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- [00:00]
Al Letson
This show is supported by Odoo. When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and
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Narrator/Host
it gets complicated and confusing.
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Al Letson
Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything
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Narrator/Host
from accounting to inventory to sales.
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Al Letson
Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out Odoo at o d o o.com that's o d o o.com want to make a lasting difference to Reveal and protect independent journalism? Right now, it won't cost you a thing. Hi, it's Jane Butcher from Boulder, Colorado. I've spent my life fighting for justice, which is why I'm a longtime supporter of Reveal and the center for Investigative Reporting. I'm stepping up to protect the future of fearless independent journalism. And you can too, by joining CIR's Legacy Challenge. Just let Reveal know you're going to include them in your legacy plans. Provide some basic information and here's the really exciting part. A generous donor will contribute up to $10,000 now to fund Reveal's essential reporting in honor of your gift. Your legacy gift of any size makes an impact not just in the future, but right now. If you'd like to join me or want to learn more, please reach out to giftsevealnews.org again, that's giftsrevealnews.org the Legacy Challenge is only available for a limited time. Stand up for the truth today.
- [01:43]
Alex Shepard
From the center for Investigative Reporting and prx, this is Reveal. I'm Al Letson. Outside Sports Illustrated Stadium in Northern New Jersey, Ecuador fans are getting ready for a soccer game. This was a friendly one of the last warm up matches with Saudi Arabia back in May before the start of the Men's World Cup. Mother Jones reporter Tim Murphy and Reveal producer Artis Cheriscus were there taking it all in.
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Tim Murphy
Who are you rooting for tonight?
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Jimmy Ozias
See the color.
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Narrator/Host
My country, Ecuador.
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Tim Murphy
Do you have a prediction for tonight?
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Jimmy Ozias
Ecuador 2.
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Jude Bernard
Nothing.
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Narrator/Host
Ecuador.
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Jude Bernard
Ecuador.
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Narrator/Host
Ecuador.
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Alex Shepard
Inside the stadium, Tim and Artis head towards the Ecuador fan section.
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Jude Bernard
And are you going to any World cup games?
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Narrator/Host
Yes, I'm going to the World Cup.
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Jude Bernard
And why is the World cup important?
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Narrator/Host
It is one of the most spectacular,
- [02:57]
Alex Shepard
monumental events that happen every four years.
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Narrator/Host
Only the World cup could unite such a beautiful nation like Ecuador to do such miracles and unite these people to one nation. Just like how they're doing right now.
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Alex Shepard
Ecuador scores. The place goes berserk.
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Narrator/Host
That's Ecuador for you. That's Ecuador making noise, making themselves present, and they will make sure they will go far. Beautiful nation, and thank you, my good sir. I appreciate you.
- [03:28]
Alex Shepard
At its best, this is what the World cup is all about. The pride, the flags, the songs, the goals. An entire nation at home and a vast diaspora around the world united behind them. It's easy to understand why people love it. And yet, as Artis and Tim talk with fans at this warmup game, they keep hearing something else about the actual World cup matches.
- [03:53]
Tim Murphy
Are you going to any of those games, do you know?
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Narrator/Host
No, I can't.
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Tim Murphy
Because it's too expensive or you can't afford it.
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Jimmy Ozias
That's why I came.
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Tim Murphy
At least a friendly game because, you know, I can't pay, like $2,000 for
- [04:03]
Jimmy Ozias
looking for on top. You know?
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Narrator/Host
Who the hell can afford that, bro?
- [04:07]
Mustafa Kadri
I'm sorry.
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Narrator/Host
You know what I'm saying?
- [04:11]
Alex Shepard
So that's where we start today on this special World cup episode of Reveal. We put together a whole show for you from reporters who love this beautiful game. The drama, the chance, the almost goals, the feeling that the whole world is watching the same thing. And maybe because they love the game so much, they're also asking hard questions. We begin with reporter Alex Shepard. He's been following the rising cost of the World cup and who's being asked to pay for it. Alex takes the story from here.
- [04:47]
Gianni Infantino
Because we are in America. We need to make a show, right?
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Narrator/Host
That's Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, soccer's international governing body. FIFA stands to make between 11 and 13 billion dollars in revenue this summer.
- [04:59]
Gianni Infantino
This is like 104 Super Bowls in one month. This is the magnitude of what we organize, ladies and gentlemen.
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Narrator/Host
The bigness, the boldness, the billions. Infantino has used these numbers to woo mayors, governors, and President Trump. The FIFA president has been everywhere during Trump's second term. At his inauguration, on a state visit to the Middle east, and most famously at the World cup draw, where he handed Trump the newly created FIFA Peace Prize.
- [05:28]
Gianni Infantino
Mr. President, this is your prize. This is your peace prize. There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go.
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Narrator/Host
Trump and Infantino have had a symbiotic relationship over the last 18 months. For Trump, it's meant flattery and big promises from Infantino about the biggest venues, the biggest crowds, the best show. But for Infantino, that relationship has meant cold, hard cash. It's transformed this World cup into one of the most expensive, mega events in history.
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Adam Crafton
In terms of, like, why this World cup has become so expensive. I mean, it's largely around ticketing.
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Narrator/Host
That's Adam Crafton, soccer writer for the Athletic. The cheapest tickets for a group stage match are about $140, but they easily soar higher. Marquee group stage games will set you back 2,000 bucks, and that's for the worst seats in the stadium. Entry into the finals will cost you over $10,000.
