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The Ugly Game: The Qatari Plot to Buy the World Cup
When the tiny desert state of Qatar won the rights to host the 2022 World Cup, the news was greeted with shock and disbelief. How had a country with almost no football infrastructure or tradition, a high terror risk and searing summer temperatures of 50C beaten more established countries with stronger bids? The story behind the Qatari success soon developed into one of the greatest sporting scandals of our time.Allegations of corruption were soon flying, and when the Sunday Times Insight team received a cache of hundreds of millions of documents from a whistleblower, the contents of the FIFA Files became a global sensation, unearthing the corruption that lay at the heart of the bidding process.Now in this remarkable new book by the Sunday Times journalists at the heart of the investigation, Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert, comes the most comprehensive account yet of what happened and who was involved. Above all, it explains why, despite all the evidence, FIFA under Sepp Blatter continues to support Qatar - even to the extent of publishing an edited and abbreviated report into the process that was immediately denounced by its original author. The Ugly Game is undoubtedly the biggest sporting story of the year.
480 pages, Paperback
First published August 18, 2015
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January 27, 2016
The Ugly Game tells the story behind the allegations of the machinations that caused Qatar to win the rights to host the 2022 (Football) World Cup, including the plot by Mohamed bin Hammam, Qatar’s most senior football official, to effectively buy the World Cup. It has long been an open secret amongst the general football public, if not the general public, that FIFA is not the super clean, honourable association that it often claims to be. In this book, Sunday Times investigative journalists Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert reveal the tale of politics, personalities, manoeuvring, money and means that thrust Qatar into the international football spotlight.
If even half the story that Blake and Calvert tell are true, the glaring spotlight into the private, elite cabal that not only control who gets awarded the World Cup but do so as a secondary obligation, the first being to profit themselves at virtually any cost, is worth exposing. What started as an investigation into how the Qatar won the right to stage the World Cup turned into the Sunday Times articles and claims, which itself is further expanded on and added to in this book. One almost reads the book with shocked horror and morbid fascination into how deep the web of money, influence and politics really goes.
The scale, scope and sheer breathtaking way in which the politics and personalities of FIFA’s global administration is in stark contrast to the beauty and simplicity of the game itself. The tale (some may say claims, as many have been met with denials and retorts that many allegations have strictly not been proven in court) has had ramifications post the book’s publishing. In May 2015, some FIFA officials and marketing executives were arrested by the USA Department of Justice on charges including wire fraud, racketeering, money laundering and, effectively, bribery. Some of those names are also present in this book.
Interspersed into the Qatar attempt story is a look at how Blake and Calvert started to come by this information, how they went about researching it and their tale about bringing this story to light. In terms of volume, it occupied significantly less pages that the main story and in itself was interested to real. However, it was curious to have Blake and Calvert refer to themselves in these sections in third person. While it no doubt aids with the narrative to have the authors not overtly impose themselves into the narrative, one has to almost consciously keep reminding oneself that it is the authors seeking to step out of their own part in the story to frame it from a third-person point of view. This may bring about questions of self-selection of material and how objective the authors can be with the material. Each reader will have to answer that question themselves.
It will be difficult to watch the beauty of the game at future World Cups without being jarringly reminded of what occurs behind the scenes. The book blazingly, unambiguously and bluntly brings the story of how Qatar was awarded the World Cup into the public. In so doing, it unflinchingly shows how, as page 452 of this book put it, ‘FIFA [has] become a toxic brand, synonymous with corruption, greed and duplicity the world over’. It is simultaneously to our, the football fans’ and general public’s, horror and benefit that this has been revealed.
If even half the story that Blake and Calvert tell are true, the glaring spotlight into the private, elite cabal that not only control who gets awarded the World Cup but do so as a secondary obligation, the first being to profit themselves at virtually any cost, is worth exposing. What started as an investigation into how the Qatar won the right to stage the World Cup turned into the Sunday Times articles and claims, which itself is further expanded on and added to in this book. One almost reads the book with shocked horror and morbid fascination into how deep the web of money, influence and politics really goes.
The scale, scope and sheer breathtaking way in which the politics and personalities of FIFA’s global administration is in stark contrast to the beauty and simplicity of the game itself. The tale (some may say claims, as many have been met with denials and retorts that many allegations have strictly not been proven in court) has had ramifications post the book’s publishing. In May 2015, some FIFA officials and marketing executives were arrested by the USA Department of Justice on charges including wire fraud, racketeering, money laundering and, effectively, bribery. Some of those names are also present in this book.
Interspersed into the Qatar attempt story is a look at how Blake and Calvert started to come by this information, how they went about researching it and their tale about bringing this story to light. In terms of volume, it occupied significantly less pages that the main story and in itself was interested to real. However, it was curious to have Blake and Calvert refer to themselves in these sections in third person. While it no doubt aids with the narrative to have the authors not overtly impose themselves into the narrative, one has to almost consciously keep reminding oneself that it is the authors seeking to step out of their own part in the story to frame it from a third-person point of view. This may bring about questions of self-selection of material and how objective the authors can be with the material. Each reader will have to answer that question themselves.
It will be difficult to watch the beauty of the game at future World Cups without being jarringly reminded of what occurs behind the scenes. The book blazingly, unambiguously and bluntly brings the story of how Qatar was awarded the World Cup into the public. In so doing, it unflinchingly shows how, as page 452 of this book put it, ‘FIFA [has] become a toxic brand, synonymous with corruption, greed and duplicity the world over’. It is simultaneously to our, the football fans’ and general public’s, horror and benefit that this has been revealed.
May 4, 2015
The Ugly Game – You Really Couldn’t Make It Up
You really could not make this up even if you wanted too, the plot is daft and people are bound to get court and prosecuted because bribery and corruption are illegal in any bidding process. Any company director or politician who splashed the cash around to buy votes would be up in court and out of office quicker than Usain Bolt at the Olympic game’s 100 metre final.
