ABSTRACT
FIFA is no stranger to crisis and controversy, and the issues of democracy and accountability have frequently been at the forefront of its major crises. Any organization that claims to speak for every country in the world will encounter predictable and passionate challenges questioning its representativeness, and face predictable and recurrent calls to reform. As the profile of the sport has expanded, such challenges and calls have multiplied and intensified. Emerging countries have demanded more places at the table for the most lucrative events, continental confederations have sought to acquire more influence within FIFA positions, processes and decision-making, and countries have battled in increasingly bitter fashion to win the right to host the men’s World Cup. All of these examples have produced high-profile crises, about organizational credibility, leadership styles and often abuse of power in the decision-making process. In this chapter I give an overview some of the major crises that FIFA has faced over the first decade of the twenty-first century, and then focus in more detail on two of these, showing how FIFA has responded to allegations and evidence concerning the nature of its organizational and business practices.