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Adam Crafton
You know, I went to see Dua Lipa with my partner last September at Madison Square Garden. I think we paid maybe $120 each. You know, it's expensive, but, like, it's not wild. Whereas I think some of the prices that we've been seeing for the World cup, you're just like, what? How has it got to this? And I think it's the natural evolution of what happens when one of the biggest, greediest sports events in the world goes to one of the biggest and greediest economies in the world.
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Narrator/Host
Ticket prices are so outrageous, even Donald Trump has bashed them. Asked about tickets for the opening game of the U.S. men's National Team, the president scoffed. I wouldn't pay it either, to be honest with you. But it's not just tickets. FIFA has monetized everything.
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Adam Crafton
FIFA take the revenue from sponsorship, from broadcast, from ticketing, from parking, from concessions. And the host cities are expected to take on the cost of public transportation, safety and security adjustments to stadiums that are necessary for soccer to take place there.
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Narrator/Host
In other words, the cities, the taxpayers, you, me, everyone, we pay for everything. Here's Governor Mikey Sherrill, whose state New Jersey is hosting eight games, including the final.
- [07:47]
Al Letson
FIFA is providing $0 for transportation to the World Cup. Zero. That leaves New Jersey Transit with a $48 million bill to safely.
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Narrator/Host
Back in April, she decided to pass on some of those costs to World cup ticket holders. Train tickets to and from games were set at $150. They usually cost around $13.
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Al Letson
I won't stick New Jersey's commuters with that tab for years to come. That's not fair.
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Narrator/Host
In a statement, FIFA said that New Jersey's decision to raise prices would have a, quote, chilling effect on the World Cup. But FIFA hasn't bent. It's not helping host cities find cheaper options. It's certainly not opening its coffers. Whenever Infantino has been asked about the extraordinary costs, he's pushed back. In fact, in May, he insisted that FIFA needed the money to survive.
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Gianni Infantino
The main and so far the only revenue generating event for FIFA is the World Cup. The World cup takes place one month every four years. The 47 other months until the next World cup, we spent that money.
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Mustafa Kadri
If your power derives from 200 guys in a room who derive their power from no kind of democratic mandate, then don't be surprised if your organization begins
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Adam Crafton
to take on the character of, know,
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Mustafa Kadri
a kleptocracy, for want of a better word.
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Narrator/Host
That's Jonathan Liu, a sports writer with a Guardian.
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Mustafa Kadri
This is the reality. This that is, I think, realigning our world. You look at what's happening in your own country. Whoever holds the levers of power essentially can do whatever they like. And FIFA's evil genius, I think, is in recognizing where those levers of power lie and getting its hands on.
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Narrator/Host
Host cities have gotten creative in their attempts to offset some of these costs. After weeks of back and forth, New Jersey Transit dropped their prices with the help of corporate sponsors. And in New York, Governor Kathy Hochul rented a fleet of yellow school buses to ferry thousands of passengers to and from games for just $20. But Adam Crafton is quick to point out that these deals between host cities and FIFA have been in place for well over a half decade.
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Adam Crafton
None of this should be a surprise to local politicians or federal politicians, and I don't say that to attack those politicians or to say their points are invalid, but it is a little bit like, where were you? Where were you over the last seven or eight years when all of this was in plain sight? All of this was in the contracts.
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Narrator/Host
Governor Mikey Sherrill didn't negotiate New Jersey's agreement with FIFA. Her predecessor and fellow Democrat Phil Murphy did. Here he is in 2023. How exciting is this?
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Kurt Peterson
We think we're going to get at least eight games.
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Narrator/Host
Every single ticket will be sold out. I guarantee you, no matter who's playing, this is going to be the biggest
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Kurt Peterson
deal we've ever seen in this region.
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Narrator/Host
Murphy's an ex investment banker who now owns Gotham fc, a professional women's soccer team. He's a self described lifelong fan, but he's also argued that bringing the World cup to his state was an economic decision. World cup next year 1 to 2
- [10:50]
Kurt Peterson
billion visitors into the region.
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Narrator/Host
Economic impact 3 to 4 billion dollars.
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Tim Murphy
Permanent jobs created 14,000.
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Narrator/Host
It's no wonder then that he cut a deal where his state would foot the nearly $50 million bill for transit and security costs compared to the $3 billion that he estimated New York and New Jersey would bring in. It's practically a rounding error. The problem is that events like the World cup almost never generate the kind of revenue their organizers promise they will at Least according to economists. What shirt are you wearing? I'm currently wearing a Minnesota United jersey. I was wearing a Tanzania yesterday. And that's Victor Mathison. He's a huge soccer fan and a former pro soccer ref. But more important for this story, he's one of the leading researchers on the economic impact of huge sporting events like the World Cup. He says the problem is twofold. First, his research suggests that even under the best circumstances, local economies struggle even to make their money back from hosting. As ticket prices go up, the problem compounds because when you're spending, say $1,000 on a ticket, it gets even harder to justify a $600 flight or a $500 hotel. Rather than bringing people to your city who will spend money here who otherwise wouldn't have. A lot more of those folks in the stadium are going to be locals like me. I'm going to local games here in Boston. But at $400 a ticket, that's $400 that I'm not going to have available to spend elsewhere in the local economy for the rest of the summer. That means less trips to Sam Adams Brewery. That means less tickets to the Red Sox, less trips down to the Freedom Trail, more money in FIFA's pocket leaving the Boston economy. Sounds like a bad deal, right? So I asked Victor why state and local leaders would ever agree to host number one is they get misled by economic impact statements that are issued by FIFA. Take Los Angeles. Their deal with FIFA was made by a non profit organization made up of representatives from the LA Rams, SOFI Stadium, the LA Galaxy and Los Angeles Football Club. At a World cup promotional event last month, Louisiana Mayor Karen Bass promised that, quote, taxpayers will not be on the hook. But internal documents from the city's 2018 bid for the tournament suggested that nearly every cost will be taken on by the city. These documents also show that when the city placed its bid, LA city government didn't complete its own analysis of the costs of hosting the World Cup. A spokesperson for the mayor told reveal that LA didn't have an agreement with FIFA, which is technically true. The deal with FIFA was made by the private host committee and its details have remained private, which means taxpayers are powerless to stop it. But one local union is pushing back.
