FIFA to the FBI

Chuck Blazer's career never followed that of a typical FIFA functionary. He'd never played the game, he didn't hail from politics and his early entrepreneurial endeavors - like selling early smiley-face icons on yellow badges - didn't seem closely tied to sports marketing.

Frankly, the New York entrepreneur and eccentric was always a little too much fun for the sometimes dull corridors of football power. He's not the kind of person you could imagine debating the merits of the passive offside rule. He's more apt to post videos of his pet parrot on YouTube, dancing to the rhythms of a Central Park street performer atop the basket of his mobility scooter.

Star snitch

The FBI's FIFA probe, which may or may not topple President Sepp Blatter, seems to have started in earnest when New York police chased Blazer's mobility scooter down Fifth Avenue. Blazer was behind the handlebars on the November evening in 2011 when US federal agents wanted to ask him how a millionaire football functionary living in Trump Tower had not paid income tax for a decade.

"We can take you away in handcuffs now - or you can cooperate," an agent said, according to a New York Daily News report of the incident.

Blazer chose to avoid the cuffs. Not only has he pleaded guilty to 10 counts, including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, he has also worked as a cooperating witness with US officials since 2011. On multiple fronts, therefore, FIFA really had little choice but to ban him for life this Thursday.

But who exactly has FIFA exiled: a crooked member of the household, a "snitch" who let down the FIFA family, one of the sport's most successful promoters? Depending on your perspective, there's room for all these personae in Blazer's ample frame.

'Mr. Ten Percent'

Blazer first got involved in football as a coach for the kids' team his son had joined. By 1989, with football still a failing endeavor in the United States, he had fostered a real working understanding of the business of soccer, plus a crucial friendship with Trinidadian football functionary Jack Warner.

Blazer ran Warner's successful campaign to become the president of CONCACAF, soccer's governing body for North and Central America. Once in charge, Warner made Blazer the confederation's secretary-general - running its day-to-day business. Blazer's nickname, Mr. Ten Percent, hailed from his contract, the terms of which were steep but simple: a retainer plus a 10 percent cut of practically everything. For legal reasons, this contract was not with Blazer but with Sportvertising, a company he had founded in New York to provide his own services. Later, the company would be renamed and moved to the Cayman Islands tax haven, ultimately explaining Blazer's eventual run-in with the FBI.

A founding father of US soccer

At CONCACAF, Blazer's first step was to move the federation's offices from Guatemala City to the Big Apple, recognizing that the federation could only grow by conquering the untapped US market.

In 1990, CONCACAF was making a loss and pulling in barely $140,000 (126,000 euros at today's exchange) per year in revenue. During his two decades at the helm, though, "Mr. Ten Percent" raked in more than $20 million just for himself - mostly thanks to commercial successes in his home country. The US men's national team has become a World Cup mainstay and the domestic Major League Soccer division is attracting TV deals lucrative enough to make European leagues pay attention.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber described Blazer as "one of the most important people in the history of soccer in this country" in this extensive Buzzfeed feature, also alluding that Blazer rarely received adequate recognition for his efforts.

"I'm perfectly satisfied that I did an excellent job," Blazer said in one of relatively few public statements since becoming involved with the FBI, cutting ties with FIFA and then beginning a battle with illness. "I spent 21 years building the confederation and its competitions and its revenues and I'm the one responsible for its good levels of income."

A man in the know

The FBI's current list of indictments shows Blazer's importance to investigators. They have said they began with a focus purely on FIFA dealings on US soil, before their case started sprawling.

All 15 indictments currently issued by the FBI target people who hail either from North or South America. Jack Warner - who was unceremoniously booted out of FIFA about a year before Blazer after their friendship was a thing of the past - has taken pride of place in the investigation. And, most tellingly of all, the highest-profile allegation leveled by the FBI so far involves Warner, Blazer and South Africa's successful 2004 bid to host the 2010 World Cup.

The problem revolves around a purported $10 million payment to Warner from the South African government. South Africa had initially described it as an "above-board payment" given to Warner in good faith to promote football in the Caribbean. Warner, now out on bail, with both his sons also cooperating with the FBI, has called the entire case a "witch hunt." Otherwise, however, he's said little in his defense, except for a video in which he seems to cite spoof newspaper "The Onion" as a legitimate source of information.

The US Justice Department, meanwhile, claims that Warner and Blazer split the money. Blazer's cooperation deal included a pledge to testify in the United States or anywhere else he's requested to take the stand. Always more talkative and sociable than your typical football suit, this might provide Blazer a fitting and fierce FIFA farewell.