If somebody had told me before the announcement that the 2022 World Cup would be played in a country that has no history of football at any level, that the weather in summer is often around fifty degrees in the shade! FIFA’s own technical committee advised against playing football there as it would be too hot for the players and fans. Yet somehow Sepp Blatter announced that Qatar had won the right to host the games, against their own advice, even though Blatter claimed not to have voted for it. Shocked and stunned was the world reaction, questions were asked, but FIFA were not listening.
The award winning Sunday Times Insight team began an investigation in to how FIFA awarded the World Cup Finals to Qatar, and so over many Sundays there were plenty of claims of what went on behind the scenes. All the more they dug the more skeletons they found the more questions were asked the more people got angry and all FIFA said was nothing. The silence at times was deafening but the Ugly Game by Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert has added even more fuel to the fire. This book expands on the claims made in the Sunday Times along with more claims.
The Ugly Game vocalises the stench of corruption that surrounds FIFA and the Qatari bid with the aid of a whistle blower who made available from within FIFA documents and emails and much more leaked information. This information concerned how a small country with no football infrastructure to its name, with plenty of oil money, leadership of the Asian Football Association, a seat on the FIFA executive went about lobbying for votes.
For a lot of the Sunday Times’ Insight Team often have to operate a sting to gain further information to aid their investigations, but none of that here. Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert had to sift through mountains of information, and had to play the role of detective for the reader. They even offered their findings to the Corruption Investigation by Michael Garcia which went unheeded. As an aside Garcia later disowned the final report in to FIFA Corruption as incorrect.
From this book we learn further about the work of Mohammed bin Hammam in the Qatari bid even though he was later disowned by the Royal Family. Without him though the Qatari bid would not have got off the ground, as a networker and lobbyist he was supreme. He used every trick in the book that would make politicians and lobbyists blush or more likely face charges of a very serious nature. At times I went all McEnroe when I learnt the sort of largesse that went on especially with the African delegation amongst others.
While Bin Hammam has now been sent in to football exile, even though encouraged by Sepp Blatter at times, we are reminded of the high price that will be paid by others for the 2022 World Cup. It is the foreign workers, many of whom have had their passports removed by Qatari developers, die in their hundreds who are paying the real, but unseen, price for the Qatar World Cup. Like Nero, Blatter goes on, as will the Qatar World Cup, and while he fiddles the beautiful game is turning ugly.
You really could not make this up even if you wanted too, the plot is daft and people are bound to get court and prosecuted because bribery and corruption are illegal in any bidding process. Any company director or politician who splashed the cash around to buy votes would be up in court and out of office quicker than Usain Bolt at the Olympic game’s 100 metre final.
If somebody had told me before the announcement that the 2022 World Cup would be played in a country that has no history of football at any level, that the weather in summer is often around fifty degrees in the shade! FIFA’s own technical committee advised against playing football there as it would be too hot for the players and fans. Yet somehow Sepp Blatter announced that Qatar had won the right to host the games, against their own advice, even though Blatter claimed not to have voted for it. Shocked and stunned was the world reaction, questions were asked, but FIFA were not listening.
The award winning Sunday Times Insight team began an investigation in to how FIFA awarded the World Cup Finals to Qatar, and so over many Sundays there were plenty of claims of what went on behind the scenes. All the more they dug the more skeletons they found the more questions were asked the more people got angry and all FIFA said was nothing. The silence at times was deafening but the Ugly Game by Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert has added even more fuel to the fire. This book expands on the claims made in the Sunday Times along with more claims.
The Ugly Game vocalises the stench of corruption that surrounds FIFA and the Qatari bid with the aid of a whistle blower who made available from within FIFA documents and emails and much more leaked information. This information concerned how a small country with no football infrastructure to its name, with plenty of oil money, leadership of the Asian Football Association, a seat on the FIFA executive went about lobbying for votes.
For a lot of the Sunday Times’ Insight Team often have to operate a sting to gain further information to aid their investigations, but none of that here. Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert had to sift through mountains of information, and had to play the role of detective for the reader. They even offered their findings to the Corruption Investigation by Michael Garcia which went unheeded. As an aside Garcia later disowned the final report in to FIFA Corruption as incorrect.
From this book we learn further about the work of Mohammed bin Hammam in the Qatari bid even though he was later disowned by the Royal Family. Without him though the Qatari bid would not have got off the ground, as a networker and lobbyist he was supreme. He used every trick in the book that would make politicians and lobbyists blush or more likely face charges of a very serious nature. At times I went all McEnroe when I learnt the sort of largesse that went on especially with the African delegation amongst others.
While Bin Hammam has now been sent in to football exile, even though encouraged by Sepp Blatter at times, we are reminded of the high price that will be paid by others for the 2022 World Cup. It is the foreign workers, many of whom have had their passports removed by Qatari developers, die in their hundreds who are paying the real, but unseen, price for the Qatar World Cup. Like Nero, Blatter goes on, as will the Qatar World Cup, and while he fiddles the beautiful game is turning ugly.
February 12, 2022
The World Cup is one of my favorite sporting events. This year’s Cup will be a bit harder to enjoy, due in part to this book, which chronicled FIFA’s rampant corruption. The book tells the story of Qatar winning the bid to host the tournament despite lacking necessary infrastructure in an inhospitable environment for soccer. The book centers on Mohamed Bin Hammam, whom the Qatari royal family tapped to work behind the scenes to ensure the FIFA executive committee voted for Qatar’s 2022 hosting bid. The book will take you to conferences, dinners, and gatherings at lavish resorts where FIFA officials received envelopes with cash in exchange for votes. The authors did a great job of taking mountains of research and distilling it into a readable book that comes across as a spy novel or thriller. It is long with many names and it took me a bit long to read but the story is incredible but frustrating given FIFA’s lack of accountability and the amount of money used for the honor of hosting the tournament. It focuses primarily on the World Cup bid and only briefly mentions the other controversy related to Qatar 2022, that being the countless deaths of the people, primarily People from Southeast Asia tasked with building stadiums, airports, hotels, and infrastructure.
