Qatar has held a solid line from the day in on December 2nd, 2010. FIFA was forced into this scandal after seven senior officials were arrested at the crack of dawn concerning allegations of fraud, racketeering and money laundering. The top leadership over the next months was removed, decapitated and replaced with new people. But what I would say is culturally, very little has changed. Behind closed door antics still exist. These highly paid cinequures for people who support the hierarchy are still well in place. And this is very much in part of how FIFA has always been run. It's hard to overplay how big and what a shocking moment it was.
Soccer is sometimes called “the second religion of the Arab World,” and Qatar is the region’s first country to host the World Cup. But FIFA’s pick of the desert nation comes with boundless controversy.
This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Efim Shapiro, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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