- [13:33]
Kurt Peterson
No one elected Gianni Infantino or Donald Trump to rule Los Angeles.
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Narrator/Host
That's Kurt Peterson, the co president of unite here Local 11, the union representing 2,000 food service workers at SoFi Stadium, which will host eight World cup games. At a press conference in mid May, he's flanked by a dozen and a Half cooks, bartenders, dishwashers, and servers outside the arena that employs them.
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Kurt Peterson
Let's make one thing absolutely clear as we. As I end my remarks. Without workers, there is no World Cup.
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Narrator/Host
The union has been without a contract since last summer. So it's using the World cup as leverage. Threatening to throw a wrench in the world's largest mega event. Hey, Kurt, this is Alex.
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Kurt Peterson
Hello. Hello. Hello.
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Narrator/Host
I interviewed Kurt as Unite Here negotiated with the concessions company at the stadium as well as FIFA in May, he FaceTimed from the road after a bargaining session. After some technical difficulties, we switched over to a phone call. I had to put him on speaker and hold my phone up to the mic. My arm is just like balanced in front of this microphone right now.
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Kurt Peterson
You might have to file a grievance.
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Narrator/Host
I know. He says he started negotiating with Legends Hospitality last summer. Legends manages concessions, catering, and other responsibilities at the stadium, and it employs the workers Kurt's union represents. After almost a year of ignoring them, Kurt says FIFA has suddenly become an active participant in the negotiations too.
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Kurt Peterson
What's different about the World cup is the total control that they hold over these venues during their games. They act as a nation state, more than a operator of a soccer tournament.
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Narrator/Host
According to Kurt, one of the biggest sticking points is over accreditation, which is basically workers getting ID badges to get into the stadium.
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Kurt Peterson
When the super bowl comes to town, workers have to get accreditation. They need a badge to get into the Super Bowl. But in this case in the World cup with FIFA, they're demanding much more from workers. Whether you're a journalist or you're, you know, pouring beer, they want, and they demand that you provide Social Security number, your country of origin, as well as other personal information in order for you to work in that stadium.
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Narrator/Host
Keep in mind that the regular employer already has this information. What's different is that FIFA, which has gone to great lengths to court President Trump, also wants to keep workers identities on file.
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Kurt Peterson
And if you don't give it to them, you don't work. But if you do give it to them, and this is the bind, you are allowing them, based on the contract you have assented to, to use that information and to share with whomever they want. And including in the contract, it's really clear. It says any law enforcement or national security agency. That's what it says. That is not what happens when you work at the Super Bowl. Folks are nervous. I mean, as you well know, ice isn't done.
- [16:25]
Narrator/Host
Remember, it was only a year ago that the National Guard was deployed to Los Angeles, leading to a crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Then there were the deadly ICE protests in Minneapolis. And now in New Jersey, there are clashes outside of Delaney hall, an immigration detention center 15 minutes from where the World cup final will be played.
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Mustafa Kadri
When you have crowds this big, criminal activities follow.
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Narrator/Host
That was Mark Wayne Mullen, the Department of Homeland Security secretary. Last month, in a social media video chock full of sound effects, he promised that ICE would be at the tournament. Well, ICE and HSI are going to be out there every day fighting against
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Mustafa Kadri
the counterfeit tickets, human trafficking, drug smuggling, counterfeit products.
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Jude Bernard
They're going to be working hand in
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Narrator/Host
hand with CBP along the way. Kurt says that's worrying because some of Unite here's workers have already had dangerous interactions with ice.
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Kurt Peterson
We had a member last week, not from SoFi, but from a hotel, walk out of a courthouse after he had an immigration hearing and they kidnapped him off the street in front of his wife and his six year old and his two year old child. He's in detention right now, but it's happening still in Los Angeles and here they are saying they're going to come to the games.
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Narrator/Host
Susanna Laharge works at the stadium. As a US citizen raised in Argentina, she fears what ICE will do.
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Al Letson
Because I have accent and how I look, they will believe that I'm illegal or they can believe that I'm illegal and make me a headache. Right.
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Narrator/Host
The Trump administration's immigration and border policies have loomed over the tournament in the lead up to kickoff. One Iraqi player was detained for hours before being allowed to enter the US and their team photographer was denied entry. A Somali referee who was going to be the first person from his country to officiate the tournament, was also turned away at Customs. Unite Here is demanding that their members be able to work without giving their personal data to FIFA, nor to any law enforcement agency's FIFA wishes.
- [18:34]
Kurt Peterson
No one gave FIFA the power to decide who is safe and who is hunted. And no one, no one gets to bring ICE into our city.
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Adam Crafton
No one.
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Gianni Infantino
Right.
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Alex Shepard
No.
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Narrator/Host
That's not their only demand.
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Kurt Peterson
When you ask our members what the first, second and third most important issue they have, it's paying their rent. Housing costs are out of sight in Los Angeles.