March 9, 2023
Talk about a gripping look behind the curtain! Except it's no lying-but-effectively-well-intentioned Oz behind this one, but rather greedy, manipulative, egotistical Sepp Blatter and his cronies.
I really wanted to get my hands on this before or during the 2022 World Cup- myself and every other reader interested in this subject, of course, as became obvious on my numerous refreshes of the library website. In the end I only managed to get stuck into it after the event, but it turns out that doesn't take away from the revelations it contains in the slightest. You see, it may well be The Qatari Plot to Buy the World Cup, but that's very much simply because it was Qatar doing it. The very simple truth is, it could have been anyone; the Qataris just happened to have more money than the rest put together to sink into this pursuit, but make no mistake, none of the other bidders come out looking good. The reality is, no one can, because FIFA and the whole process of selecting the World Cup host is rife with bribery, corruption, and just about rigged to maximise profit for those involved, football very much an afterthought.
The biggest disappointment reading this and realising how very much worse than you thought Sepp Blatter comes across, is the knowledge that of course, very little of consequence happens to him as a result of everything investigated by Blake and Calvert. Ironically, it's Mohamed bin Hammam, the senior football official for Qatar at the time and president of the Asian footballing body, that actually comes across as surprisingly sympathetic, at least compared to Blatter. I don't mean this to say that he can be excused; he orchestrates everything with such apparent ease that his guilt is never in question. But he does at least find himself in an impossible situation- tasked with the Qatari head of state's desire for Qatar to host the World Cup, in a society where failing that demand is very much not an option, you can see how he has little choice but to do his very best to succeed in making it happen. And it's not as if the other would-be hosts don't go for the same tactics- they simply don't have the unlimited resources the rich nation of Qatar does. In the end, given that the corruption is so widespread throughout FIFA, it feels a poor outcome that bin Hammam is among the very few to suffer real consequences: when the plot is discovered, Qatar makes sure to sever all ties to him, despite owing their successful bid almost entirely to him, and he is banned from football, meaning he doesn't even get to enjoy the event he worked so hard (albeit illegally) to bring to his country.
Reading this has certainly changed how I look at future World Cups, given whoever is hosting them is bound to have done some shady stuff at some point in their bidding process- certainly since FIFA itself has not really had to deal with anything other than some bad publicity, and Infantino is no better than Blatter. As any football fan will be well aware of, the competition at all levels is increasingly becoming a cash cow for those otherwise tasked with safeguarding "the beautiful game"- both ironic and sad, given football's working class roots.
I really wanted to get my hands on this before or during the 2022 World Cup- myself and every other reader interested in this subject, of course, as became obvious on my numerous refreshes of the library website. In the end I only managed to get stuck into it after the event, but it turns out that doesn't take away from the revelations it contains in the slightest. You see, it may well be The Qatari Plot to Buy the World Cup, but that's very much simply because it was Qatar doing it. The very simple truth is, it could have been anyone; the Qataris just happened to have more money than the rest put together to sink into this pursuit, but make no mistake, none of the other bidders come out looking good. The reality is, no one can, because FIFA and the whole process of selecting the World Cup host is rife with bribery, corruption, and just about rigged to maximise profit for those involved, football very much an afterthought.
The biggest disappointment reading this and realising how very much worse than you thought Sepp Blatter comes across, is the knowledge that of course, very little of consequence happens to him as a result of everything investigated by Blake and Calvert. Ironically, it's Mohamed bin Hammam, the senior football official for Qatar at the time and president of the Asian footballing body, that actually comes across as surprisingly sympathetic, at least compared to Blatter. I don't mean this to say that he can be excused; he orchestrates everything with such apparent ease that his guilt is never in question. But he does at least find himself in an impossible situation- tasked with the Qatari head of state's desire for Qatar to host the World Cup, in a society where failing that demand is very much not an option, you can see how he has little choice but to do his very best to succeed in making it happen. And it's not as if the other would-be hosts don't go for the same tactics- they simply don't have the unlimited resources the rich nation of Qatar does. In the end, given that the corruption is so widespread throughout FIFA, it feels a poor outcome that bin Hammam is among the very few to suffer real consequences: when the plot is discovered, Qatar makes sure to sever all ties to him, despite owing their successful bid almost entirely to him, and he is banned from football, meaning he doesn't even get to enjoy the event he worked so hard (albeit illegally) to bring to his country.
Reading this has certainly changed how I look at future World Cups, given whoever is hosting them is bound to have done some shady stuff at some point in their bidding process- certainly since FIFA itself has not really had to deal with anything other than some bad publicity, and Infantino is no better than Blatter. As any football fan will be well aware of, the competition at all levels is increasingly becoming a cash cow for those otherwise tasked with safeguarding "the beautiful game"- both ironic and sad, given football's working class roots.
August 6, 2022
This is an amazing book about the monstrous arrogance, ego, and corruption inside FIFA. The amount of research that went into it is nothing to scoff at!! Unfortunately for me there was so much info, so many names, so much money that I found it hard to keep up with. Luckily there were several names that I could easily put a face to that I was (mostly) able to follow along.
The book would have been volumes long if every bit of info went into it - but I still wanted more about the gross slavery that made(will make) the 2022 World Cup happen.
I’ll not be watching. I’ll miss a lot - but I just can’t. I knew this the minute Qatar won the bid but this book cemented it for me.
The book would have been volumes long if every bit of info went into it - but I still wanted more about the gross slavery that made(will make) the 2022 World Cup happen.
I’ll not be watching. I’ll miss a lot - but I just can’t. I knew this the minute Qatar won the bid but this book cemented it for me.
