You’d never guess it when you read the headlines of the FIFA fallout of the last two weeks, but a little over two decades ago, Chuck Blazer was broke. He’d lost his job, had no income and was engulfed in debt. Now, he is one of the men at the centre of one of the biggest scandals to ever hit world sport.

Through some cunning deals, his keen eye for business and having the gift of the gab, Blazer went from one-time button seller to one of the most powerful men in sporting administration, having a fleet of mobility scooters, a Hummer to drive around in New York (how do you park that?) and a Trump Tower apartment exclusively for his cats. He loved exotic parrots, hung out with some of the world’s most famous people and proved that you don’t need to have played the game to know how to make money out of it.

The beginnings of his genius plan hatched in 1984. The United States Soccer Federation, which was in charge of all amateur and pro soccer in the US, was holding an election. The governing body had no clue how to make money from soccer and compete with baseball and American Football. So Blazer made a plan. At the time, he was in charge of the Eastern New York State Soccer Association (ENYSSA). He had been running junior teams and such like for some time, but he always knew he was destined for bigger things.

Blazer arranged for the annual meeting to be hosted by ENYSSA, and through some excellent politicking, he was elected executive vice president, and in charge of international competitions.

Not long after, Blazer insisted that the US squad be treated with a bit more respect and that they be included in a tournament that was soon to be hosted in Los Angeles. In the early 1980s, the US men’s team have played just two matches. Under Blazer, they soon played 19 games in under two years. This foundation would eventually help them qualify for the 1990 World Cup and was, arguably, the foundation for the heights the current team has sailed to.

In his role as executive vice president, he helped prepare the bid to help US eventually beat off Brazil and Morocco for the 1994 World Cup. From ensuring that those bidding knew that the US would have to upgrade their synthetic turf to grass turf, hammering home the importance of television marketing, Blazer was a business accelerant, bringing cheque-book savvy to the US bid. Knowing what we know now, there might have been a few added “incentives” to help the US achieve success, but his track record in securing big business details is well-document. He was also instrumental in establishing the US women’s national team. This all from a man who had never played a day of soccer in his life.

Blazer’s reign as president lasted just one term, but he had already met Jack Warner, another central figure in the current FIFA scandal. And it wouldn’t be too long before the two were in cahoots.

It began in earnest in 1989, when Blazer, not employed at the time, visited Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to meet with Jack Warner, a Caribbean administrator, and start concocting a plan on how they would take over CONCACAF. The organisation had been run by Mexico and Central American countries for decades because they were the only ones with enough interest in soccer to care about influence. Blazer, though, didn’t see it this way. He’d first met Warner in 1984, when they both served at CONCACAF. In 1986, they became friends during the World Cup in Mexico and by 1990, Blazer had run an election campaign for Warner that saw him win three times as many votes as the incumbent, an elderly Mexican with diabetes. Warner made Blazer his general secretary and, as they say, Bob’s your uncle.

Knowing just how much commercial power the States held for soccer, Blazer moved quickly. CONCACAF’s HQ was moved from Guatemala City to the Big Apple and this is where things really changed for Blazer.

A deal struck with the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, or CONCACAF, entitled him to ten percent of almost every single cent the organisation earned. That offered up a personal incentive to make sure he helped bring in as much money as humanly possible.

The contract did not technically feature Blazer’s name, but was instead signed with a seven-month-old New York company that he founded and controlled – Sportvertising. The eight-page retainer agreement said that Sportvertising would give CONCACAF an employee to take care of general secretary duties and in return, CONCACAF would provide office space and administrative support and pay Sportvertising a series of fees plus a 10% cut of certain types of revenue, including “sponsorships and TV rights fees”. Back then, TV deals rarely brought in more than $140,000 a year.

This gave Blazer the personal incentive to make money for CONCACAF. Crafty business, if there ever was any. And it paid off. Blazer was instrumental in the negotiations of many rights.

The most notable example of this was in the lead-up to the 2010 World Cup. At a FIFA executive committee meeting, Blazer asked his FIFA colleagues not to approve a $350 million bid from NBC for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup rights. He said that giving the rights to NBC would hamper the exposure of soccer in the States because NBC would not televise MSL or other international competitions. He asked for a few weeks to find an alternative and not too long after, Univision and ESPN bought the rights for $325 million and $100 million, respectively.

Blazer kept on taking a 10% cut of every single dollar and dime that came in through CONCACAF. He did this for years, but his corruption empire came crashing down when he was cruising through Manhattan on his mobility scooter. Prosecutors gave him an ultimatum: help us or go to prison for a very, very long time for failing to file your taxes. Needless to say, Blazer chose the latter. He spent the years that followed wearing a wire, recording meetings with top FIFA execs… and his cooperation has formed a key part in the FBI’s investigation that led to the arrest of several officials two weeks ago.

When the news of Blazer’s arrest and cooperation first broke last year, Daily Maverick wrote that his revelations and recordings could turn the soccer world on its head. It seems it has done much more than that. DM

Photo: A file picture dated 08 December 2009 shows then FIFA Executive Committee member Charles ‘Chuck’ Blazer during a press conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Ailing former FIFA official Chuck Blazer admits that he and others accepted bribes before the votes that gave the 1998 World Cup to France and the 2010 World Cup to South Africa, according to newly unsealed US court documents on late 03 June 2015. EPA/ALI HAIDER