Political Aspects of the International Federation of Association Football's (FIFA's) Contemporary Activities

Tema ovog diplomskog rada je razmotriti određene političke aspekte Međunarodne nogometne federacije (FIFA-e) kroz okvire institucija, njihovog međuodnosa, probleme klijentelizma i korupcije te način na koji obliku FIFA-u. Također se nastoje ispitati korijeni samog nastanka FIFA-e te razvijanja organizacije koja u sve učestalijim slučajevima izlazi izvan okvira udruge kako je službeno definirana te kroz takvo djelovanje postaje organizacijom koja igra ozbiljnu ulogu na sceni međunarodnih odnosa. FIFA kao organizacija je globalni akter te putem utjecajnih kanala oblikuje politike oko nas. Tome za zahvaliti je činjenica što je nogomet ima toliko visoku razinu popularnosti u svijetu da ga se ne može smatrati samo igrom, već katalizatorom politike. Zbog intenzivnog razvoja u relativno kratkom roku, FIFA nije razvijala svoju unutarpolitički sustav te zbog toga došla do zida zbog kojeg uništava samu sebe iskorištavanjem loše definiranih međuinstitucijskih odnosa. Ona ima različite učinke kako na nogomet, tako i na društvo što često dovodi do nesrazmjera i izrazito polariziranoj slici FIFA-e u javnosti. U ovom radu možemo razaznati zašto je FIFA toliko jedinstven pojam kada govorimo o politici i međunarodnim odnosima, s obzirom na to da je njezina moć koju legitimno posjeduje izuzetno diskutabilan pojam. Kroz definiciju političkih aspekata FIFA-e, nastojim istražiti izlazi li FIFA iz okvira udruge civilnog društva, ponajviše zbog sve učestalijih slučajeva korupcije, klijentelizma, ali i pojave organiziranog kriminala.The topic of this thesis is to consider certain political aspects of the International Football Federation (FIFA) through the framework of institutions, their interrelationships, problems of clientelism and corruption, and the way in which they shape FIFA. This thesis tries also to examine the roots of the very origin of FIFA and the development of an organization that in more and more cases goes outside the framework of an association as FIFA is officially defined. Through such activities, FIFA becomes an organization that plays a serious role on the stage of international relations. FIFA as an organization is a global player and shapes policies around us through influential channels. This is due to the fact that football has such a high level of popularity in the world that can not be considered only as a game, but as a catalyst for politics. Due to intensive development in a relatively short period of time, FIFA has not developed its internal political system and has therefore reached a wall that destroys itself by exploiting poorly defined inter-institutional relations. It has different effects on both football and society, which often leads to a disproportion and a highly polarized image of FIFA in public. In this paper, we can discern why FIFA is such a unique case when it comes to politics and international relations, given that its power which it legitimately possesses is an extremely debatable term. Through the definition of the political aspects of FIFA, I try to investigate whether FIFA goes beyond the framework of a civil society, mostly due to the increasing number of cases of corruption, clientelism, but also the emergence of organized crime