Tag: Corruption

Soccer movies and football films that expose the corruption in the sport

Fulwell73 hits home with ‘Super Greed’ (2022)

Post author By MJ-A
Post date January 6, 2023

Super Greed: The Fight for Football (2022)

Super Greed: The Fight for Football is the first faithful cinematic telling of the 48-hour debacle known as the European Super League (ESL). It will not be the last.

Looking back to Apr-2021, you might recall the Super League with blurry pandemic memories. But because this documentary is from Fulwell73 and Sky Sports, whose business is to cater to football fans, it is hard-hitting and helps us relive the anguish of those few days. It really is like rubbing an enormous pimple on the foreheads of 12 billionaires, and it is so satisfying when the zits pop.

Tags British, Chelsea, Corruption, fans, Fulwell 73, Politics, R9

Documentary

‘FIFA Uncovered’ (2022) the World Cup of Fraud

Post author By MJ-A
Post date November 12, 2022

FIFA Uncovered (2022)

If you did not have the energy to read the 2014 Garcia Report, the Netflix docuseries FIFA Uncovered is an excellent way to get all the facts in a very visual mode. Director Daniel Gordon interviews journalists, authors, and media experts as well as key principals formerly inside FIFA, and the Qataris who bought the World Cup.

Tags British, Corruption, Daniel Gordon, FIFA, R7, Series, USA

Documentary

Is ‘The Holy Game’ (2021) sportswashing

Post author By MJ-A
Post date January 9, 2022

The Holy Game (2021)

Director Brent Hodge did not intend to make a film about why men enter the Catholic priesthood. At the outset, he and co-director Chris Kelly thought their film would be a comedic pop culture documentary, a movie genre niche that is Hodge’s specialty. They envisioned fat friars sweating in the Vatican-sponsored football tournament known as The Clericus Cup.

Tags Canada, Corruption, Italian, R8, Religious

Documentary

‘Fixed!’ (2020) – how to play the match-fixing game

Post author By MJ-A
Post date February 24, 2021

Fixed, a Football Comedy (2020)

Once you’ve served prison time for match fixing, what is the easiest way to keep making money? Claim yourself notorious, become a consultant, and get paid to give interviews about corruption in FIFA.

The story of match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal first broke in 2010, when as a FIFA Match Agent, Perumal arranged an international friendly between Bahrain and a fake team from Togo. The resulting outrage brought the match-fixing to light.

Tags Corruption, FIFA, Netherlands, R6

Notes

Notes: The Garcia Report details FIFA corruption on every page

Post author By MJ-A
Post date December 24, 2020

Note image by Engin Akyurt

It is incredibly unfortunate that media like the Washington Post and the NY Times downplayed the 2014 Garcia Report, with headlines saying that there was “no smoking gun”. Virtually every page in this independent report from Michael Garcia’s Investigatory Chamber details FIFA’s corrupt methods in selecting the sites for WC 2018 and WC 2022.

I’ve reviewed several movies about FIFA corruption, but this document clearly lays out in business details and email flows, the operational procedures that comprise FIFA’s corrupt practices, and how an investigator breaks it all down.

Tags Corruption, FIFA, Notes

Documentary

‘The FIFA Family’ (2017) – a never-ending corruption story

Post author By MJ-A
Post date November 13, 2020

The FIFA Family (2017)

Thank DR, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, for bringing the stories of Chuck Blazer and the corruption behind the Qatar World Cup to the public in such an easily digestible form.The FIFA Family: A Love Story dissects how Blazer’s plea deal to become an undercover informant led to the arrest of 6 members of the FIFA Executive Committee (Ex-Co) on May 27, 2015.

Tags Corruption, Denmark, FIFA, R7

Documentary

Shakhtar Donetsk is ‘The Other Chelsea’ (2010)

Post author By MJ-A
Post date December 1, 2019

The Other Chelsea (2010)

Although The Other Chelsea is 10 years old, it is a valuable film to watch in the context of today’s impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump. First-time Writer-Director Jakob Preuss lays out the struggling lives of coal miners in Donetsk and compares them to Kolya, a young rising local politician and businessman who drives a Lexus and drinks very old cognac. What ties them together is the success of their football team, FC Shakhtar Donetsk (Шахта́р Донецьк).

