• Player Rating: 7.0
• Stream: Netflix
• Running Time: 4 episodes, 52 to 60 minutes each
• Audience: Ages 11 and Older
The docuseries takes us back to the wild days of Chuck Blazer, the morbidly obese FIFA Executive Committee member who allegedly received $15 million in bribes, didn't pay taxes for 14 years, and famously rented two apartments in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue: One for him and girlfriend Mary Lynn Blanks, one for his cats. He became an FBI informant, which in turn led to the 2015 raid of a luxurious Swiss hotel in which 14 members of the Executive Committee were arrested. But the FIFA of today is more corrupt than ever, which makes FIFA Uncovered look more than a little naive.
Some documentaries should come with a sell-by date.
Case in point: FIFA Uncovered, the 2022 series now streaming on Netflix. The four episodes look at dirty dealings within FIFA, and a leadership so corrupt that 14 members of the Executive Committee were arrested in an early morning raid at a luxurious Swiss hotel in 2015. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was never charged with a crime, but the once-untouchable kingmaker was forced to resign.
But the docuseries ends on the optimistic note that FIFA could be cleaned up under new president Gianni Infantino. That belief in Infantino comes across as recklessly naive today: The back-slapping bribes facilitated by Blatter more than ten years ago have metastasized into far more nefarious back-room dealings under Infantino. The FIFA of today is more slimy than ever.