'The Onion' Strikes Again: Indicted Ex-FIFA Exec Quotes Satirical Article

By Krishnadev Calamur / NPR

Published June 1, 2015 at 4:53 AM PDT

This story was published more than 10 years ago.

Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner cites The Onion in his defense. Warner was one of 14 FIFA executives indicted last week on corruption charges.

In the latest case of public figures confusing The Onion for fact, we give you Jack Warner.

Warner, if you recall, is a former vice president of FIFA, soccer's governing body. He was one of 14 executives the U.S. indicted last week on corruption charges. In a video posted on YouTube, he rejected those charges and claimed they were part of a U.S. conspiracy against FIFA.

"If the FIFA is so bad, why is it the U.S.A. wants to keep the FIFA World Cup?" he asks in the video, referring to The Onion article headlined: "FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup In The United States: Global Soccer Tournament To Kick Off In America Later This Afternoon."

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We should note here that the video we've posted is unedited. The original video, posted on Warner's YouTube channel, was trimmed to remove his reference to The Onion, presumably after much online hilarity.

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