Beautifully written, well-researched, and deeply disturbing, this is a guilty pleasure of a read.

Documenting the rise of FIFA as an amateur organisation to the global powerhouse it is today, the author sets out credible and (sadly) believable evidence of the corruption that took root and slowly yet steadily sapped the organisation of funds that should have gone back into football and not into individuals’ pockets. A culture of bribery for self-enrichment and power, this is a harsh indictment on the governing body of world football.

Despite dealing with a non-fiction topic, the pace and poetic feel to the writing draws you in like the best of thrillers. And, in a way, this is exactly what this book is: a thriller tale of corruption, fraud, and bribery conducted by men charged with the governance of the wonderful sport that so many (including myself) love – and of how they proceeded to bleed it dry. It is a story that nobody wants to be true, but is profoundly convincing. It is, in short, a brilliant, compulsive yet deeply depressing read.

David Conn writes about soccer for the Guardian and has written a handful of books about various soccer related subjects. Conn is also a fan and as a kid in 1974, watching the World Cup on television, he fell in love with the game, can still describe a dribble that Johan Cruyff used to trick an opponent (footage available on YouTube), and has a firm belief that soccer is one of the purest, bridge-building sports in the world. So for Conn to get in the middle of the corruption of Fifa, Concacaf, and the world of Soccer, you can tell that Conn does not want to say everything that is to be reported. His chapter on Franz Beckenbauer, the captain of the West Germany team, is loaded with disappointment in a man that Conn obviously respected until his fall as well.

Disappointment in the entire global football governing bodies is well laid out in this report. "The Fall of the House of Fifa" feels more like a report than anything. As Conn unravels in the corruption and bribery throughout not only the current Fifa, where 14 of the 22 people of the most senior members of Fifa, those who voted for the World Cup to be in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, have had criminal or ethics charges against them since, the truth is that the corruption does not start there. Since the beginning, since Adidas found a way to get their boots and kits on every player, by digging their fingers into Fifa's operating procedures and keeping them there, Fifa has never really been a governing body on the straight and narrow. The corruption lies in two forms: where the games are going to be played and who is going to broadcast them. When television rights became a commodity, it drove the price of the games higher and those places that wanted to host international competition had to spend more and more money to get them. The problem was where the money was going, not to youth programs and building pitches in poor countries and helping out the global communities, but to those in charge, for houses and swimming pools and expensive appetites. "The Fall of the House of Fifa" is a dense work that unravels the webs of corruption and guilt, not flinching when Conn has to bring down his heroes along with the villains. If you are only a casual fan of soccer or if you have no interest in the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes, this is not for you. This is for the reader who likes a good money story and for those who can feel Conn's pain as he uncovers the truth about something that we all have found to have great importance in our lives as sports fans.

Corruption is not a new thing for Fifa, and even though Conn's book goes through much of the money, bribery, and deals that made the organization one of the most corrupt financially in the world, he does not get into the other corruption, like that Joao Havelange, the Fifa president from 1974 to 1998, hinting that the 1966 and 1974 World Cups were rigged, but as a whole, "The Fall of the House of Fifa" is so much information, so dense with thievery and bribery, that it is unable to escape the pages without having a tarnished perspective of the soccer you loved because of the pitch, not because of how the teams got there. With soccer more than any sport, it feels like the more a person scratches the surface, the more dirt comes appears.

I received an ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

David Conn provides a detailed and exhaustive account of the corruption in FIFA. The book provides some fascinating insights into the workings of the organisation and the sheer greed/corruption. Of particular interest was Conn's thoughts and facts around Jack Warner, along with Qatar winning the 2022 World Cup nomination. An essential read for any football fan.

A fascinating insight into Fifa's rise and fall.

I greatly enjoyed this book on FIFA's troubled history. Its extensively researched and well written. As a follower of David's writing in the Guardian the book lives up to expectations.
I greatly enjoyed this book on FIFA's troubled history. Its extensively researched and well written. As a follower of David's writing in the Guardian the book lives up to expectations.

Its a sad reminder of the scale of corruption and the breath of individuals involved. Blatter emerges as not quite the villain but rather the enabler and master politician. There is plenty of new material even for those following FIFA closely, especially a fascinating interview with a post retirement Blatter.

The only criticism is that it is a bit too detailed at times. Sometimes the narrative could be shortened and there is a bit of repetition at times.

All in all its a highly recommend for anyone interest in football politics or just good journalism.
The only criticism is that it is a bit too detailed at times. Sometimes the narrative could be shortened and there is a bit of repetition at times. All in all its a highly recommend for anyone interest in football politics or just good journalism.

