Among the challenges for FIFA, the world governing body for football, when it was set up in 1904, was securing agreement on a shared set of rules for the game. It’s come a long way since then: it’s now a multi-billion-dollar behemoth, an unparalleled power in world sport. But on the eve of what it bills as ‘the greatest show on earth’ – the 2026 World Cup hosted in North America – it’s worth pausing to ask how well it serves the interests of the fans of the planet’s biggest spectator sport.
To discuss the past, present and future of FIFA, George Miller is joined by Alan Tomlinson, Emeritus Professor of Leisure Studies at the University of Brighton and author of What is FIFA for?
Tomlinson is the antithesis of the ivory tower academic; his interest in understanding FIFA’s inner workings has taken him on years’-long quests more akin to investigative reporting than abstract theorising. This book, which one reviewer called the ‘capstone’ of his long interest in FIFA, distinguishes the reality from the rhetoric, the better to map the possible future of the game.
Throughout the conversation, two themes recur: accountability and transparency. For Tomlinson, the greatest challenge FIFA poses is not its size but the difficulty of holding such a powerful organisation to account.
Alan Tomlinson is Emeritus Professor of Leisure Studies at the University of Brighton UK and a pioneer of critical sport and leisure research, blending cultural studies with investigative and in-the-field research.
Find out more about the book at: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/what-is-fifa-for
The transcript is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2026/06/05/podcast-fifa-the-beautiful-game-and-billions-of-dollars-where-does-accountability-lie/
Timestamps:
01:22 - What is your football background?
04:22 - What is it about FIFA that has engaged your interest?
08:28 - How did your research approach affect what insights you gathered?
13:13 - Why is the question of what FIFA is for more complicated than it first appears?
18:45 - How transparent and accountable is FIFA?
29:18 - How vulnerable is FIFA to corruption?
33:28 - What are the top 3 priorities for a reformed FIFA?
Intro music:
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