The Fall of the House of Fifa

This book has a cumulative power, piling betrayal on betrayal, until they even include one of Conn’s childhood idols from the 1974 World Cup, the German player Franz Beckenbauer * Guardian *We have known for so long that Fifa, world’s football’s governing body, is rank with institutionalised corruption… But then if we are to hand a rifle to anyone to shoot fish in a barrel, there could be no choice than David Conn, the dogged investigate reporter… The figures he uncovers in this book are breathtaking * Mail on Sunday *Even in age inured to corruption, the reign of Sepp Blatter over football’s global ruling body, Fifa, was jaw-droppingly spectacular… How did he do it? David Conn’s patient unravelling of Fifa’s tangled web provides the answer, and it makes for ugly but revealing reading… Conn, a sport journalist on the Guardian, negotiates the murky world of big money with confidence and dogged calm in this tale of the beautiful game gone bad * Observer *Excellent * Sunday Times *A very fine piece of reportage, probing to the organisation’s dark and festering heart while also taking care to accentuate the good FIFA has done in the world * BALLS.ie *A book that informs as much as it enrages * 42 *David Conn’s long list of literary successes are legion, but following publication of his latest book, The Fall of the House of FIFA, it’s arguable that he may have surpassed everything that has gone before… Like The Beautiful Game?, which shone a bright spotlight on football’s darkest corners… The Fall of the House of FIFA does an equally impressive job on a global level… Tales of FIFA’s inherent corruption are nothing new but, given its definitive nature, David Conn’s account deserves the widest possible audience. Buy it * Bristol Post *It is a superb go-to guide for anyone seeking context on why Qatar won the 2022 World Cup bid, why Coca Cola - a largely American brand - splashes its name on a largely non-American sport, and why hope remains that the mess can eventually be cleaned up * Daily Express *Conn laments the betrayal of the sport in a beguiling book – it’s absorbing and downright shocking * FourFourTwo *Comprehensive and thoroughly researched * Times Literary Supplement *

David Conn is the author of The Beautiful Game? and multi-award-winning journalist for the Guardian. He has been awarded UK sports news reporter of the year three times, and sports journalist of the year in the British Journalism Awards. David has many years of unique experience carrying out original investigations into football and its modern relationship with money, and has been a key part of the Guardian’s coverage of the Fifa crisis.