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Narrator/Host
They're also asking FIFA to contribute to an affordable housing fund for their members so workers can live closer to their jobs.
- [19:04]
Kurt Peterson
I think we're gonna win that demand, or at least some of that demand.
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Narrator/Host
That surprised me. So I asked him whether that's something the union is also asking of the Rams and the Chargers, who also play at SOFI Stadium. And he tells me yes, that the union already has won that fight in a few venues like BMO Stadium, which hosts Los Angeles Football Club, one of LA's pro soccer teams, guarantees that ice will stay away, sweeping job protections, perhaps millions set aside for housing. It's probably the most ambitious set of demands FIFA has faced during this tournament. But for Kurt, that's exactly the problem.
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Kurt Peterson
The lack of imagination and expectations by political leaders of during these mega events never ceases to amaze me. We are spending lots of money on security, infrastructure, traffic, transportation, etc. And that we don't demand more from these mega events, it's just shocking. That's just a failure of leadership.
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Narrator/Host
We reached out to Legends hospitality and FIFA, but neither agreed to speak with us about negotiations with the union. Earlier this month, with less than two weeks before kickoff, negotiations were at a standstill. But Kurt was feeling bullish.
- [20:19]
Kurt Peterson
Who they gonna bring in if they're not accredited? Because they said everyone's gotta have some perfect accreditation security protocol. So I think we have a lot of power at this moment and our members realize it and are hopeful for a settlement. But our folks are ready to do what's necessary to get what they deserve.
- [20:35]
Narrator/Host
Then, days before the tournament kicked off, they reached an agreement and it seems the union workers got everything they wanted. Curt tells me they got a raise to $40 an hour, including premium pay for the World cup, putting them among the highest paid concession workers in the country. Legends also agreed to make ongoing contributions to a housing fund for workers. And what about ice? Kurt says they won there too. Members will not have to provide their personal data to FIFA and they have the right to leave the stadium without retaliation if border agents should appear at SoFi.
- [21:10]
Kurt Peterson
I mean, I think these mega events are important and they present strategic opportunities not just for unions, but for communities. Yet the appetite for demanding more out of these games continue to disappoint. You know, the bartenders and the servers and the cooks in particular have stood up honestly, not just to SoFi or 50s, but actually to the federal government. And I just feel like it gives us, should give us all hope.
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Narrator/Host
The short story. America's largest cities have mostly acquiesced to FIFA's demands. Now they're spending taxpayer dollars to host the World cup and FIFA's ticket prices are still running wild. But in LA, a couple thousand food and beverage workers got a slice of FIFA's soccer ball shaped pie.
- [22:00]
Alex Shepard
That's reporter Alex Shepard. You can hear more of Alex's reporting about the 2026 World Cup. In his literary magazine, Golden Goal, that story was produced by Sam Egan. Next up, we trace FIFA's backstory, think Rolexes and swag bags of cash, and chart the rise of soccer's most powerful man. That's ahead on Reveal. Don't go anywhere. From the center for Investigative Reporting and prx, this is Reveal. I'm Al Edson.
- [22:41]
Narrator/Host
Our sport has a bright future ahead.
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Alex Shepard
Every day around the world, new federations spring up. That's from United Passions, a big budget feature film financed by FIFA. It's the epic origin story of the men who built the World cup and the idea that football could unite the world.
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Narrator/Host
FIFA. FIFA.
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Alex Shepard
FIFA spent more than 20 million on this thing, and it bombed. The film only made $918 on opening weekend in the U.S. critics called it one of the worst movies ever made. And at least some of that had to do with the timing. June 2015. While United Passions was trying to depict FIFA as a noble institution, the real FIFA was in freefall, collapsing under a massive international corruption scandal. Mother Jones reporter Tim Murphy unravels the story from the beginning.
- [23:42]
Tim Murphy
Back in 2010, the name FIFA didn't mean much to Richard Frankel.
- [23:47]
Narrator/Host
I will say I was not the
- [23:48]
Tim Murphy
biggest soccer football fan. Frankel was an FBI agent in New York. His usual suspects were the mob and white collar criminals. FIFA was a soccer organization based in Switzerland. But when he and his colleagues started pulling at threads, they found a sports organization that was not so different after all, because everyone knew FIFA was corrupt. It was basically corruption across the board. It was pay to play. Payments flowed the FIFA officials in all sorts of ways. You got, you know, a swag bag, but you got a swag bag of, like, Rolexes or just a bag of bills. They were just given cash in the bag that was in the swag bag. World cup hosts were chosen in secret meetings in FIFA's basement. And there were suspicions that those votes had a price tag, too. Frankel worked the case for years. A top FIFA executive even wore a wire. And then one morning at a hotel in Zurich.
- [24:46]
Alex Shepard
We begin with a bombshell in the world of soccer. Some of the sport's top executives were arrested this morning at a hotel in Zurich, Switzerland. According to the Justice Department, FIFA was being run as a criminal enterprise.
- [25:01]
Tim Murphy
As FIFA officials were escorted out, a hotel employee held up a white bed sheet to block them from view. The metaphor was irresistible. FIFA's dirty laundry was finally being aired. Come to think of it, that might have made a good movie. The raid shattered FIFA's old guard. Its President resigned, the senior leadership was gutted, and into this vacuum stepped Johnny Infantino.
- [25:30]
Gianni Infantino
Dear friends, Cher, Zamis, Caria, Michi, querridos, amigos, etc, etc.
- [25:37]
Tim Murphy
Infantino was kind of a dark horse. A Swiss Italian bureaucrat who had spent years helping run European soccer. And suddenly he was crisscrossing the globe, insisting that he was the man who can save FIFA.
