Launched on 4 June 2026 in Record, Portugal’s leading sports newspaper, SIGA’s weekly opinion column provides a dedicated platform to address issues at the heart of SIGA’s global agenda, including Sport Integrity, good governance, transparency, accountability, financial integrity, sports betting integrity, sustainability, youth development and protection, and the future of sport.
This week’s article is authored by Richard Weber, Co-Chair, SIGA Permanent Committee, Anti-Corruption and Financial Integrity in Sport, and Member of the SIGA America Advisory Board, and contributes to a space designed to foster dialogue and plurality, bringing forward the perspectives of SIGA’s Membership, governing bodies, committees and wider global community on the key challenges and opportunities facing sport.
Drawing on his experience as former Chief of IRS Criminal Investigation, and at the forefront of one of the most significant anti-corruption investigations in global sport, the scandal that became known as “FIFAgate”, Richard Weber reflects on why vigilance, accountability and integrity remain essential to safeguarding the future of football and sport as a whole.
Read the article in Portuguese here.
The Fight Against Corruption in Sport Is Far From Over — And We Cannot Afford to Look Away
By Richard Weber
Co-Chair, SIGA Permanent Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Integrity in Sport; Member, SIGA AMERICA Advisory Board; Partner, Haynes Boone
As the FIFA World Cup kicks off once again, the world turns its eyes to the beautiful game. For billions of fans, the tournament represents the pinnacle of sporting competition — unity, passion, and fair play on the grandest stage. For me, the World Cup will always carry a deeper resonance. It was the investigation into corruption at the heart of FIFA, an investigation I had the privilege of leading as Chief of IRS Criminal Investigation, that became one of the defining chapters of my career and, I believe, a watershed moment for the global fight against corruption in sport.
A decade has passed since the first indictments were unsealed in the FIFA Gate case. What began as a painstaking financial investigation — following the money across continents, through shell companies, and into the bank accounts of some of the most powerful figures in international football — ultimately exposed a breathtaking culture of bribery, fraud, and money laundering at the highest levels of the sport’s governing bodies. The case demonstrated something that many had long suspected but few had been able to prove: that the corruption was not incidental but systemic, woven into the very fabric of how broadcasting rights were sold, how tournaments were awarded, and how the business of football was conducted.
I am immensely proud of the work that IRS-CI agents and our law enforcement partners accomplished. We proved that no institution is above the law and that financial investigators, armed with determination and the right tools, can unravel even the most sophisticated schemes. The skills honed in pursuing tax fraud, money laundering, and transnational financial crime proved to be exactly what was needed to hold corrupt sports officials accountable.
That is precisely why recent developments — including the dismissal of certain indictments connected to the broader FIFA investigation — are cause for serious reflection. While each legal proceeding has its own facts and procedural history, and the justice system must be respected, we should be clear-eyed about the message that any retreat from accountability can send. When cases that took years to build and involved cooperation from authorities around the world are set aside, it risks signaling to bad actors that patience and delay can outlast the pursuit of justice. It risks telling the next generation of sports administrators that corruption, if sufficiently complex or politically insulated, may ultimately go unpunished. That is a message we cannot afford to send.
The integrity challenges facing football and global sport today remain formidable. Match-fixing, illicit gambling, opaque financial flows, conflicts of interest in governance, and the exploitation of athletes continue to threaten the credibility of competition. New risks have emerged as well — from the intersection of cryptocurrency and sports sponsorship to the governance questions surrounding rapidly expanding competitions and commercial ventures. The landscape has evolved, but the fundamental vulnerability remains the same: wherever vast sums of money flow with insufficient oversight, corruption will follow.
And yet, there has been genuine progress. FIFA itself has undertaken governance reforms. Law enforcement agencies around the world have developed greater expertise in sports-related financial crime. Perhaps most importantly, organizations dedicated to safeguarding the integrity of sport have emerged and matured. Among them, SIGA — the Sport Integrity Global Alliance — deserves particular recognition and gratitude. SIGA has been a tireless advocate for transparency, accountability, and good governance across the sporting world. Its work in establishing universal standards for sport integrity, in convening stakeholders from government, sport, and the private sector, and in keeping the spotlight on these critical issues has been invaluable. I want to thank SIGA and its leadership for their continued commitment to this cause.
It was in that same spirit of collaboration that I was honored to host last Wednesday, June 3, the Haynes Boone Financial Crime Sports Forum. The forum brought together professionals from law enforcement, legal and consulting practices, sports governance, and the private sector to discuss the evolving threats to integrity in sport and the tools available to combat them. Conversations like these are essential. Corruption in sport is a global problem that demands a coordinated, multidisciplinary response, and events like the Haynes Boone forum help build the networks and shared understanding necessary to mount that response effectively.
As the World Cup begins, let us celebrate the joy and unity that football brings to the world. But let us also remember that the integrity of the game is not self-sustaining. It must be actively defended — by law enforcement, by governing bodies, by the private sector, and by all of us who believe that sport, at its best, can be a force for good. The lessons of FIFA Gate are not relics of the past. They are a call to vigilance for the future. The fight against corruption in sport is far from over, and it is one we cannot afford to lose.
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ABOUT SIGA
SIGA is the world’s leading organisation for Sport Integrity. We are creating a whole new landscape for the sports industry by delivering independent global rating and certification for world Sport to ensure it is governed and operates under the highest integrity standards: The SIGA Universal Standards.
Funded by our Members, SIGA is a non for profit global independent organisation with one aim: To ensure the sport industry is governed under the highest integrity standards so that the values of sport are protected.
SIGA is the only organisation to bring together sport, governments, academia, international organisations, sponsors, business, rights holders, NGOs and professional services companies, from every region in the world, around a common cause of fostering greater integrity throughout sport.
SIGA is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, as a non for-profit association, and comprises of the following continental subsidiaries: SIGA AMERICA, SIGA EUROPE and SIGA LATIN AMERICA.
For more information on SIGA, including its vision, mission and reform agenda, please refer to the website: www.siga-sport.com and FAQs.
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