First published 2016
Chuck Blazer sits in his Trump Tower apartment, counting money skimmed from FIFA coffers. The middle-class kid from Queens has transformed into international soccer's most flamboyant power broker, jet-setting between luxury condos while rubbing shoulders with Vladimir Putin and Hillary Clinton. For thirty years, Blazer climbs FIFA's corrupt hierarchy, befriending godfather Sepp Blatter and becoming the first American on the executive committee in decades. He stashes over $20 million in offshore accounts, his salt-and-pepper beard and rotating girlfriends making him instantly recognizable in soccer's glitzy circles. Then the FBI strikes in 2013, charging him with fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. Facing prison, Blazer accepts a deal that transforms him from thief to informant. He wears a wire in his keychain, secretly recording his criminal associates until eighteen FIFA officials fall in a massive racketeering bust. This white-collar crime saga reveals how greed and betrayal operate at the highest levels of global sports.
Genres: american, crime, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: betrayal, greed, informant
Setting: FIFA, Queens, Trump Tower
Period: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s
272 pages · Kindle Edition · Harper