THE LOWDOWN — THE FULL HISTORY
THE BIRTH
FIFA was founded in Paris in 1904 by seven founding members, with Robert Guérin, and no money, no trophy and no tournament. Jules Rimet, president, gave it a dream: in 1930, 13 teams went to Uruguay for the first World Cup.
THE RISE
From 1974 João Havelange, the first non-European president, turned a sleepy federation into a commercial machine: sponsors, television, more teams and more money. Under Blatter, president from 1998 to 2015, the World Cup became the richest event on earth, and questions about how hosts were chosen grew louder.
THE FALL
On 27 May 2015, police carried out dawn raids at the Baur au Lac hotel in Zürich, with US indictments and arrests. Blatter resigned amid the scandal and was banned by FIFA's ethics committee; he was later acquitted in a separate Swiss criminal trial in 2022.
THE ARGUMENT
A new president, the same throne. The film's critique is of the institution: reforms followed, but power stayed concentrated, resting on the bet that the world keeps watching.
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THE TERRACES — DISCUSSION
The argument also lives in the YouTube comments ↗.