Opinion ID: 4543021
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: World Soccer/Football: General Background

Text: The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (popularly known and hereinafter referred to as FIFA) is a Zurich, Switzerland-based entity responsible for governing the sport of what Americans call soccer. Test. of Stephanie Maennl, Trial Tr. at 106. Two hundred eleven associations world-wide, 9 each governing some part of the game in a particular region, country, or territory, are members of FIFA. Id. FIFA's member associations are grouped into six continental confederations covering, inter alia, all continents except (of course) Antarctica. Id. at 110. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, or CONCACAF, referred to above, consists of 35 national associations; the South American confederation, also referred to above, including an association from every country on that continent save for Suriname and Guyana, is known as la Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol, or CONMEBOL. Id. at 110–13. FIFA and its members are governed by sets of rules called codes of ethics. Id. at 138. As relevant here, FIFA's lengthy and detailed code of ethics provides that the organization's officials have a fiduciary duty to FIFA, the [continental] confederations, [and the national] associations. FIFA Code of Ethics (2012 ed.), Art. 15. In a section entitled [b]ribery and corruption, the code provides that FIFA officials must not offer, promise, give or accept any personal or undue pecuniary or other advantage . . . for the execution or omission of an act that is related to their official activities and is contrary to their duties or falls within their discretion. Id., Art. 21. 10 CONMEBOL's code of ethics is modeled on FIFA's and also requires the confederation's officials to act with absolute loyalty, particularly to CONMEBOL [and] FIFA[.] CONMEBOL Code of Ethics (2013 ed.), Art. 15. The code also provides that CONMEBOL officials may not offer or promise or give or accept any improper personal or economic benefit or any other type of benefit, in order to obtain or maintain a transaction or any other dishonest benefit with respect to any CONMEBOL person or person outside CONMEBOL. Id., Art. 21. One of FIFA and the confederations' principal functions is to promote soccer by organizing international competitions. The most prominent is the World Cup, a quadrennial tournament among the leading national teams of the six continental confederations. Since its inception in 1930, with the World War II exceptions of 1942 and 1946, it has taken place in various locations around the globe. 8 CONMEBOL also holds tournaments the first of which preceded the first World Cup. Since 1916, 9 the confederation has organized the Copa América, a 8 See Sean Braswell, How Brazil Saved The World Cup In The Aftermath Of World War II, NPR (June 11, 2014, 7:07 AM), https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/06/11/320727176/how-brazil-saved-theworld-cup-in-the-aftermath-of-world-war-ii. 9To celebrate the centenary of its independence on 9 July 1816 . . . , Argentina organized a tournament of 2 to 17 July 1916 with Chile, Uruguay and Brazil. This Campeonato Sudamericano of Selecciones (South American Championship of 11 quadrennial event now held in non-World Cup years in which national teams from each of CONMEBOL's ten countries, in addition to two national teams invited from outside the region, compete to be crowned champion of South America. Test. of Stefan Szymanski, Trial Tr. at 168, 183–84. CONMEBOL also hosts an annual tournament called the Copa Libertadores among the most successful local club teams in South America. Club teams qualify for the Copa Libertadores either by finishing above a specified level in the standings of their country's premier league or by winning their country's annual club tournament. In Brazil, for example, five clubs secure bids to the Copa Libertadores each year: the top four finishers in the country's premier league, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A; and the winner of the annual Copa do Brasil tournament, organized by Brazil's national soccer organization, the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF). These tournaments are immensely popular. For example, according to FIFA, approximately 3.57 billion people — more than half of the world's population over the age of four — watched some part of the 2018 World Cup. More Nations) is the first edition of what is now known as the 'Copa América.' History of the Birth to the Creation of the Football Copa America, FOOTBALLEN.FOOTFOREVER.COM, http://football- en.footforever.com/CA/Divers_CA/historique_div_ca.php (last visited May 18, 2020). 12 Than Half the World Watched Record-Breaking 2018 World Cup, FIFA.com (Dec. 21, 2018), www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/more-than-half-the-world-watched-record-breaking2018-world-cup. This popularity creates fertile ground for business. Between 2011 and 2014, FIFA generated approximately $5.718 billion in revenue, largely from sums paid by television broadcasting companies for the right to broadcast the organization's tournaments. Test. of Stephanie Maennl, Trial Tr. at 133–34. In 2014 alone, for example, FIFA generated nearly $743 million in revenue from the sale of television broadcasting rights. Id. FIFA also generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue by selling marketing rights connected with its tournaments. They include, among other things, the right to advertise on stadium billboards and team jerseys; the right to sponsor tournaments; and the right to license images, names, and other forms of intellectual property related to tournaments. To facilitate the sale of both broadcasting and marketing rights, FIFA and the confederations frequently hire sports media and marketing companies to serve as intermediaries between them and the various entities that wish to purchase the rights in order to exercise them. Test. of Stefan Szymanksi, Trial Tr. at 184–85. The companies, which specialize in selling rights connected to soccer tournaments, are 13 able to obtain higher prices for the rights than would FIFA or the confederations acting on their own. Id. at 185–86. To select among competing sports media and marketing companies, FIFA and the confederations typically rely on a tender process whereby companies submit bids to the soccer organizations arguing why they would be best suited to serve as an intermediary in a particular circumstance. Id. at 187.