How corrupt are global sports — and how did Qatar host the World Cup?

Today, I sit down with Josh Fine, an award-winning investigative journalist whose work spans CBS News’ 60 Minutes and HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

We dive into Josh’s report on Qatar’s rise in world sports, including:

• Buying votes to secure the 2022 FIFA World Cup
• Purchasing athletes from other countries to compete for Qatar
• Exploiting migrant workers under brutal and dangerous conditions

From there, we zoom out to examine the bigger system:

• Why monopolies dominate modern sports
• The rise of the Gulf states (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE)
• Why investigative journalism is often the only check on powerful sports institutions

We finish by exploring the future of journalism

• The decline of investigative reporting
• How journalists navigate ethics in a digital age
• Whether journalism can still hold powerful organizations accountable

(00:00) Intro

(00:57) How Qatar won 2022 FIFA World Cup Bid

(03:50) Qatar using sport for world prominence

(06:20) Exploitation of migrant workers

(09:40) Corruption in FIFA

(12:30) The rise of the Gulf

(18:24) How journalism keeps sports accountable

(23:00) How money affects journalism

(25:45) Access to journalism & what is journalism

(36:40) How to get someone to say yes to an interview

(41:00) Ethics in journalism

(52:00) Public access to information

(56:40) Leaders of sports abuse power

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