FIFA is ‘the galacticos of corruption’, says former official

LONDON - A former FIFA official has accused the international football’s governing body of being “the galacticos of corruption”.

Mel Brennan, a delegate for North America at the 2002 World Cup, also described the voting for the 2018 World Cup as “not credible”.

“The mistake people make with FIFA - the galacticos of corruption - is dealing with them as if they are rational. It’s about the energy around political players and managing those,” the Sun quoted Brennan, as saying.

“Combine that with corruption and the lack of oversight you get the situation - as happened with England - where the technical bid has very little to do with who gets the World Cup,” he added.

The 40-year-old also said that FIFA’s decision to grant the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a more difficult decision to defend.

He said that the decision to give a tournament of the stature of the World Cup to a country with a population of only 1.5million was unbelievable.

“Look at Qatar, its population is tantamount to the 36th largest metropolitan area in the US. Look at Qatar’s record on workers’ rights, women’s rights, the alcohol situation, the summer temperatures, the fact they have no stadia,” Brennan said.

“Qatar is a World Cup about two things - petro-dollars and Sepp Blatter and his pursuit of a Nobel Prize for bringing football to different parts of the world. But football doesn’t have to be brought anywhere - it’s already everywhere,” he added. (ANI)