Football, Corruption and Lies

'A brave, evidenced and sustained account of the governing body of world football, FIFA. If you care about the fate of the most popular game in the world and want to understand what could be done to move on from 2015 read this book. Two of the most intrepid voices, who both understand how football can operate in the humanitarian arena, have re-issued and extended a book of uncommon power and uncompromising argument.' - Grant Jarvie, former acting University Principal and Chair of Sport, University of Edinburgh, UK

'Long before the FBI swooped on FIFA, John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson were on the case. Combining critical sociology with gonzo journalism, they pursued corrupt and ethically bankrupt practices in association football’s governing body with the stubborn tenacity of ethnographically-inspired investigative newshounds. This book documents the many twists and turns of a strange road trip, bringing their feisty 2003 book Badfellas back into the spotlight that FIFA’s lawyers had tried hard to extinguish. Detailing recent developments leading to the fall of the house of Blatter and his associates, the authors unflinchingly appraise the challenges facing genuine reformers of football governance.' - David Rowe, Professor of Cultural Research, Western Sydney University, Australia

'Without the pioneering work and brilliant forensic journalism of Badfellas and their subsequent books, it is a frightening possibility that the discredited Blatter regime which blighted FIFA for so long, could still be in place. They started the ball rolling and all true lovers of the game should thank John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson for the part they played in exposing football’s greatest ever scandal.' - Mike Collett, Reuters Global Soccer Editor, UK

'Long before FIFA became synonymous with an unsavory mélange of corruption and greed, John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson were on the case. In their pioneering and prescient book Football, Corruption and Lies: Revisiting ‘Badfellas’, the Book FIFA Tried to Ban, Sugden and Tomlinson take us on a rollicking ride through the grisly annals of FIFA, full of shady characters, backroom deals, and Machiavellian mayhem. Blending gumshoe investigative work with toothy sociological analysis, they untangle the history of brazen chicanery that paved a platinum-plated path for ‘Blattergate’ in 2015. Through a rich sequel and coda that detail the great unravel at FIFA in 2015, they bring us full circle, all the while sifting the sins from the spin. Sepp Blatter and his phalanx of lawyers tried to ban the original Badfellas from distribution in Switzerland, where FIFA is headquartered, but their heyday is passé. Sugden, Tomlinson, and their ilk have won the day. Insightful and incisive, Football, Corruption and Lies is a must read for anyone interested in the history of FIFA’s profligacy, the modern-day malaise in which it is mired, and possible pathways forward.' - Jules Boykoff, Professor of Political Science, Pacific University in Oregon, USA

'Football, Corruption and Lies is a brilliant rejuvenation of Badfellas. In its original form, the book was a courageous exposé of the septic nature of FIFA’s leadership and governance. This updated rendition prompts reflection as to how such corruption flourished and, moreover, why it fell to a handful of academics and supportive journalists to reveal a festering underbelly of deceit, profiteering and bullying. The book’s new sections, which evaluate the fall from grace of Blatter and his acolytes, are just as poignant. With the Badfellas having been marched off by the FBI, FIFA is in no position to try to ban Football, Corruption and Lies.' - Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney, Australia