Tags Corruption, German, Politics, R8, Ukraine

Documentary

‘Foul Play’ (2017) – it’s easy to fix matches in Indonesia

Post author By MJ-A
Post date November 10, 2019

Foul Play (2017)

Director Suridh Hassan put together this documentary about corruption in Southeast Asian football, mostly covering Indonesia. He follows the season of UK manager Simon McMenemy, who coaches Indonesian side Mitrar Kukar FC. He also conducts interviews with a youth coach, a physio, and a journalist who explain how easy and pervasive match fixing is in the area. The bottom line is: Don’t bet on games in Indonesia and Singapore.

Tags Corruption, Indonesia, R5

Documentary

‘The Workers Cup’ (2017) normalizes Qatar

Post author By MJ-A
Post date July 16, 2018

The Workers Cup (2017)

Now that WC 2018 has finished in Russia (Congratulations to Les Bleus!), the eyes of the world turn to WC 2022 in Qatar. But as happened with Russia, the eyes of football fans are blind to the exploitation and corruption that FIFA has facilitated for these two tournaments. The Workers Cup might open your eyes a little, but to me, Adam Sobel’s film normalizes the conditions in Qatar.

Tags British, Corruption, First-feature, Qatar, R7

Notes

Notes: The Problems with Football Agents

Post author By MJ-A
Post date June 16, 2018

The 2011 film Soka Afrika got me wondering, how does a player in Africa find the right agent? How do players avoid scams by fraudulent football agents that will turn them into victims of human trafficking?

Tags Corruption, Notes

Documentary

So many ways to cheat in ‘Dirty Games’ (2016)

Post author By MJ-A
Post date May 18, 2018

Dirty Games: The Dark Side of Sports (2016) - Dirty Games: Das Geschäft mit dem Sport

As sports fans, we should all thank Director Benjamin Best for his investigative journalism. We like to think that the games on which we spend so much time, money, and emotion, are equally true to us, the fans and supporters.

Tags Corruption, German, R9

Documentary

More FIFA corruption in ‘The March of the White Elephants’ (2015)

Post author By MJ-A
Post date September 24, 2017

The March of the White Elephants (2015)

In The March of the White Elephants, Director Craig Tanner continues the work he began with his first film, exposing the societal insanity of spending billions on stadiums for a one month soccer party.

Tags Australia, Brazil, Corruption, R8

Documentary

Romanian corruption in ‘Craiova versus Craiova’ (2016)

Post author By MJ-A
Post date August 5, 2017

Craiova versus Craiova (2016)

What is the most extraordinary aspect of the documentary Craiova versus Craiova? It’s not that 2 teams claimed to be the same club and then played each other in the Romanian Second Division. What’s amazing is that this excellent film was created by a student as his senior journalism project at a Brazilian university. Director João Vítor Roberge was 22 years old when he released this 45 minute film last year.

Tags Brazil, Corruption, R8, Romanian

Documentary

‘The Romanov Revolution’ (2005) – a Russian oligarch story

Post author By MJ-A
Post date March 13, 2017

The Romanov Revolution (2005)

Evil Russian men come in many stereotypes: dictators, KGB, hackers, hooligans, doping athletes, oligarchs, and football team owners. The Romanov Revolution is a 2005 BBC Frontline Scotland TV documentary about Vladimir Romanov, then new owner of Heart of Midlothian FC, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Tags Corruption, R8, Russia, Scottish

Documentary

‘Planet FIFA’ (2016) 40 years of corruption in 94 minutes

Post author By MJ-A
Post date August 30, 2016

Planet FIFA (2016)

Thank Jean-Louis Pérez for making this documentary. La Planète FIFA is an easy way to trace 40 years of corruption in 94 minutes. Perez specializes in documentaries that center on money and economics as the root of evil, and FIFA gives him plenty of fertile soil to till.

Tags Corruption, French, R7