FIFA and RICO: How the Law Fights Corruption

The lawsuit against FIFA has its roots in RICO and the way
it was used to fight the Mafia.
Image:  Jefferson  Bernardes / Shutterstock.com

According to a recent article from Slate, the Justice Department’s recent takedown of FIFA on criminal charges isn’t so much about destroying FIFA as an institution as it is about using RICO to weed out the criminal elements.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) was established in 1970 as a way for lawmakers to effectively indict Mafia members, notorious for their ability to avoid legal ramifications of their actions.  RICO allowed lawyers to basically put the entire Mafia on trial, arguing that individual mobsters’ crimes were the fault, at least in part, of the larger organization that either directly supported or merely allowed them to happen.

Almost any group of people can be considered an “enterprise” under the rules of RICO, be it activists or police officers or something else entirely.  So FIFA, for example, can be prosecuted for misconduct with the blame resting squarely on the shoulders of some of its highest-ranking officials.

These officials allegedly solicited over $150 million in exchange for exclusive media and marketing rights to FIFA tournaments, leading the Justice Department to prosecute, since these actions were presumably accomplished in the United States.

Formed in 1904, FIFA has faced scandal before as an underregulated, rich bureaucracy of eight nations cooperating to host international soccer matches.  FIFA offices have been raided; business partners have been put on trial; and members have been found guilty of bribery, embezzlement, kick-backs, buying votes, and other crimes.

FIFA’s reaction has been a swiftly-enacted game of spin.  It has announced that it has “provisionally” banned 11 of the 14 men named in the indictment, hailing this as “swift and immediate action.”  In a statement, president Sepp Blatter, likely to be reelected to a fifth term, said US and Swiss investigations “will help to reinforce measures that FIFA has already taken to root out any wrongdoing in football.”

Given the extreme power behind the organization, it’s questionable whether this sort of lawsuit will make a dent; however, it’s notable that the situation has made it even this far, so that the issues can be researched and addressed.