All language subtitles for FIFA.Uncovered.S01E01.Episode.1.1080p.NF.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-SMURF

It's exactly half past six
on Wednesday 27th May.

We'll have all the latest news
and sport for you in just a moment.

We are following a developing
story with worldwide implications.

FIFA, the multibillion-dollar organization
that governs soccer, is under fire.

A bombshell, an earthquake
at the International Football Federation.

In May 2015,
the house of FIFA started crumbling.

In the past hour,
a number of officials

from world football's governing body,
FIFA,

have been arrested
on suspicion of corruption.

The news broke

that people had been arrested
right in the seat of power in Zurich.

Senior members
of the FIFA Executive Committee

and some officials.

We've only had the information
in the last couple of hours, Amanda,

but what do you know about the arrests?

This is an FBI investigation.

They raided one of the main FIFA hotels,
the Baur au Lac...

And these were individuals at the top

of not only the biggest sport
on the planet,

but in many ways the biggest business.

In this car,
one of them is taken away

from people's sight.

Every few minutes, we get a call
that a new person is now under arrest.

We'd been working so hard
for so long to try to control all this,

so this moment would happen
in the right way.

I remember I was driving from home
to FIFA, and I got a call telling me,

"We should meet
because we have a big problem."

POLICE

It was a very difficult day.
The worst day.

People I knew quite well
had just been arrested.

But we didn't know the full extent of it
until we saw the indictments,

uh, which was some hours later.

Not long afterwards,

the Department of Justice
announced the indictment

with however many names on it,
including some of the biggest names

in the Executive Committee.

Basically, the people who decide

which country's gonna host the World Cup,
who run the organization.

We are here to announce the unsealing
of charges and the arrest of individuals,

as part of our long-running investigation
into bribery and corruption

in the world of organized soccer.

The first time you read
the indictments, you're like, "Hold on."

You're not just saying
these people did it.

You might be suggesting
FIFA's responsible for this.

The 47-count indictment
against these individuals

includes charges of racketeering,
wire fraud,

and money laundering conspiracies,
spanning two decades.

The way Loretta Lynch
and Jim Comey talked about FIFA,

they use charges that normally
are associated with the Mafia

or, uh, Mexican drug cartels.

If the US Department of Justice
names FIFA as a criminal party,

it's... it's game, set, and match here.

The organization will just collapse.

Uh, nobody is above or beyond the law.

They went to New York
to send a message to international soccer.

"You haven't cleaned up your house.
We are coming to clean up your house."

This really is the World Cup of fraud.

And today, we're issuing FIFA a red card.

Suddenly, the corporate veil fell,

and you could see
quite how much corruption

and money-making
and self-interest and greed

and politicking and backstabbing
there really was

behind what they called "the FIFA family."

- Mr. Blatter?
- Mr. Blatter?

Will you resign, Mr. Blatter?

And Sepp Blatter was
the head of that family.

He was
the Godfather of football.

In his eyes, he was untouchable.

In most governments,

if two vice presidents and several members
of the executive committee are indicted,

the president would resign
or would be forced to resign.

Why would I resign?

To resign would be like saying
I am responsible

for everything that's happening.

Corruption was endemic
in FIFA for decades,

right through to the fall in 2015.

They held important responsibilities
at every level,

from building soccer fields
for children in developing countries

to organizing the World Cup.

They were expected
to uphold the rules

that keep soccer honest
and to protect the integrity of the game.

Instead, they corrupted
the business of worldwide soccer

to serve their interests
and to enrich themselves.

But that's not true.
This has been created.

The institution is not corrupt.
There is no corruption in football.

RED CARD FOR FIFA
NO WORLD CUP WITHOUT WORKERS RIGHTS

Nothing was done by him
to stop this bullet train.

My conscience is clear.

Because I cannot be responsible for that.

FIFA became toxic.
FIFA became a criminal organization.

The job I have done in FIFA is a good job.

Let's go, FIFA! Let's go, FIFA!

I didn't realize
how much power they had.

I didn't realize
they controlled governments, banks.

I just thought, "These are the guys
that make the rules."

