OBITUARY: Andrew Jennings, journalist who exposed Olympic corruption dies at 78

Andrew Jennings, the British journalist who played a crucial role in the investigation that led to FIFA gate, died on Saturday at the age of 78 due to a sudden illness.

Jennings went down in history for his investigations and allegations of corruption in big sports corporations such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), among others.

"If you had to put a single name to the revolution in international sports debate of the last thirty years... that name would be Andrew Jennings," Jens Sejer Andersen, director of the Danish organization Play the Game, wrote on Sunday.

As a reporter for the BBC, the journalist who was born in Scotland and grew up in London investigated Juan Antonio Samaranch and the corrupt dealings of the IOC, which he exposed in his 1992 book The Lords of the Rings. That publication earned him a five-day prison sentence in Switzerland, although his reputation grew worldwide among colleagues and admirers.

FIFAgate

Later, his investigations focused on FIFA, uncovering the scandal that years later became known as FIFAgate, with more than a dozen soccer officials arrested for corruption.

Jennings agreed to exchange information with the FBI because he felt that, at last, someone in real power was listening to his long-standing allegations of corruption at FIFA.

If you had to put a single name to the revolution in international sports debate of the last thirty years... that name would be Andrew Jennings

In 2001, when Joseph Blatter was already president of the organization, Jennings asked him at a press conference if he had ever received any bribe.

The Swiss leader's denial was not long in coming, although the answer served him for other purposes. From then on, some sources gave him an inside account of how bribes were handled in connection with the selection of venues for major tournaments, advertising and television rights, and ticket sales.

"Let's go against those thieves," he harangued in his journalism workshops, always generous in sharing his research. In addition to books, Jennings also produced great documentaries. His works were the basis of the investigation carried out by the FBI that in 2015 uncovered the biggest scandal in the history of world soccer.

The journalist who anticipated the demolition of the FIFA empire knew almost nothing about soccer. His health began to deteriorate in recent years, to the good fortune of Gianni Infantino and the World Cup in Qatar.