On May 27, U.S. authorities announced an indictment against 14 soccer officials and sports marketing executives in a corruption investigation of FIFA, the international governing body of soccer. It was also announced that a Swiss investigation will look into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids that went to Russia and Qatar, respectively.
Now that the lid has been blown off the FIFA scandal, there are a lot of ways that the crisis could play out, said Drexel University’s Karen Weaver, Ed.D, interim program director and associate clinical professor in the Sport Management program in the Center for Hospitality and Sport Management at Drexel University.
According to Weaver:
- Corporate partners are staying neutral but concerned, much like the NFL’s Ray Rice scandal.
- Media rights are one of the largest sources of funds that support tournaments and even grass roots soccer.
- FIFA has been embroiled in match fixing scandals as well as referee bribery scandals, but this has potential to implicate politicians and global companies, and could be the first to do that…
A former Division I and III National Championship head coach and director of athletics, Weaver joined Drexel’s department of sport management in 2012. Her research interests include college sports media and finance, broadcast television media rights and rights holders, governance issues and social media and marketing.
She has written numerous articles on the impact media rights are having on college sports. Additionally, Weaver serves as a consultant to the Knight Commission for Intercollegiate Athletics, which ensures that intercollegiate athletics programs operate within the educational mission of their colleges and universities. She received her doctorate of education from the University of Pennsylvania.
Media interested in an interview with Karen Weaver should contact Alissa Falcone at acf57@drexel.edu or 215.571.4319.