Being a member of FIFA is like being
in a secret garden you never wanna leave.

There's an unspoken code
that you can do whatever you want.

You're a master of the sporting universe

and more powerful, in many cases,
than politicians and others

because they come and go,
but you stay in that job,

you stay in that seat year after year.

Regarding the arrests
carried out,

this is another obvious attempt of the US

to extend its jurisdiction
to other countries.

Qatar!

We were all flabbergasted.

My immediate reaction was
that they had bought this.

The attack was coming
on us, on FIFA.

Unprecedented attacks,
coming from left, right, and center.

My name will always be in "corruption,
corruption, corruption."

This is the story
of the history of FIFA,

which is partly
the history of football itself,

and the history
of how corruption takes root

in different places around the world.

It's still, by far,

the biggest sports corruption scandal
that we've ever had.

FIFA has got the great privilege

of being in charge
of the greatest game on earth,

that people just fall in love with

when they're really, really small,
and love for the rest of their lives.

But they're in an important position

with a duty to safeguard
the values of the sport.

It's a much happier place to be,

not to know
all the ugly goings-on inside football,

and just to still love the game
and support your national team,

just out of innocence and love.

But at the same time,

most football supporters have a feeling
for when things aren't right.

The normal fan wants
to see football, to be in the World Cup.

He wants to see his heroes playing,
the Ronaldos and all... all the Messis.

He doesn't care
about the infights in FIFA.

He knows FIFA's corrupt,
and he's fed up with that.

The question is allowed.

Why should the normal fan care
about bribery in sport?

We should care because the sport
still gives the illusion to the world

that it is something nice, something fair,

something entertaining, something clean.

It is not,
but the illusion still lives on.

If we don't fight corruption in sport,
we should not fight corruption at all.

In order to understand
how corruption takes root in football

in different places around the world,

it's really important
to go back to the origins of FIFA.

FIFA was formed by seven
European football associations in 1904,

and they were all amateur.

There was no money in it at all.

And there's an idealism there
to play sport against each other.

They wanted football
to be a force for good.

For decades, football spread phenomenally
around the world,

despite how small-scale
FIFA was for such a long time.

For years, it was just,
you know, in an office building

in downtown Zurich,

and it... and it didn't have its own HQ.

It was an amateurish organization

until 1974.

At the time, the president of FIFA was
a prominent English football administrator

called Stanley Rous,

who was then challenged
by the Brazilian, João Havelange.

I'd like to mention this. For Stanley,
I have the greatest respect.

When you enter into an election,

you do not turn into enemies,
you are temporary adversaries.

João Havelange was
the most famous Brazilian in the world.

João Havelange had been
an Olympic athlete in swimming.

João Havelange was the president
of the Brazilian Sports Confederation.

He had a genuine interest in sports.

He realized that the knowledge
he had about sports

could be transformed into political power.

He started learning more
about the political situation in FIFA.

He saw that there was a chance.

Would it be such a bad thing
for football if Brazil did get this post?

I don't know.
I should be a little apprehensive.

Why?

Well, in view of the way
that I've seen that they, um...

their attitude towards football
and sport is so different from ours.

Stanley Rous made some big mistakes

and misjudgments
on the international stage.

Particularly the fact
that he had a tolerant attitude

towards apartheid South Africa

and their membership of FIFA.

He's not well-loved in Africa.

People see Stanley Rous
as a part of the British Empire,

who are blocking the advancement
of the African countries

who are fighting for their independence.

Havelange said, "While apartheid exists,

if I am elected,
South Africa will be banned by FIFA."

Havelange fought
a very shrewd election,

and this is where the politics,
perhaps with a capital P, comes in.

Each country's football association
has one vote

in the FIFA presidential election.

So, there are votes all around the world,

especially in Africa,

and João Havelange completely understood
that if you wanted to win that election,

it's not going to do you any harm

if you promise them that there's gonna be
some resources there,

some money there for development
of the game in their own countries.

And then
there's also the suspicion, of course,

that he had money,
and that the famous packages,

the brown envelopes,

may have been distributed
to delegates at the hotel in Frankfurt

in the days before the congress.

