Former Concacaf executive Mel Brennan has said that Fifa survived Sepp Blatter and Jack Warner and will survive current president Gianni Infantino, as he reflects on the corruption scandal that rocked world football in 2015. Brennan, who worked as an executive at Concacaf during the corrupt reign of former president Jack Warner and general secretary Chuck Blazer, was a confidential source for investigators and journalists. His book Fixing Football is out now.
Brennan’s insider view of corruption
Brennan described seeing the World Cup from the 17th floor of Trump Tower and from a grass-strewn field in Trinidad where children could not play because money for maintenance was stolen. He said he was not surprised when law enforcement raided a Zurich hotel and Concacaf headquarters in Miami in 2015, as he had been in contact with the FBI. However, he never thought there would be accountability for Concacaf bosses because they were part of an interlocking elite. “They were not gangsters. They were opportunistic cockroaches,” he said.
Concacaf’s prominent role in the scandal
Brennan said Concacaf was among the least competent of the continental confederations, with leaders who were born opportunists rather than sophisticated business people. He noted that the media landscape also enabled the corruption, with outlets like the Los Angeles Times and New York Times failing to conduct investigative journalism. “Everybody played a role in enabling this,” he said.
Cost of corruption: lost sporting opportunities
The cost of the corruption, Brennan said, was that people lost access to sporting opportunities. He cited the example of girls playing sport: “If you play sport and you stay in sport you are more likely to lead an organization as an adult. But these types of opportunities were lost for so many because Jack and Chuck were too busy acting like they were building fields and programming but they were actually on a game show called ‘Who is Stealing Money?’”
US, Canada, and Mexico’s role
Brennan criticised former US Soccer president Sunil Gulati, saying he admired the economic engine built by Warner and Blazer from a distance rather than using US Soccer’s power to shine a light on the corruption. He recalled a scene at a Concacaf conference in Miami where women, not delegates, left the hotel en masse at 5am, indicating the toxic culture.
Has anything changed at Fifa?
Brennan said Transparency International laid out a framework for reform, but Fifa still could have live broadcast council meetings and real-time bank accounts. “Some cockroaches have scattered and other cockroaches came in but the overall smell remains the same,” he said. He also criticised Victor Montagliani, who led Concacaf after the 2015 crisis, for not delivering democratic, transparent, inclusive, and diverse change.
Concacaf’s Saudi Arabia deals
Brennan said any nation state that murders journalists should be marginalised, and that Concacaf should not engage with Saudi Arabia without evaluating human rights records. “How Saudi Arabia treats women and the most vulnerable matters,” he said.
World Cup 2026 opportunity
Brennan said the 2026 World Cup hosted by the USA, Mexico, and Canada is an opportunity, but questioned who gets left behind. He noted that in his local town in Maryland, all organised youth soccer is white kids, while Latino communities use a park 10 minutes away. “There is something wrong here,” he said.
