FIFA is a brand known by many and has recently been involved in a huge scandal. On May 27, in Zurich, Switzerland. Swiss police, on Wednesday, raided a Zurich hotel to detain top FIFA football officials as part of a US investigation into possible corruption the Simpsons may have predicted.

By: Ryan Stone

In Zurich, some police officers went into a massive hotel which was the site of this week’s annual meeting of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body. The officers got room numbers from the front desk, headed upstairs, and arrested six FIFA executives.

The Justice Department’s announcement primarily cites deals between FIFA, sports marketing groups and broadcast corporations for the television rights to air the World Cup and other international soccer tournaments.

This goes back to 1991; the indictment those involved conspired to receive bribes from marketing firms in exchange for exclusive television contracts to the cumulative tune of more than $150 million.

The Attorney General Loretta Lynch said, “It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.”

All of this could bring big issues to the soccer world and more than likely everyone involved will be brought to justice. 

Baseball, and other sports are used by athletes and fans to escape their problems of the world. This is something the Baltimore Orioles took away from their fans as they recently closed their game to the public.

Due to riots in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore Orioles canceled games against the Chicago White Sox on Monday April 27 week, the baseball organization decided to play their game on Wednesday, April 29.

The privilege of escaping the world and going to see a baseball game was taken away from Baltimore citizens. Camden Yards, the name of the park the Orioles play at, was completely closed to the public. Zero people were in attendance of this game shattering the previous record of six held by the Worcester Ruby Legs in 1882.

“The footage that I saw of the game was eerie and actually pretty funny. Without people in the stands you could hear everything; the sound of the bat, the players talking, everything,” junior James Jennings said.

The players and announcers made light of this tragic situation through humor. One player on the Orioles threw a baseball to the empty stands as if to toss it to a fan. The announcers at one point acted like it was a golf tournament, announcing the game by whispering.

“Bizarre is the only word that I can think of that describes it. Nothing like this has ever happened in baseball before and nobody knew how to react. It was funny how the players and announcers made fun of it though,” junior Ricky Tritten said.

Games scheduled at Camden Yards against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have been moved to Tampa where they will be open to the public. The Orioles won the game 8­2 over the White sox. Events like this can really make one scared for our nation as even our past time goes away in times like this.

“Hopefully the rioters realize that they aren’t causing any positive change and are only hurting themselves. The game on Wednesday shows what can happen when people riot, they don’t get what they want and they only cause more damage,” junior Derek Mast said.

This historic game will go down in major league baseball history with, hopefully a happy ending.