Jon Stewart Blasts 24 Years of FIFA Corruption that “Started a Jennifer Lawrence Ago”

“For years, and I say this with all due respect, American soccer fans have stood by while the media obsesses over other sports crimes and scandals,” Jon Stewart said on “The Daily Show” Wednesday. “Well now finally, soccer is getting its perp walk.”

Stewart was, of course, addressing this week’s stunning FIFA indictments that have sent shockwaves within the international sports community over allegations of routine corruption and kickbacks by FIFA’s top officials.

“FIFA is so bad they got arrested by the SWISS, a country whose official policy on Nazi gold was ‘We’ll allow it,'” he explained.

But such allegations are far from new. Stewart went on to question why investigators took 24 years—or as he put it into perspective a, “Jennifer Lawrence ago”—to finally crack down on officials.

As for big banks long dogged by corruption allegations, Stewart says we may have to wait another 24 years for the Justice Department to start doing something—anything!—to punish shady bankers.

Watch below:

 

We were built for times like these

Russian bots are impersonating us. Trump and his allies want to silence us. AI wants to (and does!) steal our content. The list goes on. But with 50 years of experience, we know we were built for this moment: We’re ready to keep diving deep and uncovering the truth, then getting that to you right here, completely accessible and never behind a paywall.

While our work is free to read, watch, and listen to online, it’s incredibly costly to make. Court documents, travel, research: It all adds up. Because we’re a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on reader support to fund our investigations. Will you stand with us in these extraordinary times, as headlines clamour for our attention and disinformation is rampant? We can’t get the truth out without you.

We were built for times like these

Russian bots are impersonating us. Trump and his allies want to silence us. AI wants to (and does!) steal our content. The list goes on. But with 50 years of experience, we know we were built for this moment: We’re ready to keep diving deep and uncovering the truth, then getting that to you right here, completely accessible and never behind a paywall.

While our work is free to read, watch, and listen to online, it’s incredibly costly to make. Court documents, travel, research: It all adds up. Because we’re a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on reader support to fund our investigations. Will you stand with us in these extraordinary times, as headlines clamour for our attention and disinformation is rampant? We can’t get the truth out without you.

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

INDEPENDENT. BECAUSE OF YOU.

Mother Jones has no billionaires calling the shots—just readers like you making fearless reporting possible

Donate