November 29, 2015
This is a well-researched and well-presented book going over the massive cultural rot inside FIFA.
The main figure in it is Qatari billionaire Mohmaed bin Hamman (AKA, the man who bought the 2022 World Cup for Qatar). But he doesn't really come off as the bad guy. That's more Sepp Blatter and teh overall culture of FIFA. This is ultimately the study of an institution that has lost track of its original mission. FIFA is supposed to be the caretaker of the World Cup, but some much money has come in, that it's mission has become getting money. In particular, it's mission is the people atop it to get as much money for themselves personally as they can. Oh, and for Sepp Blatter - it's about maintaining his power at all costs.
Hamman was the man who helped Blatter come to power and maintain it. Hamman had the money to bankroll Blatter's campaigns - by either giving him a private jet to move around in or by openly bribing officials (mostly African officials from poor countries) to vote for him. Hamman hoped to someday succeed Blatter as FIFA head, and Blatter initially led Hamman on in this regard. Then Blatter doublecrossed him.
Out of this came the plan for the Qatari World Cup. Blatter proposed this to Hamman and the Emir of Qatar. Hamman was at first opposed, recognizing all the logistical and weather-related difficulties. But the Emir wanted it. And Hamman does adhere to a personal code throughout these unsavory dealings - and at top of the code is being a loyal servant to the Emir (his monarch). If the Emir wanted it, Hamman would use his power to get it for him. For Blatter, proposing this idea and offering Hamman his support was a way to placate a possible rival for power and keep him occupied.
This bulk of the first half of the book consists of an exhaustive recounting of Hamman's efforts to win support for Qatar. This part of the book drags a bit, as the authors recount every meeting and every payment and every deed they can. I don't fault them for this - may as well document all that you can in a book - but it can be a bit wearying. Ultimately, Hamman uses his wealth to win support with the Asian voters (his home base, as he's head of Asian Football), and Africa (where the voters have already proven their willingness to take his money). He also forms an alliance w/ Spain (which helped get Latin American votes). He also gets a wildly corrupt official from the Trinidad to support him. There are only 24 voters, and he manages to secure a winning bid. It isn't just his personal hand outs. The state of Qatar gets involved also. To reward Thailand's loyalty for supporting Hamman, Qatar - a leading country in the export of natural gas - gives Thailand a sweetheart 20-year deal (!) on natural gas on rock-bottom prices. Not bad.
And so Qatar wins the World Cup, and that launches a somewhat surprising second half, that is more compelling than the first half.
You see, the idea for a Qatar World Cup may have come from Sepp Blatter, and he may have told Hamman he'd vote for it - but he never wanted it there. This was just a wild goose chase he thought he'd send Hamman on. Logistically and financially, Blatter was well aware that a World Cup in Qatar would likely be a dud. More importantly, he realized that if Hamman could purchase the World Cup election, he could purchase any other election - including one for FIFA head. That made him a threat, and immediately after the election he set out to destroy Hamman.
Realizing this, Hamman decides it's kill-or-be-killed and runs for FIFA's presidency against Blatter. He is doing well, with his time-tested tactic of giving out massive bribes. Well, he overstretches himself. In a Caribbean meeting, 3 (of 30 or so) delegates refuse the money and report it to a FIFA official in the US. That guy, Chuck Blaser, was also corrupt as heck, but had a beef with Hamman. He'd found out that Hamman had bribed the Trinidad guy for the 2022 World Cup - and the Trinidad guy was the head of North American football, and should've been supporting the US (who came in 2nd for the 2022 World Cup). So a well-document complaint about the bribery was filed - and it's just what Sepp Blatter wanted to hear. He could knock Hamman down while portraying himself as an opponent of corruption (never mind how Blatter had so far been Capt. Corruption throughout his reign).
The charges could damage Hamman, but he could fight back on Blatter's corruption. So a deal was made. Blatter went to the Emir of Qatar. He told the Emir that Blatter would ensure Qatar kept the World Cup (with reports of bribery, some were calling for taking it from Qatar) if in return the Emir got Hamman to drop out of the FIFA president's race. Once he was ordered to do so by the royal family, Hamman did. He was then banned for life by an ethics investigation. (This was a neat little double-cross, as Blatter had assured Hamman that if he dropped out, the charges would go away).
BUT ... it all didn't end happily ever after. Too much corruption had gone on. Too many charges. And a whistleblower gave a tremendous amount of info to Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert. They documented - first in a series of newspaper articles and then here - what all the problems were. But Blatter had no hunkered down on keeping the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, so he and FIFA went through a series of absurd arguments to deny reality and the public outcry. FIFA's image was incredibly tarnished, several sponsors dropped out. But Blatter was all about Blatter - and the deal he made to maintain his power included keeping the World Cup in Qatar - so that was it.
Again, it's really a study in an organization that has lost all site of its original mission. FIFA's own internal reports said that logistically it was the worst site of all he ones bidding. Perhaps more dangerously, it also received the worst marks as a security risk. It's hard to imagine a place less suited to the World Cup than Qatar, but it'll be in Qatar.
One thing bothers me: the real tragedy in this is the death of thousands of migrant workers, who are kept in horrible conditions, not fed enough or given enough water while working in the Qatari summers. And they are denied their own passports so they can't even leave if they want to. This is mentioned, but only in passing at the end. It might be a sign of how warped our overall culture's perspective is that thousands of damn near slave laborers is such a minor consideration in our overall outrage at FIFA.
Still, this is a great book. Really well done.
The main figure in it is Qatari billionaire Mohmaed bin Hamman (AKA, the man who bought the 2022 World Cup for Qatar). But he doesn't really come off as the bad guy. That's more Sepp Blatter and teh overall culture of FIFA. This is ultimately the study of an institution that has lost track of its original mission. FIFA is supposed to be the caretaker of the World Cup, but some much money has come in, that it's mission has become getting money. In particular, it's mission is the people atop it to get as much money for themselves personally as they can. Oh, and for Sepp Blatter - it's about maintaining his power at all costs.
