Sociology of a scandal : the emergence of ‘FIFAgate’

This article examines the social forces underlying FIFAgate. Why do corrupt practices, which are often highly consolidated or even institutionalized, suddenly become scandalous? What is a scandal? Why did FIFA fall into crisis in 2015 and not before? To answer these questions, it is necessary to look at the sequence of thrusts and parries between all the parties involved. Our analysis embraces the notion that social processes are based on relationships in order to provide insights into why and how denunciations can lead to long-tolerated corrupt practices suddenly becoming compromising enough to force an organization’s leaders to implement measures that would have previously been unimaginable. We use multiple sources to examine the emergence of FIFAgate and the way FIFA overcame previous critical situations, describing how FIFA neutralized earlier allegations and developed a remarkable ‘resilience’ to scandal. Finally, we analyse the successive mobilizations whose domino effect led to the emergence of FIFAgate and the measures FIFA took to contain the scandal. Our research enabled us to draw up a new theoretical model for analysing corruption scandals

Les contributions du Professeur Jean-Loup Chappelet

Cet ouvrage est construit en miroir des trois grands thèmes abordés par le Professeur Jean-Loup Chappelet au cours de sa carrière : la place de la Suisse au cœur du système olympique, la gouvernance et la performance des organisations olympiques et des évènement sportifs et, enfin, la régulation du sport international. Le lecteur pourra y trouver des contributions originales permettant d’éclairer les principaux enjeux et défis auxquels le système olympique (le Comité International Olympique, les Jeux olympiques, les fédérations internationales/nationales, les athlètes, les collectivités publiques en charge du sport…) est confronté