- [25:50]
Gianni Infantino
We will restore the image of FIFA and the respect of FIFA, and everyone in the world will applaud us, and we'll applaud all of you for what we'll do in FIFA in the future.
- [26:01]
Tim Murphy
David Kahn is an investigative reporter who wrote a book called the Fall of the House of FIFA. He says Infantino's message to FIFA's more than 200 national federations was simple.
- [26:12]
Adam Crafton
FIFA's not going to fall. I'll bring the organization through, we'll reform it, and we'll get it on its feet and it'll be successful and the money will keep flowing.
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Tim Murphy
I did reach out to FIFA and Infantino for this story. I never heard back. Infantino's first major Test was the 2018 Men's World cup in Russia. Russia had recently annexed Crimea. It had passed anti LGBTQ laws and had been banned from the Olympics over a massive doping scandal. The vote awarding Russia the World cup, which, which happened before Infantino took over, had been clouded by accusations of vote buying, which Russia denied. Vladimir Putin seemed determined to send a He wasn't going to change, and you can't make him. Infantino was there to give him a stage.
- [27:04]
Gianni Infantino
We can welcome the world to discover a Russia that maybe they don't know yet.
- [27:11]
Tim Murphy
Infantino praised Russia so effusively that Putin awarded him a medal, the Order of Friendship. But then the World cup started.
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Narrator/Host
Teenage kicks. The ultimate teenage kick.
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Tim Murphy
And what were we talking about again?
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Narrator/Host
The boy with the world on his feet.
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Adam Crafton
How good was the PR for Russia, for Vladimir Putin from the hosting of the World cup in 2018? And how much did everyone say? They'd had a wonderful time and that Russia wasn't this awful country that people painted it as. And the Russian people had been so friendly and welcoming, and then he launched this terrible war in Ukraine.
- [27:57]
Tim Murphy
Four years later, FIFA took the World cup into a whole different kind of controversy. In Qatar, a tiny Gulf monarchy so hot in the summer that FIFA eventually moves the tournament to November. A country with almost no World cup infrastructure, suddenly building stadiums, subways, an island almost entirely from scratch, FIFA sold it as an inspirational story. Qatar's World cup was also chosen by FIFA's former leaders. It was another test for Infantino. What would he do? What was the reaction of human rights advocates to Infantino? What did people think, think he might do differently than old FIFA?
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Mustafa Kadri
Yeah, it's a really great question.
- [28:44]
Tim Murphy
This is Mustafa Kadri.
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Mustafa Kadri
He wasn't known to be a big corrupt person. He was seen as someone who was a reasonably good manager, quite respected. So when he comes in, there's a lot of hopes that things will really change.
- [28:58]
Tim Murphy
Kadri is a human rights lawyer who runs a group called Equidem, which investigates labor abuses in global supply chains.
- [29:06]
Mustafa Kadri
So I had done research back in 2016, which was the first research, to directly find forced labor of workers on an actual Qatar World cup site.
- [29:16]
Tim Murphy
And so he takes these findings to Infantino literally.
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Mustafa Kadri
So I had a conversation with him.
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Tim Murphy
Kadri presents Infantino with the facts that workers are suffering, often dying because of
- [29:28]
Mustafa Kadri
the extreme heat or falling from unsafe sites, or not being paid horrible, gruesome injuries, being punished when they would actually go on strike because of the conditions.
- [29:37]
Tim Murphy
Kadri says there were people inside FIFA who seemed to take human rights seriously. But Infantino's response felt more like indifference.
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Mustafa Kadri
What struck me about his response at the time was it was like talking to a politician.
- [29:54]
Tim Murphy
Qatar denied allegations of human rights abuses ahead of the World Cup. Then, on the eve of the games, as criticism was mounting in the press and around the globe, Infantino held a press conference.
- [30:09]
Gianni Infantino
Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel a migrant worker.
- [30:40]
Tim Murphy
He kept going.
- [30:42]
Gianni Infantino
Of course, I'm not Qatari. I'm not Arab. I'm not African. I'm not gay. I'm not disabled. I'm not really a migrant worker, but I feel like them because I know what it means to be discriminated.
- [31:01]
Tim Murphy
Then Infantino turned the criticism away from Qatar and toward the West.
- [31:07]
Gianni Infantino
I think for what we Europeans have been doing in the last 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people.
- [31:19]
Tim Murphy
Infantina spoke for nearly an hour. When Kadri heard the speech, he thought Infantina was sending two men messages.
- [31:26]
Mustafa Kadri
One of them is depressing, one is chilling.
- [31:29]
Tim Murphy
The depressing part, Kadri says, was that Infantino seemed to be saying he was done listening to Qara's critics.
- [31:36]
Mustafa Kadri
I don't care if there's issues there. This is Qatar's World cup and we should embrace that. The second thing he was doing, which was Very chilling. Was effectively sending a light to the Qataris that, look, you can go and do whatever you want to people.
- [31:50]
Tim Murphy
FIFA is saying, we're just a sporting body, we can't tell people what to do. Except, Kaju points out, FIFA does do that. It controls its events down to the tiniest details.
- [32:01]
Mustafa Kadri
We saw that when FIFA wants to, they could make sure that, for example, you cannot wear one of the official sponsors logo T shirts in the stadium.
- [32:10]
Tim Murphy
But Kadri says FIFA refused to flex that power in Qatar to protect the rights of workers.