Of course it happened.
It's certain it happened.

Gentlemen delegates,
Mr. Havelange received 68 votes...

...Sir Stanley Rous, 52.

The new president of FIFA
is Mr. Havelange.

The election of João Havelange
was such a watershed for FIFA.

This Brazilian industrialist

had replaced
the English referee, FA blazer figure.

So unexpected and shocking.

The arrival of Havelange to FIFA

symbolized the arrival
of capitalism in FIFA,

in the sense that its identity changed

from being like a club amongst friends,

Europeans who were
all very interested in the game,

and became a business.

Soon after being elected
president of FIFA,

I had in mind
two particularly ambitious projects.

They should benefit, most of all,
the youth and Third World countries.

So, Havelange had made
those promises

to do more development
in Africa, particularly.

But the problem was
that there wasn't much money in FIFA

to actually do these programs.

And that's when
Sepp Blatter came on board.

In October of '74,
FIFA contacted me and said,

"Havelange is looking for somebody
who could develop the game."

And I heard, "FIFA, FIFA."

I said, "Whoo! I jump into FIFA."

I met Havelange.

A big, tall man.

It's easy to be tall in front of me.

I never had more than Messi. 170, 169.

So... so, it's easy to be tall.

And he, uh, looked at me, and he said,

"Tu veux travailler avec moi?"

Uh... "Do you want to work with me?"

And I said, uh, "Yes, Mr. President."

- Handshake. And he said...
- "You're hired."

Then I had
what I wanted in my life,

to work for football and in football.

But developing the game,
I... I cannot do it myself.

I need help.

FIFA had no money.

So, what I did,

I approach Coca-Cola,

and I made a presentation.

And then there was a man there,
and he said,

"I listened to what you have said,

but how many bottles of Coca-Cola
are you going to sell for me?"

I said, "It's not a question
to sell the Coca-Cola,

but it is a question
that two big organizations,

they can go together
for the benefits of the youth."

And so, in 1976,
we made the press conference

to announce the big support
from the Coca-Cola Company

to FIFA for the development programs

and the youth competitions.

He was the first one
who introduced modern sponsoring

in development programs.

It was totally new.
This was revolutionary, you know.

Coca-Cola supported
the FIFA Coca-Cola Program,

as it was called.

This was the start of the modern FIFA.

And once we had Coca-Cola,
then others followed.

Adidas said, "We will give the equipment."

And then we had the contract with KLM.

This is in the first four years

that Havelange is in power.

They're selling massive sponsorships
for the first time.

After that, you start to see
all these other brands

start attaching themselves to football,
to sponsor the '78 World Cup.

It brings in
an avalanche of money to FIFA.

Football became a product.

Then automatically, it's obvious.

You touch... you touch politics.

I'm sure

that Argentina will host
an excellent World Cup.

Economically, it's a rich country.

It has the right conditions,
financially speaking,

for us to have a perfect World Cup.

The '78 World Cup was really
a remarkable moment

in the history of sport,
and politics, for that matter,

because it was...
it was the opportunity for FIFA

to begin to really spread
its wings financially,

but also it was an opportunity
for FIFA to lay down

with perhaps the most despicable kinds
of politicians you can imagine.

Argentina in 1976 had a takeover

by a fascist, violent,

brutal military group.

They were responsible
for atrocities and disappearances.

General Videla,
this very stern-looking man,

was running Argentina at this time.

The military junta
was bundling up dissidents,

putting them on airplanes and helicopters,

and throwing them
into the Rio de la Plata.

They were squashing
all dissent,

and it was a truly horrific moment
in modern world history.

The dictatorship
was disastrous for the country.

It brought us pain.

The World Cup was not suspended,

despite all the economic problems
the country was having.

The words of the President
were, for us, yet another reassurance.

Therefore, we leave here
very satisfied and very happy.

There's a modern word
for cruel or unjust regimes

who glamorize themselves

or cleanse their image
through association with football,

and the modern word is sportswashing.

The laundering of an image
through being associated with sport.

The most famous example is not Argentina.

It's... it's the Hitler Olympics
in 1936 in Berlin.

