The Shady Underside of the World's Favorite Game

The success of the World Cup comes almost despite, rather than because of, the supervision of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Described by the Financial Times as “a governance disaster that is also one of the most successful multinational enterprises on earth,” FIFA is widely criticized for its cronyism and its failure to bring changes. Despite the extraordinary importance of goals in soccer games (because there are so few of them), the ruling body only introduced goal-line technology in this World Cup. The technology, which uses sensors to aid referees in deciding whether a ball crosses the goal line, came years after the tennis grand-slam tournament the Australian Open first used the “Hawk-eye” technology in challenges to line calls. It also came after numerous calls over controversial non-goals in previous world cups, including the famous mistaken ruling out of an England goal against Germany in the 2010 World Cup. FIFA later apologized to the defeated England for disallowing the goal, which would have leveled the score at 2-2.