FIFAgate: Ten years after the raid on the head of the body, "old-style corruption seems to be over, but cronyism remains"

This anniversary is something that the employees and executives of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) have no intention of celebrating. Ten years ago, on May 27, 2015, at dawn, Swiss police arrested seven football executives , including two FIFA vice-presidents, at the Hotel Baur au Lac on the shores of Lake Zurich, with a view to their extradition to the United States.

Because the operation was carried out at the request of the American authorities, who then had fourteen people in their sights, including nine dignitaries linked to the international football body, for "acts of racketeering, fraud and money laundering" . The Department of Justice (DOJ) is interested in the $150 million in bribes paid since 1991 to the incriminated officials "in exchange for media and marketing rights during competitions organized in the United States and South America".

A search was subsequently conducted at the Zurich headquarters of the Swiss Federation, this time as part of an investigation by the Swiss Public Prosecutor's Office (MPC) into the controversial awarding of the 2022 Men's World Cup to Qatar in 2010. Two days away from the governing body's elective congress, this was the beginning of "FIFAgate."

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