The World Cup of Argentina
is a carbon copy of 1936.

We call on the footballers,

spectators, and the press of the world
to boycott the games.

There was a big campaign to
boycott it, but no country did boycott it.

Argentina! Argentina!

Argentina! Argentina!

Argentina reached the final
with a wonderful team.

One of the stars was Mario Kempes,
playing with his socks down his ankles

in a really flamboyant way, long hair.

He rode three tackles

before playing a reverse pass
off the goalkeeper.

It was heart-stopping.

And Argentina won the World Cup.

They were the first
happy moments I remember as a community.

We went from euphoria to sadness

when we found out
at the end of the dictatorship

about everything
that had happened in those years,

and how we were used as puppets.

I kept it there. I kept it
there because it was sport, not politics.

It was well-organized,

the discipline was absolute,
and it was a great World Cup.

Havelange himself said

that football and politics shouldn't mix,

that FIFA is an entity
that's non-partisan and non-political.

João Havelange organized a World Cup final

at the Stadium Monumental de Núñez,

a mere 500 meters from the prison
of the Argentinian Navy School,

where the objectors to the dictatorship
were tortured and killed.

"Because I don't do politics."

Do you understand?

And then he does the worst,
the worst kind of politics there is.

The kind that supports dictatorships.

Sportswashing is a big issue now,

and when you look back
at the 1978 World Cup,

the 1936 Olympics,

and now,

I think it becomes more disturbing.

Sport allows itself to be, essentially,

bought by regimes
with human rights issues,

rather than using its power
to take a stance against that.

And you could say
Argentina wrote the playbook

for how to do that.

In this story of the history
of how corruption takes root in FIFA,

there's moments of original sin,

moments of people doing something corrupt,
and it then becomes endemic,

and it seems that this,
after the World Cup in Argentina,

is really one of those moments.

There are people who believe
that Havelange should be recognized

for having a great legacy for football,
and for FIFA, which is arguable,

but that he was corrupted
by Horst Dassler,

the German owner of Adidas.

We produce 15,000 shoes,
which is our main operation,

and, among other things,
500 balls per day.

Adidas had this incredible
interwoven relationship with FIFA,

and Horst Dassler was
remarkably powerful and influential,

going back decades by then.

It's almost like how much Adidas you saw
on television when the World Cup was on

was reflected in the influence
that Adidas had behind the scenes.

And the story goes that Adidas were doing
the overall marketing package

for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

And Horst Dassler put a payout
into the contract for Havelange

in order to make sure
that they secured the rights,

which was effectively a bribe.

And so João Havelange,
the president of FIFA,

takes money for those marketing rights.

Then Dassler started to think
about other ways to bribe Havelange

to be able to control rights indefinitely

'cause he knows that the value of football
is just gonna explode.

As television developed,

the rights to just seeing the action
became very, very, very valuable.

So Horst Dassler moves into
pure sports marketing.

He wants to buy up the rights
to the World Cups from FIFA

and then sell them to broadcasters.

Havelange is not interested,
necessarily,

in what the correct market value
for it is.

He's interested in,

and this is where
things start getting ugly,

how much money Dassler can give him
privately under the table

in exchange for those rights.

And so Dassler creates this company,
ISL, International Sport and Leisure.

And this company begins gobbling up
almost every right associated with FIFA.

At the time, the model was simple
and, uh, very profitable for ISL.

It was a straight rights buyout.

So, you went and offered
a certain amount of money

to, uh... to FIFA

in return for all their marketing rights.

Then we could do with it
whatever we wanted

and obviously sell them
for, uh, more money.

As long as it brought money for FIFA,
they were happy

because they themselves
didn't understand what we were doing,

but they liked the money coming in.

They definitely really used their power
to their benefit.

The mastermind
behind everything was Horst Dassler.

Granting ISL a de facto monopoly,
the dark road started.

At the time,
Blatter had the full trust of Havelange,

and Blatter behaved in a way
that Havelange could trust.

He did everything for the president.

I was witnessing this, you know.

At the time,
I remember there were 11 members in FIFA,

and I was number 12.

