Law of International Sports

In The Dirty Game, investigative reporter and BBC Panorama presenter Andrew Jennings, who has been heralded around the world for his decade-long pursuit of this story, uncovers the eye-watering level of fraud and criminal activity at the heart of FIFA, which has been described as the biggest sporting scandal of the century. From Blatter to Blazer, from bribery to embezzlement, Jennings reveals the key protagonists, crimes and evidence he handed to the FBI which led to the arrests of FIFA executive and the resignation of Sepp Blatter. Written in a gripping narrative, and based on years of research and never-before-seen documents, this is the definitive portrait of the downfall of FIFA, and the men who stole football.

Author Andrew Jennings argues how FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his associates have misappropriated their position at the head of the world game in their desire for power, control, and a lucrative pay-off. How did these bizarre characters manage to take such control? Foul! is the explosive story. Jennings has undertaken unprecedented research in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, interviewing hundreds of officials and amassing an extraordinary library of damning documents. He tells how Blatter and his cronies built an invincible electoral machine to keep him in power forever. He revisits the 1970s and the privatization of international sport and its revenues by a close-knit group of officials and marketing agents working for their own self-interest.

In June 2011, Sepp Blatter was elected - uncontested - as president of Fifa once more. Despite attempts to halt the vote amidst allegations and accusations of corruption, the show went on. As How They Stole The Game, David Yallop's classic expose of the dark heart behind the beautiful game showed when it was first published, Football was rotten from the top down. In the book Yallop reveals the story of Joao Havelenge, Fifa President from 1974 to 1998, the Godfather of football, and how he turned a religion to millions of fans into a multi-billion dollar business, riven with suspicious deals and unexpected payments.

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) - known in English as the International Federation of Association Football - is the international governing body of soccer. With its headquarters located in Zurich, FIFA's membership includes 209 national associations. FIFA is responsible for the organization of international tournaments, including the World Cup. FIFA, like other sports governing bodies, has been accused of corruption and a lack of transparency. It has, however, recently decided to initiate reforms. A group of experienced independent governance experts and stakeholders has been asked to oversee the reform process. This group - the Independent Governance Committee (IGC) - has managed above all to introduce independent supervisors, investigators, and judges. Yet, the reform process is not complete. In this book, the insiders to reform give a fascinating account of the workings of FIFA, the unknown giant of the football world.

“The book that reminds you exactly what’s wrong with FIFA” (Esquire UK): This meticulously reported account by two award-winning, investigative journalists at Britain’s The Sunday Times explains how the 2022 World Cup was secured for Qatar—a key element in the ongoing, international FIFA controversy. When the tiny desert state of Qatar won the rights to host the 2022 World Cup, the news was greeted with shock and disbelief. How had a country with almost no soccer infrastructure or tradition, a high terror risk, and searing summer temperatures, beaten more established countries with stronger bids? The story behind the Qatari success soon developed into a global news sensation. In 2014 The Sunday Times Insight team in the UK spilled the secrets of a bombshell cache of hundreds of millions of secret documents, which were leaked by a whistleblower. In forensic detail, they reported how Mohamed Bin Hammam, Qatar’s top soccer official, used his position to help secure the votes that Qatar needed to win the bid. The investigative team spent three months painstakingly piecing together Bin Hammam’s activities and reporting on cash handouts, lavish junkets, and evidence of payments to soccer officials around the world. Now in this remarkable book by The Sunday Times journalists at the center of the investigation, Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert, comes a comprehensive account of what happened and who was involved. A bestseller in the UK, The Ugly Game is undoubtedly the biggest sporting story of recent times.