Hamman was the man who helped Blatter come to power and maintain it. Hamman had the money to bankroll Blatter's campaigns - by either giving him a private jet to move around in or by openly bribing officials (mostly African officials from poor countries) to vote for him. Hamman hoped to someday succeed Blatter as FIFA head, and Blatter initially led Hamman on in this regard. Then Blatter doublecrossed him.
Out of this came the plan for the Qatari World Cup. Blatter proposed this to Hamman and the Emir of Qatar. Hamman was at first opposed, recognizing all the logistical and weather-related difficulties. But the Emir wanted it. And Hamman does adhere to a personal code throughout these unsavory dealings - and at top of the code is being a loyal servant to the Emir (his monarch). If the Emir wanted it, Hamman would use his power to get it for him. For Blatter, proposing this idea and offering Hamman his support was a way to placate a possible rival for power and keep him occupied.
This bulk of the first half of the book consists of an exhaustive recounting of Hamman's efforts to win support for Qatar. This part of the book drags a bit, as the authors recount every meeting and every payment and every deed they can. I don't fault them for this - may as well document all that you can in a book - but it can be a bit wearying. Ultimately, Hamman uses his wealth to win support with the Asian voters (his home base, as he's head of Asian Football), and Africa (where the voters have already proven their willingness to take his money). He also forms an alliance w/ Spain (which helped get Latin American votes). He also gets a wildly corrupt official from the Trinidad to support him. There are only 24 voters, and he manages to secure a winning bid. It isn't just his personal hand outs. The state of Qatar gets involved also. To reward Thailand's loyalty for supporting Hamman, Qatar - a leading country in the export of natural gas - gives Thailand a sweetheart 20-year deal (!) on natural gas on rock-bottom prices. Not bad.
And so Qatar wins the World Cup, and that launches a somewhat surprising second half, that is more compelling than the first half.
You see, the idea for a Qatar World Cup may have come from Sepp Blatter, and he may have told Hamman he'd vote for it - but he never wanted it there. This was just a wild goose chase he thought he'd send Hamman on. Logistically and financially, Blatter was well aware that a World Cup in Qatar would likely be a dud. More importantly, he realized that if Hamman could purchase the World Cup election, he could purchase any other election - including one for FIFA head. That made him a threat, and immediately after the election he set out to destroy Hamman.
Realizing this, Hamman decides it's kill-or-be-killed and runs for FIFA's presidency against Blatter. He is doing well, with his time-tested tactic of giving out massive bribes. Well, he overstretches himself. In a Caribbean meeting, 3 (of 30 or so) delegates refuse the money and report it to a FIFA official in the US. That guy, Chuck Blaser, was also corrupt as heck, but had a beef with Hamman. He'd found out that Hamman had bribed the Trinidad guy for the 2022 World Cup - and the Trinidad guy was the head of North American football, and should've been supporting the US (who came in 2nd for the 2022 World Cup). So a well-document complaint about the bribery was filed - and it's just what Sepp Blatter wanted to hear. He could knock Hamman down while portraying himself as an opponent of corruption (never mind how Blatter had so far been Capt. Corruption throughout his reign).
The charges could damage Hamman, but he could fight back on Blatter's corruption. So a deal was made. Blatter went to the Emir of Qatar. He told the Emir that Blatter would ensure Qatar kept the World Cup (with reports of bribery, some were calling for taking it from Qatar) if in return the Emir got Hamman to drop out of the FIFA president's race. Once he was ordered to do so by the royal family, Hamman did. He was then banned for life by an ethics investigation. (This was a neat little double-cross, as Blatter had assured Hamman that if he dropped out, the charges would go away).
BUT ... it all didn't end happily ever after. Too much corruption had gone on. Too many charges. And a whistleblower gave a tremendous amount of info to Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert. They documented - first in a series of newspaper articles and then here - what all the problems were. But Blatter had no hunkered down on keeping the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, so he and FIFA went through a series of absurd arguments to deny reality and the public outcry. FIFA's image was incredibly tarnished, several sponsors dropped out. But Blatter was all about Blatter - and the deal he made to maintain his power included keeping the World Cup in Qatar - so that was it.
Again, it's really a study in an organization that has lost all site of its original mission. FIFA's own internal reports said that logistically it was the worst site of all he ones bidding. Perhaps more dangerously, it also received the worst marks as a security risk. It's hard to imagine a place less suited to the World Cup than Qatar, but it'll be in Qatar.
One thing bothers me: the real tragedy in this is the death of thousands of migrant workers, who are kept in horrible conditions, not fed enough or given enough water while working in the Qatari summers. And they are denied their own passports so they can't even leave if they want to. This is mentioned, but only in passing at the end. It might be a sign of how warped our overall culture's perspective is that thousands of damn near slave laborers is such a minor consideration in our overall outrage at FIFA.
Still, this is a great book. Really well done.
July 22, 2018
Good god, I thought US professional sports were corrupt. This is some next-level, epic-Scorsese-crime-drama corruption involving the world's most popular sporting event: the World Cup. And it's fascinating how much information two journalists for The Sunday Times were able to dredge up on a Qatari billionaire, who essentially bought the 2022 World Cup by bribing countless people in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. Maybe what's most fascinating is that despite the evidence, despite the ethical bankruptcy of so many FIFA executives, the World Cup is still going to happen in Qatar in 2022 and countless corrupt bureaucrats are still filthy rich from a pattern of bribery, money laundering, corruption and criminal conspiracy. Almost makes you not want to watch the World Cup. Oh, who am I kidding, of course we're still going to watch.