And number 12, at the time,

he didn't play.

He was substitute,

but only in the first half
if somebody is injured.

He never played.

So I said, "I'm not a silly boy

to... to be the number 12
for all... all my life."

Blatter was
a very ambitious marketing guy.

He learned how to try
and negotiate your way up the ladder.

And a way of doing that

was to very much be
the loyal worker for Havelange.

And in 1981,

he became the general secretary.

So then he's second in power,
really, to Havelange.

Hello.

And Havelange
was always in Brazil.

He came every six weeks or two months
to see if the building is still standing.

So, Blatter could more or less do
what he wanted.

He was the best-oriented person.

He was the spider in the net.

And Havelange was happy
with the situation as it was.

He could get his black money.
He could be the president.

He could... He could get the glory.

The moment when people understood,

"This is a powerful guy,
FIFA is something else now,"

was the World Cup in Spain,
without any doubt.

There was a huge qualitative leap
from the darkness of Argentina

to that sunny tournament in Spain in '82,
even in the sense of the weather.

The fact that it was in Spain

where a four-decade-long dictatorship
had just ended.

Franco.

So, it was
a completely different situation.

It swapped the shadows for the light.

And the one who was shining
was Havelange. As well, right?

There is even a famous scene

in which King Juan Carlos
and Havelange arrived together.

And the feeling was
that the king was, in fact, Havelange

because of the different posture
that he and Juan Carlos had.

It looked like the king
in there was Havelange.

João Havelange became
a very, very powerful figure at FIFA.

I don't think
there's a challenge to his presidency,

and gradually FIFA start making big money.

Since he became FIFA president,

Havelange has created
a multimillion-dollar footballing empire.

With it has come a life of luxury.

There was also starting
to be a culture

of these people behaving
a bit like barons.

Last month, he jetted across
the Atlantic to Zurich and back again,

just to say hello.

It becomes very famous,
what a luxury life they all have.

The best cars, the best hotels.

You know, money no object, really.

And Havelange was
almost like the emperor at FIFA.

Nearly all of FIFA's money
was coming from ISL,

the marketing company
founded by Horst Dassler,

the Adidas boss.

ISL controls all the marketing rights,
the advertising in the stadium,

and every other element of commercialism,

so, to date, he's been very successful
in his relationship with FIFA.

And all that time,

ISL had been paying kickbacks
to Havelange, as the FIFA president,

for the purchase of marketing rights
to World Cups.

The staff was starting to speak
about ISL, and, uh, "Why is always ISL?"

And, uh, I got a lot of questions
from the media, you know,

questions I should...
should reply more or less correctly.

You know?

And, uh... more and more,
we found out that something was rotten.

Yes, but we didn't speak it out.

Blatter knew
ISL were paying Havelange money

'cause one-and-a-half million
had actually been paid to FIFA by mistake,

and Blatter had seen it.

England, the Football Association...

For Blatter,
it was a little triumph

because now he could show
that Havelange was bribed.

This was the proof
that Havelange was corrupted, you know?

And this was just, uh...
the cherry on the cake, you know?

Beautiful cherry for Sepp Blatter.

And later on, he started to...
to disclose his ambitions.

A few years later,
I could feel he was getting impatient.

He didn't have the patience
to wait until Havelange wanted to go.

He just wanted to become president.
All the rest was not important.

Blatter knew that Havelange was corrupted,

and he made use of these secrets
at the end of the day.

He made an arrangement with Havelange

that Havelange agreed
to stay four more years

and to leave in an orderly way
and to support him,

so Havelange could leave
with a certain respect,

and Blatter could fulfill his dream
to become FIFA president.

It was an evil pact.

My mission
as president of FIFA will end

at the same time
as the World Cup in France, 1998.

This must have been a very big
personal disappointment for Havelange.

I'm sad that he will leave

because I cannot imagine
that FIFA will run without him.

Twenty-one years together,
this forges friendship.

And, uh, I first have now
to digest this information.

He was never honest enough
to support the president of FIFA,

who made him.

Blatter's story
is one of betrayal.

I get tired even talking about him.