- [32:16]
Mustafa Kadri
So there's incredible leverage that they have on governments when they have really glaringly bad human rights records. And we didn't see that happen.
- [32:26]
Tim Murphy
Then the tournament began. And once again, the beautiful game delivered. Messi Lifting the truth A storybook ending Argentina Campion del Mundo I'm not going to lie, it was awesome. The stadiums were full, the audience enormous. FIFA brought in an estimated $7.6 billion from it. And another Golf ruler was watching closely at the opening match in Qatar. Sitting right next to inside Infantino was the crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, the guy the US government says authorized the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Just four years earlier, Saudi Arabia had already been pouring billions into sports. Now it wanted the biggest prize of all, a World cup of its own.
- [33:30]
Gianni Infantino
We believe in the power of football,
- [33:33]
Narrator/Host
the power it has to bring us joy.
- [33:37]
Tim Murphy
In its World cup bid video, the country's message echoed Infantino's. Football unites the world.
- [33:44]
Narrator/Host
You see, it's more than just a game. It's a passion, a way of life, a universal language that connects us all.
- [33:53]
Tim Murphy
And in December 2024, Infantino made it official.
- [33:57]
Gianni Infantino
The host of the FIFA World Cup 2034 will be Saudi Arabia. Madhruk Madruh. To our friends in Riyadh, I think
- [34:15]
Adam Crafton
that you have to accept that FIFA did reform it reformed its governance, it reformed its processes, and it had to.
- [34:22]
Tim Murphy
David Kahn, the investigative journalist, says that under Infantino, World cup host nations are no longer chosen by a small, secretive committee uniquely vulnerable to corruption. Now all 211 members get a say.
- [34:37]
Adam Crafton
But as we've seen, there wasn't really even particularly a vote for Saudi Arabia to host it in 2034.
- [34:45]
Tim Murphy
Allegations of vote buying. That was the old FIFA. Now there's an open World cup vote with one country on the ballot. But the other thing that's changed in the decades since Zurich is FIFA's relationship with power. The future isn't being decided by a few FIFA insiders. In a Swiss conference room. It's being negotiated in plain sight with the most powerful people on Earth.
- [35:10]
Narrator/Host
Soccer's come such a long way.
- [35:12]
Tim Murphy
Soccer is a game.
- [35:14]
Narrator/Host
I guess you call it football.
- [35:16]
Kurt Peterson
Yep.
- [35:17]
Tim Murphy
Infantino has been cozying up to Trump for years. Ahead of the World cup in North America, he even took a seat on the President's Board of Peace Initiative for Gaza, promising new stadiums, soccer fields and sports academies. At the first Board of Peace meeting, FIFA rolled out an AI generated video.
- [35:36]
Al Letson
There is one language that still unites hearts. Football
- [35:42]
Tim Murphy
of bright green soccer fields, kids playing, and shiny new buildings rising from rubble.
- [35:49]
Gianni Infantino
We also have to rebuild and build people emotion, hope and trust. And this is what football, my sport, is about.
- [35:59]
Al Letson
Toward peace, dignity and hope.
- [36:04]
Tim Murphy
But the fact that the US has been Israel's chief military backer in a war that the United nations has called a genocide makes all those promises and FIFA's feel good story ring hollow.
- [36:15]
Mustafa Kadri
The sport is this incredible glue that brings people together. People derive so much sense of satisfaction and meeting community from it. It's highly vulnerable to cynical people coming in and exploiting it for their own gain.
- [36:29]
Tim Murphy
That's Mustafa Kadri again, who is by his own admission a soccer fan. But Infantino's alliances are paying off, at least for now. The next three men's World Cups could generate roughly $40 billion for FIFA.
- [36:45]
Mustafa Kadri
I mean, even if you're not a soccer fan, you shouldn't care about FIFA. If you have FIFA, the most wealthiest, most popular sporting agency in the world, being able to basically partner with the worst human rights violators, that is a real threat to democracy globally.
- [37:03]
Tim Murphy
So, yeah, football really can unite the world, but money makes the world go round.
- [37:11]
Alex Shepard
That story was from Tim Murphy, senior reporter at Mother Jones, and producer Jonathan Jones. Coming up, Haiti is back in the World Cup. It's a moment of joy and pride. Even if getting to the games in the US May be harder than ever.
- [37:27]
Jimmy Ozias
A lot of Haitians are afraid to go to the game because they were talking about ice being in front of the stadium.
- [37:33]
Alex Shepard
That's next on Reveal. From the center for Investigative Reporting and prx, this is Reveal. I'm Al Letson. The World cup has always had its controversies, but once the games start, it's all about the fans cheering for their country.
- [37:57]
Narrator/Host
It's a moment 50 plus years in the making.
- [38:01]
Alex Shepard
Like you, Katie, which qualified for the World cup for the first time in
- [38:05]
Narrator/Host
52 years, for the first time since 1974, are going. Yes, sir, they are going to the World Cup.
- [38:16]
Alex Shepard
Our reporter artist Cheriscus has been speaking with some of Haiti's fans about what this World cup means to them.
- [38:25]
Jude Bernard
Jimmy Ozias couldn't believe when Haiti qualified for the World Cup.
- [38:29]
Jimmy Ozias
I was like, tears was coming out of my eyes. That's the happiest days of my life.
- [38:35]
Jude Bernard
And he couldn't wait for their first game against Scotland. Lucky for him, it was right where he lives in Boston.
- [38:41]
Jimmy Ozias
I can't wait to go to that game. I'm looking forward to making a lot of noise. There's going to be a song that. Especially if we're winning. God, don't eat him. God, don't eat it. Oh, like what it seem, what it seem, what it seemed.
