Actor-director Ben Affleck is to help produce a feature film about the corruption scandal that has rocked world soccer and its governing body FIFA, the author of an upcoming book said on Friday.
Affleck and his friend since childhood, actor Matt Damon, will be among the producers of the as-yet-untitled movie for Hollywood studio Warner Bros., the author, US reporter Ken Bensinger said.
It is expected to focus on the role of American Chuck Blazer, a former FIFA official.
Blazer, the former general secretary of CONCACAF, soccer’s governing body in North and Central America and the Caribbean, has secretly provided U.S. prosecutors with information about alleged bribery and kickbacks in connection with bidding to host the 1998 and 2010 soccer World Cups.
Blazer pleaded guilty in 2013 to 10 criminal counts, according to a plea deal unsealed by U.S. prosecutors earlier this month,
Seven current or former soccer officials were arrested on US corruption charges in a raid on a Swiss hotel in late May as part of a wide-ranging investigation. The following week, FIFA President Sepp Blatter – just days after being re-elected – said he would be stepping down.
The movie is to be based on Bensinger’s proposed book “Houses of Deceit”, which went to a bidding war between Hollywood studios after the FIFA scandal broke in May.
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