He's missed it!
And Brazil win the World Cup!

Baggio stays rooted to the spot,

has hardly moved.

Italy are dejected.
The delight from the Brazilians.

It all started with...

In the early '90s, the European members
in the FIFA Executive Committee

were unhappy with the way

Havelange and Blatter
were running the organization.

And so they nominated Lennart Johansson

as their candidate
for FIFA presidency in 1998.

I mind my own business.

I presented my program
already half a year ago.

People know for what I'm standing,
and that's it.

He was very popular within FIFA

and, um, seems to have
the support of Europe,

which is still sort of at the top
of the pyramid of world football.

So, Blatter finds quite a challenge there.

How do you see
Mr. Blatter's candidacy?

He's a very good general secretary.

We can also look at what lessons
Havelange taught Blatter.

I think perhaps the most important lesson
was about how to count votes

and that, in fact, other countries
have lots of votes as well.

And once you're looking for votes,
well, then it's a lethal business.

This is a big weakness in the FIFA system,

which no one's quite worked out
how to solve.

Every country has one vote.

CONMEBOL, for example,
the South American confederation,

which includes Brazil and Argentina,

two of the greatest football countries

who've won the World Cup
multiple times between them,

has only 10 votes
for the presidency of FIFA,

but CONCACAF,

because of all the Caribbean islands,

they have over 30 votes
for the presidency,

so, therefore, any FIFA president
has to keep them happy.

And who is the president
of CONCACAF for all those years?

Someone called Jack Warner.

In the Caribbean,
there's a post-Jack and a pre-Jack.

Pre-Jack, most of the Caribbean
went about their business on their own,

25 countries reporting back
to CONCACAF and FIFA.

When Jack came in,
he united the Caribbean,

and he gave every single Caribbean nation,

whether you're as small
as Turks and Caicos or as big as Cuba,

a sense of belonging.

He believed the Caribbean
should be hosting World Cups.

He believed that anything that Europe gets
or Africa gets or Asia gets,

the Caribbean should get as well.

And he was a person
that wielded a very, very powerful hand

in football in Trinidad and Tobago.

Nothing happened without him.

What happens in FIFA now

is that you have to be able
to make alliances, forge alliances,

and in that way,
you tend to get what you want.

Jack Warner
always had a sidekick,

this other character who hung out with him
by the name of Chuck Blazer.

When I first turned on
to this whole thing,

I noticed, while there was articles
about Jack Warner,

no one wrote about Chuck Blazer.

If this is an alternative method
to some of the...

He's not someone
who played soccer.

He didn't play many sports at all.
He didn't know anything about the sport.

He was much more interested
in the administration.

He was a hustler, a salesman.
That was his number one talent.

He coached both his kids' soccer teams
in New Rochelle, and I think he saw...

He said,
"There's all these kids playing soccer."

"There's a huge upsurge
in interest in soccer in America."

He saw a way to make a buck.
He was always looking for that.

Really, he rose from coaching
his kids' soccer team

to the soccer federation,
which gave him a place in CONCACAF.

And that's when he connected
with Jack Warner.

The name itself
is the Confederation

of North, Central American
and Caribbean Association...

Now, each of those three zones
have somewhat different flavors to them.

Chuck helped Jack realize

that the Caribbean was
the sleeping giant of CONCACAF

in terms of one country, one vote.

And in a 40-nation confederation,

if 25 of those nations are Caribbean
and they're organized,

they should lead
the direction of the confederation.

So, Chuck said,

"Hey, we need to think about a structure
that really works for us."

"Let's go make this money."

And so, in 1990,

Jack Warner won the election
for CONCACAF president

and made Chuck the general secretary.

I think he was
as corrupt as can be when he got there,

but I think
he also learned the way of FIFA.

His appetite got much, much bigger.

Jack relied on Chuck
to generate the television contract

and other dollars that would mean wealth

for the confederation
and those two men in particular.

Chuck believed
he should get a taste of everything.

Like your Mafia guys,
they want a taste of every single deal,

and Blazer very much believed that.

Last year,
I was given the responsibility also

to handle two new competitions which are...

