The way FIFA chooses which countries host the World Cup doesn’t make sense. The organization is corrupt. We can do something to fix it. Corruption damages the sport.
In 2015 twelve FIFA officials from eight countries were found guilty of money laundering, fraud and bribery of about $150 million.
In Qatar, it’s too hot to play soccer outside during the summer. It still hosted the 2022 games. There were better choices for countries to host the World Cup – Australia, Japan, Korea and the United States.
In 2010 Paraguayan and Brazilian officials said they received bribes to vote for Russia to host the World Cup. The two countries that were chosen to host the world cup were Russia and Qatar. FIFA was already accused of corruption and taking bids before 2010.
In order to address corruption, officials that are caught bribing FIFA should be fired, and be convicted for bribery and corruption. This punishment is fair, because bribing strips away opportunities for other countries to host the World Cup. This would also show other officials the consequences of bribing. FIFA is the international government of association football/soccer. FIFA holds voting for countries to hold the World Cup. In these events, officials gather and choose who will host the next tournament.
As a soccer player myself, I feel that corruption affects how I think about soccer. I look up to many different professional players who played in the World Cup, the players I look up to seem to not care about the corruption. Corruption changes my perspective on my favorite players.
This story was produced at ThreeSixty’s Op-Ed Workshop in fall 2023. Nathan worked with Star Tribune reporter Eder Campuzano and retired Pioneer Press reporter Bob Shaw to finish his story. Click here to read more stories from the workshop.