The Ugly Game is a long book, and an exhaustively researched one. And it can get a little tedious reading about Mohammed bin Hammam bribing one person after another page after page. But this is necessary to understand the magnitude of the corruption endemic to FIFA. bin Hammam didn't invent bribery or introduce it to World Cup bidding; he just had enough Gulf region oil money to do it on a grander scale than anyone had before. Yes, he's a cheater who rightfully deserved his lifetime ban from football, but he's also a fairly sympathetic character here: a quixotic hero who undertook the seemingly impossible task of bringing the World Cup to an unbearably hot desert country with virtually no football infrastructure and surmounted all obstacles by throwing money at them. The same cannot be said about then FIFA president Sepp Blatter or Caribbean football boss Jack Warner, both of whom are portrayed as the careerist, opportunist villains they more than likely are. Surprisingly, the US, England and Australia come out of this looking pretty upstanding, yet I'm sure those programs have some skeletons in their closets too.
Overall, I'd recommend reading this a little at a time. Again, it's a long book with a lot of detail, so there's a lot of temptation to gloss over a few pages. I think it's worth it to persevere in order to truly understand the depth of corruption happening in FIFA and, aesthetically, to enjoy seeing people reap what they've sown. While they don't all get their comeuppance in terms of being banned or fired, they're still forced to deal with some public embarrassment and loss of reputation, which I guess is a kind of justice. If nothing else, the book reinforces the power of really good journalism in exposing dirty dealings and taking elites down a peg or two. And in a world where seemingly everyone has dismissed seemingly all journalism as biased or fake or whatever, maybe this is a reminder we all need.
The Ugly Game is a long book, and an exhaustively researched one. And it can get a little tedious reading about Mohammed bin Hammam bribing one person after another page after page. But this is necessary to understand the magnitude of the corruption endemic to FIFA. bin Hammam didn't invent bribery or introduce it to World Cup bidding; he just had enough Gulf region oil money to do it on a grander scale than anyone had before. Yes, he's a cheater who rightfully deserved his lifetime ban from football, but he's also a fairly sympathetic character here: a quixotic hero who undertook the seemingly impossible task of bringing the World Cup to an unbearably hot desert country with virtually no football infrastructure and surmounted all obstacles by throwing money at them. The same cannot be said about then FIFA president Sepp Blatter or Caribbean football boss Jack Warner, both of whom are portrayed as the careerist, opportunist villains they more than likely are. Surprisingly, the US, England and Australia come out of this looking pretty upstanding, yet I'm sure those programs have some skeletons in their closets too.
Overall, I'd recommend reading this a little at a time. Again, it's a long book with a lot of detail, so there's a lot of temptation to gloss over a few pages. I think it's worth it to persevere in order to truly understand the depth of corruption happening in FIFA and, aesthetically, to enjoy seeing people reap what they've sown. While they don't all get their comeuppance in terms of being banned or fired, they're still forced to deal with some public embarrassment and loss of reputation, which I guess is a kind of justice. If nothing else, the book reinforces the power of really good journalism in exposing dirty dealings and taking elites down a peg or two. And in a world where seemingly everyone has dismissed seemingly all journalism as biased or fake or whatever, maybe this is a reminder we all need.
November 11, 2015
The authors have managed to condense years of research and millions of documents into a compact and fascinating book. Not a tremendously easy read due to the massive number of names, financial transactions, locations and the length of time this entire sordid incident took! It's not just the arrogance and conceit of these (mostly) men who conspired together but the breath-taking fact that many of them still believe they did nothing wrong. Considering FIFA didn't even have a Code of Ethics until a few years ago, I can see how some of them might think that way. And considering that the penalties they have so far received from FIFA are extremely minimal I don't hold out much hope for things being any different in the future. Reputations and lives have been ruined and soccer may never truly recover from the scandal (altho no-one other than die-hard fans seems to care) but this billion dollar industry has suffered a big setback and it's time to clean up the mess. Unfortunately,finding someone in the soccer world who hasn't been tainted by association might be the hardest task of all.
May 31, 2016
i found the book very informative, and showed FIFA in its true light as the corruption capital of football, gone are the days were people should look at football with the eyes of a child and consider it just and right, they should look on it with the eyes of men an adult that knows the world is not perfect, and there are bad and corrupt men in places of power, and this is one of those places, golden hand shakes and backrooms deals, it was once about sport and fair play, now its all about money, those native years are over, and this shows you why.
June 25, 2015
Well researched and formulated. An excellent read for anyone interested in the back room politics of the football world. Only succeeds in confirming everything you ever thought to believe about the shambles that is FIFA. Yet, in the end, nothing will come of all the bribes and corruption. FIFA will continue and the Qatar and Russian World Cups will go ahead as planned...sorry as brought.
November 21, 2015
Great expose of FIFA, but let down by the way it's presented. The book is largely based on an analysis of emails though with the result that the writing style is very repetitive. Reads like a long newspaper article rather than a book.
December 21, 2015
An engrossing read which takes an enormous amount of material and gives it a narrative structure. Some of it is a little fanciful (bin Hammam's private reflections) and the 3rd person writing is kind of silly but that does not blunt the power of the extended look into corruption.
April 14, 2021
کتاب خیلی قشنگی بود. قدرت رشوه و پول رو نشون می ده که یک کشور کویری که تابستوناش بالای پنجاه درجه هست فقط به خاطر این که پول داره تونست میزبان مهم ترین تورنمنت جهان شه. به نظرم بهترین اسم رو روی کتاب گذاشتن. بازی کثیف قطر و پول های کثیفی که به فیفا و سایر افراد و سازمان ها می داد
July 16, 2021
The Qatar World Cup - one of the most talked-about World Cups ever since long before a ball was kicked in it - is now just around the corner. Rumours of corruption in the bid process were never far away, and when the Sunday Times started publishing a series of exposes on the eve of the 2014 World Cup, the shockwaves eventually brought down most of FIFA. This is the story of how the World Cup was won, told by the same Sunday Times journalists, with reference to the millions of leaked documents they received.