When they assemble the votes
in the Caribbean to win CONCACAF,

this other sort of immediate takeaway
from that

is that that's a large block of votes

that can also be applied
to elections at FIFA.

Anyone that wanted
to be the president of FIFA,

you had to go through the Caribbean,
you had to go through Jack Warner

because he held a huge voting block.

And not only just held it,
they were extremely disciplined

and loyal to him.

Blatter understood quite clearly

that Jack had good negotiating skills
in everything that he did.

And Jack recognized

there would be more benefits
coming into the Caribbean with him.

So, they became... "brothers."

Jack Warner would have been someone
to make an offer to change his mind.

He is this kind of character.

But the Europeans couldn't do that.

So, uh, he was lost from the beginning.

I regret very much
the fact that for Europe, for UEFA,

it seems that no football exists
beyond their frontiers,

and that everybody must conform to UEFA
and not the other way around.

And this is one big family.

I have a problem with that.

He was one of those who asked for money

to vote for Lennart Johansson.

Bluntly.

He was only looking after his own pockets.

So, he was supporting Blatter,
but we hoped that in spite of that,

we would come through as winners,

and, uh, we were hoping that we...
we get all Europe behind us.

Two candidates,
the Swiss, Joseph Blatter,

against the Swede, Lennart Johansson.

Lennart Johansson wants to apply
his European strategy on the world stage.

He is the man behind the evolution
of European competitions.

You have to watch your back all the time
because you can't really trust people.

There are... there are very few

who are not prepared
to change their opinions.

In other football news,

Michel Platini joined Sepp Blatter's
campaign this morning in Paris.

He announced
his support for Mr. Blatter's bid

to become the next FIFA president.

Basically, Blatter said
to himself, "I'm not very popular."

"Although I'm Swiss, I'm not very popular
or even not popular at all

with the European federations."

Blatter was aware that he was seen
as a rather dull football politician,

and he said to himself,
"Here is Michel Platini,

who retired from football,

who seems to have embarked
in sports politics."

"He could be
an absolutely incredible running mate."

Platini really
revolutionized French football.

He revolutionized it on the pitch,
but also off it.

He really had
this incredible technical range,

which made him a unique player.

And so he saw Blatter
and was quite impressed by his work rate.

And that's when the idea
of this Platini-Blatter ticket emerged.

On the list of the best players
in the world,

he was one of the highest there.

He said, "I... My value is one million."

I said, "Okay, one million."
Also a handshake.

- Okay?
- Okay.

Platini's role
was very important in Europe

because this election
was not at all a done deal for Blatter.

Blatter was not the favorite.

When we did the math
a few months before the congress,

Blatter was still well behind.

In Asia,
we had a split situation.

There was quite a few associations
in favor of Johansson.

And we thought that the bonds
between Africa and Europe were so strong

that all the African states
would give their votes for Lennart.

Um...

And, uh, strange things happened.

Okay, smile.

Smile.

In April,
Blatter rang me and said,

"Emmanuel, I would like to pick your brain
on how to get the vote from Africa."

And I said, "Listen, you know,
you are facing a tough guy."

"Like, Johansson, who already...
a tight relationship with CAF,

the African football confederation."

"But there is maybe one thing we can do."

I flew to South Africa

to meet the chairman
of the South African Football Association.

I come in and I say,
"Oli, I need your help." I say, "Listen."

"Here is a golden opportunity
for South Africa as a nation,

and for you as a president,
to host the World Cup."

"If you make a right choice,
we'll give you a guarantee."

And he said that, "If it's true,

I will not only bring
the voice of South Africa,

but I will bring
the 14 COSAFA members to you folks."

So I say, "Bingo."

I call Sepp.
I say, "Listen, we have a deal here."

What counts is the money.
In direct way or indirect way.

And promising a World Cup
is also a way of promising money.

Another key ally of Sepp Blatter

was Mohamed Bin Hammam.

He was a Qatari businessman
and essentially his campaign manager.

Clearly very ambitious,

and he absolutely hitched his wagon
to Blatter for that '98 election.

He's a rich man.

Very influential, powerful.

He always get what he needs.

