FIFA corruption arrests

I so hope UEFA splits off from FIFA. It's the best leverage they have since Blatter can't really afford to have World Cups without European teams especially since one of them are the reigning champions.

Alas, Platini won't have the guts to go through with it, I'm afraid.

 

I don't dispute that. I backpacked around Europe in 1998 and got to experience what the World Cup meant to those countries and, by a happy coincidence, I happened to be in Nice, France the night of the final match between France and Brazil when France was the host country. They set up a huge screen in the middle of town and I sat on top of a bus shelter watching the game with tens of thousands of people. When France won it was the most electric atmosphere I've ever seen in my life people literally celebrated (except the one guy wearing a Brazilian flag who got in a fight with about 5 French guys) and car horns honked until well into the late morning the next day and I bought every newspaper I could to keep to remember the occasion even though I know about 30 words of French.

There were three incredibly gorgeous girls each one each in a red, white and blue dress and with a big French flag draped on their back with the corresponding color of the flag matched to the girl in that color dress. I got a quick shot of them from the top of the shelter and I tried like hell to get down quick enough to get a close up and pose with them, but since I was 10 ft up it took me a few seconds to get down and by that time they were lost in the crowd......still regret it to this day.

I have issues with France but I was thrilled they won it on that occasion and I got to be involved in something so amazing. I imagine when England won it in '66 the celebration was just as big.

It saddens me that the United States will never have such an event to celebrate because there is no national team that people care about like most countries do about their football team. Even if the US were to win the WC someday the celebrations would be tame by comparison. The closest thing we ever had was the "Miracle on Ice" in the 1980 Olympics and that was a combination of the fact it was in Lake Placid, it was our hated enemy and a bunch of 3rd and 4th tier US players beat one of the greatest hockey teams ever assembled. I doubt those circumstances will ever happen again.

But still when you see a country like Brazil spend such ridiculous sums on back to back events like the WC and Olympics, it shows how screwed up priorities can be.

People think of Rio and hot babes on the beach and Christ looking down over it all when they think of Brazil. The truth though is the country has so many social and economic problems that it's frightening. I read an article a few months ago about the top 20 most dangerous cities in the world and something like 12 of them were in Brazil alone!!!!! Even Medellin, Colombia which used to be a synonymous for the words "brutal murder" wasn't on the chart and has apparently seen huge drops in crime and increased standards of living.

I'm sure Brazil was thrilled when they won the right to host the cup, and some of them will never forget that thrill. I'm also sure though many Brazilians want to forget that cup ever happened because Germany kicked the living shit out of them in epic fashion on their home soil.

Obviously the World Cup and the Olympics aren't going away and some country will always be ready to pick up the tab. I just think when it's a country like Brazil that had to spend so much on getting ready, including building a stadium in the middle of the jungle where all the materials had to be brought inland by ship at extraordinary cost and a facility that will hardly, if ever, be used to close to capacity again, something is SERIOUSLY wrong.

Obviously the money they spent on the Olympics and WC wouldn't magically fix all their problems. I can't help but believe that, if it were put to good use though, that money could drastically change the lives of countless citizens for the better in a long term way.

Instead though they had 4 weeks of being in the spotlight, their usually dominant team get drilled like never before, very little positive economic impact on the country as a whole, and a whole bunch of expensive ass structures that won't be used again for the scale they were designed for and will probably fall into disrepair in short order.

Sometimes you have take off the rose colored glasses and look at it pragmatically and ask is the "experience" of hosting these events really worth it?

Was it worth it for a country with such issues to spend so much?

Is it worth it for all those men who have died in Qatar so they can host a cup in 120 degree heat where everyone playing and watching the game in person is probably going to be completely miserable for 90 minutes?

Well until I have a position to influence such things (read:never) I guess I'll just have to accept that's the way it is.

 

Bribery. Then Brunt is the man for the job as FIFA boss. He knows everything about corruption, bribery, sucking up to bosses and next to nothing about the sport. Brunt has currently no propper job.... Just my opinion.

 

No.