After Sepp Blatter dangled the idea of a Qatar World Cup dangled in front of Qatari Exco member Mohammed Bin Hammam to keep him from challenging Blatter at the top, Bin Hammam sets about his task with more gusto than perhaps Blatter had expected. The accounts of bribe after bribe almost get a bit repetitive, and you do almost have to keep a mental tot of the sums being thrown around by Bin Hammam to keep what's happening in contact. Most of the money goes to the African and Central American voters, and there's an unpleasant smarminess from many of the officials involved, who are milking a well-known game.
The story does go up a notch from pure bribery though with a look at some of the global gas deals the Qatar government negotiated to help win the World Cup. A deal with the Thai Government makes most of Bin Hammam's deals pale in comparison. French President Nicolas Sarkozy instructs the French delegate, Michel Platini, to vote for his friends in the Gulf, again because of a gas deal they've cut with France. UEFA officials, in fairness, generally come across better than those from other federations, although that's really not a high bar.
Does all the bribery matter though? The sections on the actual logistics of the World Cup show it really does - FIFA's own bid experts flagged excessively high temperatures, no real chance of pulling off the air con stunt that had been promised, and a compact venue which, though trumpeted by Qatar as a plus, was in reality as a major security weakness. That the World Cup should never have gone near Qatar for the health and safety of fans and players is the biggest issue here, yet the reams of documents from the FIFA Exco members voting on the World Cup never once consider those rather important stakeholders.
The book goes through to the fall of several of the officials, although Blatter's own fall is covered in a brief epilogue at the end - the book caused his fall, so couldn't cover it in the original text. FIFA's Ethics Committee is shown to be largely a sham, and the Qatar bid actually manage to headhunt FIFA's head of security, tasked with combatting criminal behaviour within the game.
All in all, an eye-opening and thoroughly depressing read, and the Omen-like ending - the 2022 World Cup is still going ahead in Qatar, despite how much time and reason there was to re-open the bid process - makes you wonder just how much has really changed in FIFA.
After Sepp Blatter dangled the idea of a Qatar World Cup dangled in front of Qatari Exco member Mohammed Bin Hammam to keep him from challenging Blatter at the top, Bin Hammam sets about his task with more gusto than perhaps Blatter had expected. The accounts of bribe after bribe almost get a bit repetitive, and you do almost have to keep a mental tot of the sums being thrown around by Bin Hammam to keep what's happening in contact. Most of the money goes to the African and Central American voters, and there's an unpleasant smarminess from many of the officials involved, who are milking a well-known game.
The story does go up a notch from pure bribery though with a look at some of the global gas deals the Qatar government negotiated to help win the World Cup. A deal with the Thai Government makes most of Bin Hammam's deals pale in comparison. French President Nicolas Sarkozy instructs the French delegate, Michel Platini, to vote for his friends in the Gulf, again because of a gas deal they've cut with France. UEFA officials, in fairness, generally come across better than those from other federations, although that's really not a high bar.
Does all the bribery matter though? The sections on the actual logistics of the World Cup show it really does - FIFA's own bid experts flagged excessively high temperatures, no real chance of pulling off the air con stunt that had been promised, and a compact venue which, though trumpeted by Qatar as a plus, was in reality as a major security weakness. That the World Cup should never have gone near Qatar for the health and safety of fans and players is the biggest issue here, yet the reams of documents from the FIFA Exco members voting on the World Cup never once consider those rather important stakeholders.
The book goes through to the fall of several of the officials, although Blatter's own fall is covered in a brief epilogue at the end - the book caused his fall, so couldn't cover it in the original text. FIFA's Ethics Committee is shown to be largely a sham, and the Qatar bid actually manage to headhunt FIFA's head of security, tasked with combatting criminal behaviour within the game.
All in all, an eye-opening and thoroughly depressing read, and the Omen-like ending - the 2022 World Cup is still going ahead in Qatar, despite how much time and reason there was to re-open the bid process - makes you wonder just how much has really changed in FIFA.
October 19, 2022
This is an astonishing and exhaustive piece of investigative journalism that I could not put down as each twist and turn unfolded. The story told by Blake and Calvert is one much more nuanced and engaging than the original Insight exposé articles published in the Sunday Times.
The book tells the story of the bid for the 2022 World Cup and the bribery and corruption that accompanied and secured the success of the bid in 2010.
The interlinking strands and detailed trail of money is expertly marshalled into a readable and compelling argument. Mohammed bin Hamman, the Qatari head of the Asian FA, is the centre of the story and his assistance to the bid is made clear via meticulous coverage of a variety of nefarious deals and money transfers made in almost every corner of the globe.
The World Cup in Qatar will go ahead in one month's time and anyone attending the tournament should read this. Readers should be aware that, despite the obvious dodgy dealing that went into securing the tournament, the heart of the 'deal' that maintained Qatar as host went beyond bin Hamman and included Sepp Blatter and members of the Qatari ruling family.
A sobering read.
The book tells the story of the bid for the 2022 World Cup and the bribery and corruption that accompanied and secured the success of the bid in 2010.
The interlinking strands and detailed trail of money is expertly marshalled into a readable and compelling argument. Mohammed bin Hamman, the Qatari head of the Asian FA, is the centre of the story and his assistance to the bid is made clear via meticulous coverage of a variety of nefarious deals and money transfers made in almost every corner of the globe.
The World Cup in Qatar will go ahead in one month's time and anyone attending the tournament should read this. Readers should be aware that, despite the obvious dodgy dealing that went into securing the tournament, the heart of the 'deal' that maintained Qatar as host went beyond bin Hamman and included Sepp Blatter and members of the Qatari ruling family.
A sobering read.
