What will be the endearing legacy of this World Cup? The English debacle? The bravery and passion of minor teams? The Favella uproar? Diving to make Tom Daley jealous? Biting to rival that of Mike Tyson? Or will it be that everyone involved in an official capacity is smeared with the tarnish of corruption?
For many, the realisation of corruption at the highest level of sports comes as no surprise. With a spate of recent high profile cases and investigations, including that of the alleged £3 million bribes for FIFA officials for the 2022 World Cup, comes what will perhaps be the biggest investigation yet, namely the black market World Cup ticket sales.
But how does an event in Brazil attract British interests? Yet again, we have the involvement of the Bribery Act. Marcos Kac, the chief prosecutor for the inquiry in Brazil, has requested the assistance of worldwide police forces in investigating this allegation. Added to this, a number of the companies and individuals at the heart of this investigation, and possibly countless more associated to be discovered in due course, are British. The official partner, Match, for which a key person Ray Whelan worked for, is alleged to have with the assistance of an official from FIFA flooded the black market with tickets. One deal alone which Mr Whelan is said to have been recorded in negotiating was for the cash sale of £600k of tickets to a tout.
Investigations will also focus on the involvement of certain FIFA officials, whom are believed to have sanctioned the sale of tickets, and also those who appointed Match as an official partner, despite allegations similar to these having been made at previous World Cups, when they were also official partners. In addition, the Byrom brothers and Mohamadou Fofana are also being looked closely into for their dealings and roles.
What is clear is that we see how the involvement and actions of British connected persons and businesses can be legitimately investigated by both foreign and domestic forces. Whether any prosecution will result either in the UK, Brazil, or somewhere else, is yet to be seen, but the message has been reaffirmed. Where in the World illegal activity takes place is no longer a safeguard. If it is an offence in the UK, then you can be investigated.
As for the fall out from this, it will be interesting to see how FIFA react to the recent scandals, and in light of the recent Olympics in Russia, and the colossal corruption allegations involved in that, how the next World Cup cannot be seen through anything but sceptical eyes. We can but hope that the drama on the pitch matches that of it off it.
