It was a real life event – the bidding round for the 2018 soccer World Cup – which intrigued me.
Russia was a controversial choice to stage the World Cup because of alleged human rights abuses by the Russian government and the level of racism in Russian soccer. After a rival bid from England was unsuccessful, the governing body for English soccer alleged that there had been corruption in the bidding process by FIFA members and that the Russian bidding team had offered bribes. At one point, they threatened to boycott the World Cup. FIFA commissoned an investigation which absolved Russia of any wrongdoing but, in June 2015, the FBI confirmed that the US federal authorities were investigating the bidding and awarding processes for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
I was also fascinated by the increasingly volatile political landscape in the United Kingdom following the 2008 recession, the change of government and the impact of austerity, all of which may have contributed towards the decision to leave the European Union in 2016.
In creating “Rotten to the Core”, I used several real life events but I created several hypothetical scenarios. One was a bid to stage the Eurpoean Soccer Championships in 2016 by Scotland and Wales, and I used this to build a plot whereby it was used to undermine England’s bid to stage the World Cup. I also used it to showcase the growing tensions in British domestic politics between a UK governing party which never wanted devolution for Scotland and Wales in the first place and increasingly assertive devolved governments in Edinburgh and Cardiff.
Finally, any plot needs a bad guy. Many people will be surprised when I say it was not the Russians. There is good reason to suspect that they used less than scrupulous tactics to secure the right to host the 2018 World Cup – uncompromising ruthlessness in pursuing their national interest is in their psyche. However, one needs to understand recent history to understand what drove them. The one previous major sporting event they hosted (the 1980 Olympic Games) was marred by a boycott. The country suffered national humiliation following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The reason why President Putin has been popular is that he has restored Russia’s national pride and sent a message to the rest of the world that they are once again a great power. As has the hypothetical President Ivanov in “Rotten to the Core”. Hosting the World Cup would have been an opportunity to boost Russia’s prestige. In that respect, they are no different to other countries.
If anyone fits the bill as the villain, it is Francois Picard. He is self-important, self-serving and venal, enough to stitch up his own country’s bid to stage the 2016 European Soccer Championships, and then trying to undermine the successful hosts of Euro 2016 in order to get it back for France. He attempts to ruin the career of a French soccer hero for his own benefit and arranges for the murder of investigative journalists who are about to reveal his wrongdoing. When this finally catches up with him, he turns state evidence, and this sets the scene for his final come-uppance.