May 7, 2019
I’ve read a few books into the Qatar bid and this is a good place to start, but it doesn’t flow as well as others. I felt like it hit a bit of a lull about 2/3rds if the way in and it only picked up againin the last third; basically the gist during the lull is “Qatar money man meets with lots of Fédération football grubs pays lots of bribes and meets with other Fédération football grubs pays more bribes” .. if you haven’t read much into it before I guess this is revealing and intriguing but i found myself skipping this part. Other parts I felt like the author tried to straddle between being a crime fiction writer and an investigative journalist. These bits were also a bit average to read and they probably could have been removed. There are some truly astonishing revelations elsewhere though and other parts I was left reliving the whole mess that we mere earth dwellers woke up to one morning wondering “did this really happen? Oh yes, I remember I saw the press clip”. A decent read, worth the effort.
September 24, 2020
"Because the Qataris are, hey I mean Qataris, they don't care, they pay you ten million."
A well detailed exposé on how Qatar bought the 2022 world cup. Bin Hammam certainly abides by the adage 'Every man has his price'. He allegedly used his company's account as a slush fund and threw junkets to court exco members and their beneficiaries for their 2022 World cup votes. This however is just the tip of the iceberg. Blake and Calvert go through extreme detail to showcase the corrupt and their misdemeanors. Bin Hammam played accordingly to what was already done at FIFA. The proponent of corruption lies within FIFA's shroud of secrecy. FIFA is an organization that so blatantly disregards its own investigator's reports and buries evidence claiming none was ever presented.
It's sad to watch an Ugly game behind the Beautiful game.
A well detailed exposé on how Qatar bought the 2022 world cup. Bin Hammam certainly abides by the adage 'Every man has his price'. He allegedly used his company's account as a slush fund and threw junkets to court exco members and their beneficiaries for their 2022 World cup votes. This however is just the tip of the iceberg. Blake and Calvert go through extreme detail to showcase the corrupt and their misdemeanors. Bin Hammam played accordingly to what was already done at FIFA. The proponent of corruption lies within FIFA's shroud of secrecy. FIFA is an organization that so blatantly disregards its own investigator's reports and buries evidence claiming none was ever presented.
It's sad to watch an Ugly game behind the Beautiful game.
February 15, 2018
Investigative journalism at its best! A bit too good in fact, which makes some of the sections so gorily detailed that I am docking a star. This book sheds a different light on football that illuminates the backroom instead of the field. A world where Blatters and Bin Hammams are the Messis and Ronaldos, except that they don't bring joy to football fans. Quite the opposite. This is a story of how the 2022 world cup was literally bought by a country with no footballing history, burning summer temperatures and routine human rights abuses. A story which shows how money can almost buy happiness (but not quite). Read on to find out. Recommended to anyone interested in football (soccer), or those who just want to know how far money can go.
October 3, 2025
A detailed account into the corruption which led to the 2022 world cup being award to Qatar. It's mind-blowing to hear the amount of evidence that the authors had dug up on the bidding process through bribes and deal sweeteners Qatar made to other countries for votes which Fifa squashed to save face... And got away with! It was clear from day 1 that Qatar didn't have the infrastructure or climate to cope with a world cup but unfortunately money and power had other ideas.
Football is the biggest sport in the world and to see the international game run by egotistical and power hungry people is a tough one to take. Fans deserve better. It's clear than change is necessary and more than 10 years on from the original bid I doubt anything has changed. A great and eye opening book to read!
Football is the biggest sport in the world and to see the international game run by egotistical and power hungry people is a tough one to take. Fans deserve better. It's clear than change is necessary and more than 10 years on from the original bid I doubt anything has changed. A great and eye opening book to read!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2022
Temaet er interessant og selv om historien ikke er sjokkerende så er det allikevel smått utrolig å se nøyaktig hvor korrupt FIFA faktisk er. Jeg føler at Qatar neppe kan klandres for å kjøpt VM 2022 (selv om de er høyst klandreverdige for en rekke andre horrible forhold) ettersom de egentlig kun spilte spillet etter FIFAs egne regler og gjorde det så bra at Blatter selv ble tatt på senga (planen var at USA skulle få VM i 2022). Boka er forøvrig tidvis repetetiv, relativt tørr og muligens i overkant lang, men om temaet er av interesse så er den absolutt lesbar.
March 28, 2022
A very detailed account of corruption behind the world cup bidding process. Reads a bit like a spy thriller at times with a wonderful cast of characters and sometimes is a bit dry detailing financial details and bank transfers. The writing is enjoyable to flesh out the details of the story with some humour in there and the epilogue uses a beautifully poetic narrative to which I liked.
November 20, 2025
I knew FIFA is a bit of a fucked up Organisation, but damn, did I underestimate just how bad it was.
Genuinely a very interesting book, quite well written, even funny in some parts. The chapters where the authors wrote about themselves in third person were a super odd choice though, and also interspersed into the book at odd places sometimes.
Genuinely a very interesting book, quite well written, even funny in some parts. The chapters where the authors wrote about themselves in third person were a super odd choice though, and also interspersed into the book at odd places sometimes.
October 17, 2017
A spectacular and, frankly, mind-blowing investigative account of the process that brought Russia and Qatar the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. These two journalists deserve major accolades for this epic cache of investigative reporting, which is extremely juicy and reads like a thriller.
May 9, 2020
Wow. What an excellent account of the corruption within one of the biggest organizations and one of the well-loved sports in the world. Tsk tsk.. money really gets you everything, especially when you deal with greedy people.
April 17, 2019
Intriguing , unbelievable.
December 15, 2019
A must read book to understand how a small nation with no footballing culture won the rights to host the WC
September 16, 2020
Great read into the corruption of Fifa. If world cup or awarding of the sites to host the world cup might interest you, this is a great ready into the dark money!
November 1, 2021
It appears if you have enough money, you really can buy almost anything, even the World Cup in a desert in a country with little history of the game.
October 12, 2022
Unbelievable what a story. It is even worse than I expected even if half is true. Don't think I can support my team this World Championship. To embarrased ...
October 12, 2023
The level of corruption knows no bottom.
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