Football’s global corruption scandal is to be the subject of a new exhibit at Las Vegas’s Mob Museum, the Sin City tourist attraction which immortalizes the lurid history of the American underworld.
The museum said the permanent display — “The ‘Beautiful Game’ Turns Ugly” — would spotlight the twists and turns of the scandal that has seen several officials arrested and led to the resignation of FIFA boss Sepp Blatter.
“This exhibit is ripped right from today’s headlines about the globe’s most popular sport,” said Mob Museum executive director Jonathan Ullman.
“To our growing number of visitors from places like the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil and Italy, the FIFA scandal provides an especially resonant example of the different shapes organized crime can take.”
The display, which opens in September, will comprise photos, media clippings and cover stories chronicling the corruption scandal, which exploded across the football landscape in May after a lengthy US-led investigation.
The probe began after former US FIFA representative Chuck Blazer went undercover for the US Justice Department and agreed to wear a wiretap to secretly record meetings with other football officials.
Fourteen senior officials and sports marketing executives have been charged with pocketing more than $150 million in bribes over a 25-year period.
Opened in 2012, The Mob Museum, or the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, has become a popular Las Vegas attraction.
Exhibits include items dedicated to some of the most notorious figures in organized crime history, including Al Capone, Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, Bugsy Siegel, Mickey Cohen and John Gotti. – Agence France-Presse
