As the world’s most powerful sports organization, FIFA, finds itself mired in a $150 million bribery scandal, the figures looking to take the fall are scrambling to defend themselves as the situation devolves further into disaster.
One such FIFA scandal player, Jack Warner, released a YouTube video Sunday where he defended his perceived role in the FIFA debacle. Jack spends much of the video stressing how little he had to gain from the FIFA bribery scandal, but he also doesn’t neglect to cast blame on the United States. Warner flat-out says that the entire issue has stemmed from bad blood about the U.S. losing out on the 2022 World Cup hosting duties.
These conspiracy statements in themselves might have gained Jack a little bit of traction with some of the public, but when Warner pulls out his primary source of information, the crumbling of his credibility is palpable. Warner proudly holds up a printed-out copy of an article from satirical newspaper The Onion , flashing it as his evidence that the real conspiracy isn’t the one among FIFA executives. The article, titled “FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup In United States” is held toward the camera as Jack makes his argument.
“If FIFA is so bad, why is it the U.S.A. wants to keep the FIFA World Cup? I made the point to you over and over that all this thing has stemmed from the failed U.S. bid to host the World Cup.”
Warner is one of fourteen other FIFA officials who have been named as participants in widespread bribery practices within the organization. Although Warner retired from his FIFA position in 2011 when the scandal had already begun to tarnish his name, Jack held extensive powerful positions in key football organizations throughout the the ’90s and early ’00s, previously reported Inquisitr .
Accusations of bribery are far from the first, or even the most disturbing, scandals that have rocked the mammoth organization. Labor rights violations and cheating round out a long list of grievances, many of which have been investigated by international courts. Sports governance expert Roger Pilke, Jr., recently told Vox that central FIFA bribery scandal shouldn’t be that surprising — the sports powerhouse has remained largely unchecked .
“FIFA has gotten to the point where, in terms of scale, it has characteristics of a governmental organization or a big business. We have rules for how those organizations are supposed to behave. The fact that FIFA has gotten so big without any of those same rules is really what’s led to its corruption.”
What do you think of the FIFA bribery scandal player’s Onion -y defense?
[Image via YouTube]