Bin Hammam was
a very, very loyal deal-maker.

Blatter learned
how important Bin Hammam can be.

Whatever he promised, he kept.

I worked with him
through my relationship,

friendship with the Africans,
with the Asians,

to... to get more votes, you know.

I served him like nobody served him in...

uh... in his life, you know.

Several people have been talking
about brown envelopes being exchanged

at the FIFA hotel.

A lot of African countries
switched camp just before the congress.

We can only assume
that there was money involved.

There's a lot of talk
about huge sums of money

being delivered to hotel rooms in Paris.

Yes, it was.

It was.

- What can you do? That...
- Was that a rumor, or was that true?

No, that was true. Yeah. It was true.

It was true.

- Good morning.
- Good morning.

Good morning.

Morning. How are you?

Hello, Mr. Blatter.

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to Paris
for the 51st FIFA Congress.

Without waiting anymore,
I give the floor to Mr. Havelange.

And now the elections will begin.

We have two candidates.

The general secretary of FIFA,
Mr. Sepp Blatter,

and the president of UEFA,
Mr. Lennart Johansson.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Our football family needs a new leader.

When I was campaigning
all around the world,

when I met delegates on all continents,

I did not want to promise jobs, contracts,

tournaments, money, or any other help.

And I did not want to promise
financial support to some associations

who would receive this support rightfully.

Instead of making promises,

I referred to my program
and to the key messages.

Democracy, solidarity, and transparency.

We had 12 minutes to present.

Johansson took, I think, ten or whatever.

He's speaking.

And he was so convinced
that he will, uh...

he will be elected.

Voting for me means voting
for a clean football and a clean FIFA.

Voting for me...

I was a little bit shorter, very short,

and I started to say, "You know me..."

Myself, I'm for continuity

of all the development work

that Mr. Havelange and his administration,

and to which I was instrumental,

has done during the last few years.

And then I said,
"If I am elected,

I will bring the World Cup to Africa."

And then whatever, over.

I thank you all.

And then we started
the procedure for election.

Algeria.

Argentina.

Bahamas.

Bahrain...

Ladies and gentlemen,
the results for the first round of voting.

One candidate must obtain
two-thirds of all the votes,

which is 128 votes.

Mr. Joseph Blatter, 111 votes.

Mr. Lennart Johansson, 80 votes.

Therefore, we must proceed
with a second round of voting.

Dear friends,
I am sorry, but 111-80.

The game is over,
and I think you should go for lunch.

Thank you very much.

We understood immediately
that this is already done.

Africa suddenly had turned around,

and also some Europeans,

uh, changed and didn't support
their own president,

so, he was betrayed, he thought,

and I think that it doesn't make sense

to take a fight
where you know already from the beginning

that you are going to lose.

I was astonished
by the fact that, uh, people I talked to

told me they should vote for me,
and obviously, a lot of them didn't.

And this is where I think, um,
Blatter was an artist in organizing that.

I was
the happiest person in the hall.

I was just standing up,
saying, "Victory!"

"It's a liberation for us."

What he has
is he has an insatiable desire

to be the center of attention.

And that could...

in the end,
could have made him fail, but it didn't.

Once again,
please applaud Lennart Johansson.

And had Johansson
been elected president of FIFA,

these scandals that we know now
would not have happened.

There was a reaction afterwards
by UEFA by saying...

I remember.

"This is one victory."

"But never again
will you be the president. Never again."

It all started
with Blatter and Havelange.

And the '98 elections was the foundation

for all the things
that happened afterwards.

The ongoing mess at FIFA continues

with Mohamed Bin Hammam accusing
Sepp Blatter of behaving like a dictator.

Where is my security?

Saying that I have bribed somebody
by paying something,

this is absolutely wrong.

- What do you have on Blatter?
- No comments.

Why no comments?

Stop, please, to say FIFA's corrupt.
FIFA is not corrupt.

I feel let down,
sickened, and fed up.

Enough is enough.

How about your relationship
with Jack Warner?

It's obviously been broken.

I said before,
FIFA will feel a tsunami coming.

Trust me. You haven't seen it yet.