'FIFA Uncovered': Netflix Scores Again

Considering the amount of corruption and money surrounding FIFA over the past 15 years, you’d be forgiven for not being able to keep up with it all. From the creators of other info-packed and enlightening documentaries such as Inside the Mind of a Killer and Seaspiracy comes another masterclass from Netflix on presenting information in a way that the casual viewer can easily digest and learn from. The four-episode series takes the viewer on a journey through FIFA’s development, showing the organisation’s evolution from hero to villain - combined with stark interviews from Sepp Blatter, Hassan Al-Thawadi and Gianni Infantino, which provide refreshing and honest transparency of information.

But what really sets this docuseries as a cut above the rest is the intense storytelling which would engage even the most avid rugby fan. The docuseries takes us back to the 1936 Berlin Olympics and 1978 Argentina FIFA World Cup, both classic examples of ‘sportswashing’ (in which governments improve their reputation by hosting sporting events). Throughout the series the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is held as an example of the pinnacle of ‘sportswashing’, given its poor human rights and LGBTQIA+ records. ‘FIFA Uncovered’ seems to be a cry to everyone involved in football; be it fan, player of FIFA president; to understand the wide-reaching implications of corruption in the sport.

Every episode starts with a montage of the news media reports mixed with interviews on what will be discussed during the respective episode. Every episode includes interviews with current and former FIFA officials, which provides us the viewer with conflicting perspectives and allow us to come to our own conclusions. An astounding interview with players from the Trinidad and Tobago 2006 FIFA World Cup team sees them discuss their dealings with Jack Warner, president of CONACAF, and how Warner’s corruption of commercial dealings to line his own pocket left the players earning only USD$803 each from their whole campaign. Whereas other media and news outlets seek to sensationalise the corruption inside FIFA, Netflix seeks out those who have been directly affected and want to tell their story. This humanisation of FIFA’s corruption further adds to the emotion viewers feel throughout the series.

As a side note, an interview with Hassan Al-Thawadi (the Qatari Secretary General for their 2022 World Cup bid) in which he discusses the aftermath of Qatar’s successful bid also talks about his depression due to the controversy. Coming from a country where so many subjects are taboo, to talk about his own mental health on the international stage gave Qatar’s bid a new dimension- how hard the Qataris, not as Arabs or Muslims, but as human beings, worked to be successful. This is something both people from the East and West can resonate with.

In my opinion, Netflix has found the perfect line between entertainment and fact-finding. Less name-and-shame, more explain-and-shame. For the most part, the docuseries focuses on the corruption of the FIFA Executive Committee, providing information to a more profound than any news media report. But the documentary provides different perspectives for the viewer through interviews, and thereby presents a refreshing analysis of events and persons involved in FIFA.