1 Listener

5.0

(1)

Lords of Soccer - The Era of Gold

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:02.120

Let me explain what you'll be hearing in today's episode. FIFA was founded to spread the game of soccer around the world. It's made up of representatives from member nations whose primary responsibility is to organize World Cup tournaments. So you might ask, how did this noble nonprofit turn into a money making machine that invited so much corruption. Well, color TV and colorful commercials played a big role in that money part, But the corruption