Andrew Jennings
Encyclopedia
Biography
Jennings was born in Scotland and as a child moved to London, England. He is the grandson of a former Clapton Orient player. Jennings worked for the Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
' Insight team in the late 1960s, after which he worked for other British newspapers before becoming an investigative reporter on BBC Radio Four's Checkpoint. In 1986 the BBC refused to broadcast his documentary concerning corruption in Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
; Jennings reacted by resigning and transforming the material into his first book, Scotland Yard's Cocaine Connection, and the documentary was aired by World In Action
World in Action
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...
.
Jennings subsequently worked for Granada
Granada Productions
Granada Productions was a British commercial television production and distribution company. The company took its name from the successful ITV franchise, Granada Television....
, filming several international investigations and small documentaries. His investigation of British involvement in the Iran-Contra affair
Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran–Contra affair , also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or Iran-Contra-Gate, was a political scandal in the United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials and President Reagan secretly facilitated the sale of...
won the gold medal at the 1989 New York TV Festival. In 1993 Jennings entered Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
with the first western TV crew ever to enter the country, to investigate Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
mafia activity. 1997 saw Jennings working with World In Action, with an investigation on British Olympic swimming coach Hamilton Bland, and in 1998 he presented a documentary on rail privatisation.
Panorama
His first appearance on PanoramaPanorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
, a current affairs documentary programme, came in 2006 (episode entitled "The Beautiful Bung: Corruption and the World Cup") when Jennings investigated several allegations of bribery within FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
, including million-dollar bribes to secure marketing rights for company ISL along with vote-buying (to secure the position of FIFA president Sepp Blatter
Sepp Blatter
Joseph S. Blatter , commonly known as Sepp Blatter, is a Swiss football administrator, who serves as the 8th and current President of FIFA . He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange. He was re-elected as President in 2002, 2007, and 2011...
), bribery and graft attributed to CONCACAF
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...
president Jack Warner.
It was followed up with an episode entitled "FIFA and Coe" exploring the relationship between former British Olympian Sebastian Coe and the FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
ethics committee.
The most prominent programme was "FIFA's Dirty Secrets" (first aired on 29 November 2010) which was a 30-minute exposé that investigates corruption allegations against some of the FIFA executive committee members who will vote on the host for the 2018 FIFA World Cup
2018 FIFA World Cup
The bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups was the process by which the locations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups were selected. The process began officially in March 2009; eleven bids from thirteen countries were received, including one which was withdrawn and one that was...
. Jennings alleged that Ricardo Teixeira
Ricardo Teixeira
Ricardo Terra Teixeira is the current president of the Brazilian Football Confederation since January 16, 1989. Teixeira has been chosen to remain on the presidency of CBF at least until the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be held in Brazil completing then over 25 years as head of the institution...
, President of Brazil's Football Federation (CBF) and of the 2014 World Cup Organising Committee, Nicolás Léoz
Nicolás Léoz
Nicolás Leoz Almirón is the current President of CONMEBOL . Leoz assumed the presidency in 1986 and in February 2006 he was reelected as President for the sixth time...
of Paraguay, President of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), and Issa Hayatou
Issa Hayatou
Issa Hayatou is the president of the Confederation of African Football , named in 1987. In 2002, he ran for president of FIFA but was defeated by current president Sepp Blatter...
from Cameroon, President of the Confederation of African Football
Confederation of African Football
The Confederation of African Football is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental, national, and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those...
(CAF) all accepted bribes from a television marketing firm.
Books
- Scotland Yard's Cocaine Connection, 1989 ISBN 978-0224025218
- The Lords of the Rings , Power, Money & Drugs in the Modern Olympics, 1992 ISBN 0-671-71122-9
- The New Lords of the Rings, 1996 ISBN 0-671-85571-9
- The Great Olympic Swindle, 2000 ISBN 978-0684866772
- FOUL! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-Rigging and Ticket Scandals, 2006
Awards
- Royal Television SocietyRoyal Television SocietyThe Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Award for his Channel 4 News investigation on Olympic corruption, 2000. - The first "Integrity in Journalism" award given by OATHOATHObject-oriented Abstract Type Hierarchy is a class library for C++ from Texas Instruments....
, 1999. - "Gerlev Prize" for "contribution to free speech and democracy in sport", 1998.
- Honorary Life Member of American Swimming Coaches Association, given for his investigative work regarding doping scandals and cover-ups in Olympic swimming.
- "Best International Documentary", New York TV Festival, 1992