- [38:56]
Jude Bernard
Jimmy follows the team religiously, both from the stands and online, but he doesn't consider himself a superfan, at least not compared to his friend Jude Bernard. Here's Jude chanting before a Gold cup game against Trinidad and Tobago. Sometimes he plays a horn from the stands, and at a game against Mexico, Jude even got their fans to chant for Haiti. Jude's energy for Haitian soccer is infectious. So when Jimmy saw videos of him online, he reached out.
- [39:32]
Jimmy Ozias
We text. I was like, yo, I see that you're a big fan of Haitian soccer.
- [39:36]
Jude Bernard
Then they started going to games together.
- [39:38]
Jimmy Ozias
That's when we become like father, like son. Me and Jude, we really close. So I can bring me and Jude together. Jimmy can shake the stadium by himself. He's special. He's special, and his passion is unbelievable.
- [39:52]
Jude Bernard
That's Jude. He says he travels to almost all of Haiti's games across the Americas. Sometimes he's the only Haitian fan at a game.
- [40:01]
Jimmy Ozias
I'm always excited to talk about the national team.
- [40:04]
Jude Bernard
Soccer is a passion that started when Jude was a kid kicking a ball around the yard in Haiti. His father took him to games at Haiti's national stadium, and eventually Jude joined a professional team. But in 1987, during Haiti's first democratic elections following a dictatorship, his father and dozens of others were killed while lined up to vote in the capital, Port au Prince. Violent protests erupted across Haiti, and the country no longer felt safe. So Jude eventually moved to the US he settled in Florida and landed a job at bank of America, where he's worked for nearly 30 years in compliance, making sure the bank follows regulations. It's a good job, enough to raise a family and have plenty left over for his lifelong passion going to Haiti's games.
- [40:51]
Jimmy Ozias
We see that national team as a pride, as something that can bring some pride to our nation because politically, things have not been good.
- [41:02]
Jude Bernard
Haitians living in the capital, Port au Prince, still face dangerous levels of food insecurity and gang violence. So much so the national team can't host games on Haitian soil. It's so unstable that many of the players have never set foot in Haiti.
- [41:18]
Jimmy Ozias
But those players, they really want to go, to go and see the people and walk on the street with the people. Because these people, they are dying to see those players. And I can tell you this place, they make Haitians, all Haitians all over the world.
- [41:34]
Jude Bernard
While the players bring pride to the country, politicians in the United States have brought insults. Remember, it wasn't so long ago that President Trump called Haiti a shithole country. And then there were Vice President JD Vance's false comments about Haitians eating pets.
- [41:52]
Jimmy Ozias
For a leader to create a story just to start something to make us look bad, it is just to make us look bad.
- [42:04]
Jude Bernard
He's holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, Haiti's performance at the World cup can make a difference.
- [42:10]
Jimmy Ozias
When Haiti plays, there's no gang out there. Everybody is hugging each other. It's peace, it's unity and Haiti doing having a good World Cup. A very good World cup might make a change into the political environment in
- [42:33]
Jude Bernard
heat, which honestly is asking a lot. But it isn't unheard of. During World War I, there was a spontaneous single day truce when German and British soldiers played soccer together. And in 2005, when Ivory coast was in the midst of a civil war and their national team qualified for the World cup, the players got on their knees and begged their countrymen to put down their weapons. Many believe it helped stop the civil war. That's the kind of World cup magic Jude is hoping for. But it's not lost on him that it's a long shot. After all, before this tournament, Haiti had never won a single World cup match.
- [43:11]
Jimmy Ozias
Can you imagine Katie win again? What? What would be in the front page of the newspaper in the US in
- [43:21]
Tim Murphy
all over the world.
- [43:22]
Jimmy Ozias
Haiti 1 is going to be about positivity.
- [43:29]
Jude Bernard
After Haiti won a warm up game earlier this month, Jude sent me a video of Haitians chanting as they ran down the street in northern Haiti. It was almost like he was sharing a proof of concept. See, it is possible.
- [43:53]
Jimmy Ozias
They are saying that we have a team but we don't have a country. They sending messages to the politicians.
- [44:03]
Jude Bernard
It's not just the fans speaking up, it's the players too. After qualifying for the World cup, some players posted the hashtag openthecountry asking for a safer Haiti so they can return home. I've spoken with a lot of Haitian fans over the last few weeks. Many of them are players for local Haitian semi pro teams in New York City. They all hope the team will do well, but what that means in terms of wins and losses is up for grabs. Haiti is entering the tournament as one of the lower ranked teams in the world. Gerard, a player for Haiti United fc, wants them to prove people wrong.
- [44:44]
Alex Shepard
You know, a lot of people around
- [44:45]
Narrator/Host
the world expect us to blow it. I don't think we will. I think we will give it a great shot.
- [44:52]
Jude Bernard
Gerard says just getting to the tournament feels like a win.
- [44:56]
Alex Shepard
You know, it's like we've already won a trophy or something.
- [45:01]
Jude Bernard
The first two games are a close drive from New York, so it's pretty easy for these fans to celebrate, whether it's inside the stadium or at a watch party. But Mimi Duame, the soft spoken captain for Osner's fc, knows that's not the case for all Haitian fans.
- [45:16]
Alex Shepard
It's really hard cause I know a lot of Haitians want to come, but with that administration right now, it's not
- [45:22]
Narrator/Host
easy to find visa to come.
- [45:24]
Alex Shepard
We cannot do nothing about that because
- [45:25]
Jimmy Ozias
Trump is doing what he's doing.