The book is masterfully researched, and depressing for any football (soccer) fan to read. The enormity of the unabashed corruption surrounding this organization is astonishing. Each time you would read about a scandal, you would assume that the current scandal would be the last, and the organization would begin to redeem itself, only to discover another scandal almost immediately afterwards. You do not have to be a fan of the sport to gain something from this book, but it would certainly help you in doing so.

I went back and forth between rating this book 3 or 4 stars, but went with 4 simply because of the level of research the author obviously poured into this book.

A dense, meticulous narrative of the corruption and subversion of the beautiful game.

David Conn poignantly begins in relating his very first World Cup experiences as a child. My first nostalgic memories was the 1990 World Cup which I watched with my father, a proud German who jumped the Wall and immigrated to South Africa. Naturally, I supported West Germany and I can still recall our elation when they won the Final. While that match is often described as "one of the most cynical and ugliest World Cup Finals", for us it was a magical experience. My father has since passed away, but this remains one of my fondest memories of the time we spent together.

What truly raised my ire is the part where our ailing, eighty-five year old Nelson Mandela was persuaded to take an arduous journey to the Caribbean "to abase himself this much, towards the end of his hard and exemplary life, before corrupt thieves like Blazer and Warner, to have Fifa locate its World Cup in South Africa, is repugnant now".

Overall, The Fall of the House of FIFA just didn't grip me from cover to cover. There was also repetition of certain events. For instance, the incident of "brown envelopes" of cash in Trinidad was mentioned on twelve separate occasions.

It was tedious at times wading through all of the exhaustive details of the corruption, especially without getting more of the motivations of the role-players and the emotional upheaval as the scandal unfolded.

The book is written by a very talented journalist with extensive knowledge of the subject matter, but it felt like the narrative was being mostly relayed in the form of a long newspaper article - replete with facts and details, but short on the underlying human element.

Shock waves were sent through the soccer world when it was announced that the 2022 World Cup tournament would be held in Qatar during the summer months of the northern hemisphere. Many asked how this could happen and what was the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) thinking when they did this. A subsequent investigation found that allegations of kickbacks, bribery, money laundering and tax evasion played a big role in this announcement and also the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia.

These well-known incidents of corruption, as well as lesser known ones, some dating back to the 1970’s, are covered in this well-researched and through book on FIFA by award winning writer David Conn. He exposes so many incidents of bribery and other questionable actions by FIFA officials that one may get lost trying to keep them all straight. The old vendor cry that you can’t keep the players straight without a scorecard is applicable here, even though there is very little written about the actual games on the pitch.

Some of the specifics in the reports and interviews of the book will leave the reader shaking his or her head. One of these passages that did that for me was in the report of an investigation in bribery accusations, FIFA “believed bribery was a part of the routine facts of life in South America and Africa.” This after the organization had denied any corruption in those areas after sending millions of dollars for development of the game and facilities in which to play. If you are confused after reading that, then so was I.

That was just one passage of many that highlight the extent of the corruption in the organization and Conn writes about them with the knowledge only a veteran writer of the sport and the organization can do. His interview with FIFA President Sepp Blatter was also must-read material. This book is one that readers who are interested in the inner workings, good and bad (mostly the latter) of one of the biggest sports institutions in the world must add to their bookshelves.

I wish to thank the Nation Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is forensic in its scope.

The investigation and reporting of the FIFA scandal is peerless. Conn takes you through the history reflecting the slow but sure slippage into fraud and essentially racketeering by FIFA. It shows the villains and allows you to see the depth of the crimes committed by Blatter ,Warner , Blazer etc

If you have never read Conn before try Richer than God first which gets you used to his style but if you want to read a masterful writer showcasing his ability to write analyse and attribute blame in very complicated situation this is the book for you.

A brilliantly researched and written forsensic analysis of FIFA and the corruption that pervaded that organisation.

Follow g in the footsteps of David Yallop and Andrew Jennings, Conn is the perfect choice to examine and then eviscerate an organisation that is patently unfit for purpose.

Bribery and politicking was a way of life for many members of the executive committee and the rule rather than the exception and if there is no evidence that president Sepp Blatter actually took bribes the corruption took place on his watch.

Conn rightly despairs at the corruption of figures such as Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, and also makes it clear how and
why England has lost its place at the top table of the sport's influence.

A worrying and disturbing read but highly recommended.

