World Cup Series Ep. 3 - FIFA's Corruption

FIFA would claim that it is individuals that are corrupt, not the organisation itself. Well, our counter to that would be that an organisation that sets itself up with such a concentration of power amid a sea of wealth, with little oversight and so much money to be made cannot deflect blame when corruption becomes endemic.

When Russia and Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in late 2010, a domino was pushed over. Rumours of corruption made it to the FBI, and a group of agents - some soccer mad, some veterans of mob takedowns - began to investigate.

Today, we discuss how those dominos fell, from Chuck Blazer to Jack Warner to Sepp Blatter himself, and how the house of cards came tumbling down - only to go on under Gianni Infantino with a few cosmetic changes and a promise of more oversight. Criminal organisations always find a way of going on with a new generation, after all.

World Cup Series Ep. 2 - Origin Story

With the World Cup a little over 24 hours away, we talk about the tournament, its truly terrible format, and about exactly why it is coming home.

We also delve into the World Cup and FIFA's origin stories, about Uruguay 1930 and how the tournaments finances have evolved to today - setting us up nicely for the next episode...

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Credit: This episode contains music from Fesliyan Studios. Find their huge collection at https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/

World Cup Series Ep. 1 - The England Squad

With the club season for English teams now done and dusted, we turn our attention for the next two months to the biggest stage of all - the FIFA World Cup.

In the first part of our multi-part series, we discuss who we'd have picked for the England squad, our reaction to the selections made and our feelings about where England's strengths and weaknesses lie.

In future episodes we'll be covering World Cup history, controversies, shocks and tragedies, as well as - of course - discussing FIFA's sordid recent past and its impact on the game and the tournament as a whole.