- [45:28]
Jude Bernard
Haiti, along with Iran are the only two countries playing in this World cup under full no travel bans implemented by the Trump administration.
- [45:37]
Jimmy Ozias
For the Haitians, it's very difficult for them to leave the country.
- [45:41]
Jude Bernard
That's Jude again, the superfan. He says that under these policies, even Haitians who have visited America in the past can't get visas to return.
- [45:50]
Jimmy Ozias
It's very unfortunate that people from Haiti that don't have visa right now cannot come.
- [45:55]
Jude Bernard
But there's a bigger obstacle to getting Haitian fans into the stadiums.
- [46:00]
Jimmy Ozias
Actually, you'll be surprised that a lot of Haitians are afraid to go to the game because they were talking about ICE being in front of the stadium.
- [46:08]
Jude Bernard
Like we mentioned earlier in the show, officials in the Trump administration have said that ICE will be at the games. And Jude says even some Haitians with green cards or U.S. citizenship are worried about attending the games in person.
- [46:21]
Jimmy Ozias
Even my wife had to tell me, oh, you better have a copy of your passport for your US Citizen passport on your phone. Because you never know. I'm like, I've been working for one of the biggest institutions in America for 29 years. I'm going to be 30 years next year. You think bank of America will be hiring somebody for 29 years that's not a legal citizen? I'm not going to be working with my passport on my phone. There's no need for it.
- [46:48]
Jude Bernard
I can't believe that Jude isn't worried just a little bit. So I ask him, are you going to heed your wife's advice and take a photo of your passport?
- [46:57]
Jimmy Ozias
No, not.
- [47:00]
Jude Bernard
He knows what he'll tell ICE if they approach him. He'll say what he says anytime he has to interact with a border agent.
- [47:09]
Jimmy Ozias
I always tell them I do the same thing you're doing because I work in compliance, he said.
- [47:15]
Jude Bernard
I do the same job you do. I work in compliance like a border agent. It's his job to make sure people follow the rules. Jude's friend Jimmy said he hopes ICE won't deter any fans from going.
- [47:29]
Jimmy Ozias
We're not going to be scared. The fans have to be there. We have to make a lot of noise. There's going to be a lot of Haitian fans in the stadium to cheer for the team.
- [47:37]
Jude Bernard
At that opening game, Jimmy, Jude and thousands of Haitian fans entered the stadium. They didn't spot any ICE agents along the way. Instead, they mostly saw a sea of happy men in kilts and women wearing Scotland's blue and white jersey. Haiti's fans were outnumbered, but still they made some noise.
- [48:02]
Jimmy Ozias
I lost my voice. We were yelling, we were screaming. We were chanting our song. We chant the whole night. We're small country but with a big heart.
- [48:16]
Jude Bernard
That's why Jimmy sounds a bit hoarse on the phone. Jude, too.
- [48:21]
Jimmy Ozias
Finally be in the World cup and seeing Haiti playing was something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. And just seeing how the players spot the whole game and demonstrate their talent, really, it was a sign of pride for all Haitians that was in the stadium, especially me.
- [48:43]
Jude Bernard
It was a close game, but one that saw Haiti on the losing side. Still, Jude has hoped for the future of the team and hope that their performance reshapes the way people see his country, a country whose very existence was born from a slave rebellion.
- [48:57]
Jimmy Ozias
Haiti represent a lot in the eyes of the world. That's where freedom started. That's where people started talking about freedom.
- [49:10]
Jude Bernard
Jude says he's going to take a step back from being Haiti's number one fan to spend more time with his newborn grandson, who he dreams will one day play for the Haitian national team. Besides, he says, Jimmy is the future. He's the new superfan. I spoke with Jimmy as he was leaving a fan zone in Boston. Some Scotland fans suddenly approached him asking if they could take a picture together.
- [49:35]
Jimmy Ozias
Oh, you want to take a picture? Give me one. One, One.
- [49:38]
Gianni Infantino
One second.
- [49:38]
Jimmy Ozias
You want to take a picture of me? Some Scotland said, what is it? A picture of Saint.
- [49:42]
Jude Bernard
Over the staticky noise of the phone, I hear Jimmy joining them in a Scottish chant, no Scotland, no party. Then Jimmy gets them to join in a Haitian chant. They're saying grenadier a la son, which means warriors, let's go. And then the call drops. But it's okay. Jimmy, the new superfan, has work to do. It's time to represent.
- [50:28]
Alex Shepard
That story was reported by artist Cheriscus, who was also the lead producer for today's show with help from Jonathan Jones. Lou Okowski and Ashley Kleek edited the show with additional editorial support from Clint Handler. Special thanks to Gold Click Fact checking by Jeffrey Kelly and Cheyenne McNeil. Victoria Baranetsky is our general counsel. Our production manager is the great Zula Macabre score and sound designed by the dynamic duo Jay Breezy, Mr. Jim Briggs and Fernando Mamano Arruda. They had help today from Claire C. Knope Mullen and Cameron Smith. Taki Telenides is our deputy executive producer. Our executive producer is Bret Myers. Our theme music is by Camarado Lightning. Support for reveals provided by the Riva and David Logan foundation, the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur foundation, the Jonathan Logan Family foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson foundation, the park foundation, the Schmidt Family foundation and the Hellman Foundation. Support for reveal is also provided provided by you our listeners. We are a co production of the center for Investigative Reporting and prx. I'm Al Letson and remember there is always more to the story.
- [51:46]
Narrator/Host
From prx.