David Conn begins his exhaustive chronicle of FIFA's recent sordid affairs on an uncharacteristically bright note, spending the first chapter describing how he was enraptured by the 1974 World Cup as a 9 year-old. Every four years the World Cup comes around and mesmerizes and brings joy to fans across the globe and reaffirms that soccer is at its core a game designed to offer pleasure to players and spectators. 1974 marked a transitional year for the sport's global governing body, FIFA, as Brazilian business Joao Havelange won the presidency over Englishman Stanley Rous, who embraced a purer, less commercial approach to soccer. In The Fall in the House of FIFA, Conn gives an exhaustive account of FIFA's indiscretions over the last 40 years and describes how the organization strayed from its humble beginnings. Conn reported on much of FIFA's recent misdeeds, including corrupt bidding processes for the World Cups in Qatar and South Africa, misappropriations of development funds for domestic Football Associations, rigged presidential elections, and the like, for The Guardian and serves as an able guide through FIFA's bad behavior. Conn's book is an authoritative tome on FIFA corruption, though it occasionally gets a bit dry. I would put it front and center of the syllabus of any college course on the dark sides of Swiss-based international sporting organizations worth its salt, but it can become a grind for the more casual reader.

Given the massive sponsorships and television audiences attracted by global soccer today, it is remarkable how modest FIFA's origins were. Formed in 1904 in the backroom of the Union Francaise de Sports Athletiques building in Paris, FIFA started with only 7 members (with snooty England sitting out) and was designed for the express purpose of facilitating games between nations. Somewhat ironically, FIFA ruled that "no person should be allowed to arrange matches for personal profit." Over the years, FIFA would morph into a sporting and economic juggernaut, consisting of over 200 nations (as anyone who has ever been exposed to one iota of FIFA's self-congratulatory behavior already knows, the organization features more members than the United Nations). Conn tracks the evolution of the organization and the figures who shaped its trajectory. While Conn peppers in a few on-field accounts of various World Cups, much of the action in his book takes place in backrooms, hotel rooms, and offices, and he focuses mostly on off-field affairs.

The meat of Fall in the House of FIFA understandably centers around the organization's nadir that had its roots in its initial forays into mega-sponsorships with a deal with Coca Cola in the early 70s and eventually culminated in Sepp Blatter, Jack Warner, Chuck Blazer, and other FIFA officials' downfalls over the last few years. Blatter took over from Havelange in 1998 running against a more reform-minded candidate, and winning the election under rumors of vote-buying. While Qatar's successful World Cup bid was the last straw for Blatter and is probably the misdeed most familiar to Americans likely still sore over losing hosting rights, Blatter's term was marred by a plethora of other problems, including funneling/bribing local FAs with humongous sums of money for grassroots soccer. Blatter did not act alone and there are substantial chapters devoted to other major players such as CONCACAF executives Chuck Blazer and Jack Warner and UEFA President Michel Platini. Conn is evenhanded with his writing, acknowledging the good that these officials did to promote the sport in their regions in spite of their less-magnanimous activities that earn the most of his attention. The book reads like an extended investigative newspaper article, meticulously researched with ample detail, though it can begin to feel like a slog if you are less interested in reading about political corruption. I wish there was more analysis into the psyches of these executives and what compelled them to take bribes and otherwise behave poorly, but in Conn's defense the vast majority of his subjects have clammed up and aren't willing to divulge much at all, basically leaving him stuck detailing the "what" over the "why." Conn does offer some analysis on what mechanisms helped facilitate FIFA's corruption, including the odd voting policies that often granted nations such as Montserrat (population 4,900) just as much voting clout as Germany.

The book ends on an especially strong note with an extended interview with Sepp Blatter. While Blatter was evasive and guarded when Conn reached out to the former FIFA head earlier in the book, he is far more open to the author in his later interview, reflecting on his tenure and final days as president. He's not the most regretful person in the world and still makes some effort to protect his character (though it's safe to say he's probably ruled out ever winning the Nobel Prize by now) but it's still a good read and was the highlight of the book for me.

Overall, your enjoyment of The Fall in the House of FIFA is going to depend on how interesting you are in the subject. If you are looking for a one-stop book that outlines the history of FIFA and an encyclopedic account of its recent corruption and the fall of Sepp Blatter, you'll probably love the book. If you are interested in soccer as a sport as well as an economic and sociological phenomenon but you aren't that keen on reading about FBI investigations and accounts of executives behaving badly, then I'd advise you to stay away. Having said that, The Fall in the House of FIFA deftly accomplishes what it set out to do and is an authoritative and informative account of FIFA's recent activity.

7 / 10

Absolutely brilliant. David Conn, yet again, throws light upon the darker side of football. This is stunningly insightful and leaves you worrying for the future of the beautiful game...