I wouldn't say they don't happen, or even (sadly) that theyre particularly uncommon, but they're not 'expected. They aren't everyday and normal. They aren't part and parcel of most business transactions and they aren't blatant.

 

Sorry but what? Have you not been paying attention to the economic events of the last eight years

Additionally, your assertion that bribery and corruption are commonplace and accepted in non European and North American society is profoundly racist. As though somehow, this only goes on in the uncivilised parts of the world

 

The last eight years shows is in part what my 'sadly, not particularly uncommon' referred to.

There are places where bribery and corruption are normalised. They tend not to be in North America and Europe, where such behaviour tends to be more clandestine.

I'm making sweeping generalisations and so am, of course, misrepresenting large swathes of people.

Racist ? Without identifying any races (Europeans / North Americans include representetives of every race on Earth), no.

Culturally biased ? Probably guilty.

 

Call me a cynic but I suspect the worst re: bribary and corruption, cash for questions, expense scandels etc... Doesn't mean I think it is widespread and rampant but being cynical about practices means means that should bribary and corruption be found to have happened I won't be dissapointed.

 

There is also allegations from Italians now that they were fixing WC matches (~2002).

 

Statement from Blatter :

http://retiredpublicsafety.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Bart_Simpson2a-198x300.png

 

It'll be interesting to see how the votes fall between Blatter and Ali in the presidential elections.

Ali might get most of UEFA, and some from CONCAF and OFC
Blatter might get most from AFC, CAF, some from CONCAF, SAF and OFC

Perhaps it's time someone re-used this quote

"You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately ... Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"

Apparently Blatter has said "You can’t ask everyone to behave ethically just like that."

Erm sure you can ask everyone to behave ethically just like that. Repeat after me "Everyone is to behave in an ethical manner"

See you've just asked, sure you can't expect everyone to behave in a ethical manner just like that but you can ask.

 

Blatter won...

I did not see that coming...

 

If Uefa simply elected to leave, FIFA would be fucked. We have all the money, power and prestige in the game and yet our votes are only worth the same as those countries that have been bought.

The prince of Jordan hardly comes from democratic, transparent stock so his candidacy was never a great alternative and Platini isn't much better than Blatter but something has to change so maybe Uefa pulling out is the only way (try and take conmebol with us)

The Yanks couldn't give a shit about football so I find it hard to believe (considering they've their own corrupt institutions to worry about) that they did this for truth, justice and the American way. They're obviously looking to rock the Russian 2018 boat (can't see any other explanation)

 

Whatever the "Yanks" motivations may be, at least America stepped up and did something to try and stop this cartel. The UK and all the other European football power brokers have just sat back and let this crap go on for decades while they had the power to stop it at anytime.

If the EPL, Bundesliga, Serial A, and La Liga got together and said. "Any player who plays in our league cannot participate in the World Cup until Herr Sepp is removed and FIFA is reformed to a level that we find acceptable." Watch how many heads would roll and how fast the door would smack Blatter in his fat ass on his way out the door.

I doubt players would pass up the opportunity to make millions in these leagues because their sense of national "pride" was so great they'd rather play in some piss ass third rate league so they could play a few games for their country every four years.

I'd rather see someone take action against a group like FIFA for ANY reason, no matter how politically of self serving it may be, rather than see people with the power to do something about just sit on their asses and doing their best impression of the hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil monkeys, which is what everyone else has basically done for decades. Way to look out for the best interests of the "Beautiful Game."

And yeah America has corrupt institutions up the ass, both in and out of sports. The last time I checked though Barack Obama wasn't begging California to vote to remain a member of the United States like I seem to recall a certain David Cameron doing with Scotland a few months ago because England has been pissing on them so badly for centuries.....Oh and the party that was most in favor of Scotland leaving just won big in elections, so it may become a reality anyway despite the referendum results.

I also seem to remember hearing the names Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland mentioned recently in terms of breaking major banking regulations and incurring huge fines.....So I'd say the UK isn't exactly as clean as a virgin's honeypot when it comes to corruption either.

Also at least our the vast majority of our major professional sports franchises are owned by Americans. What top EPL teams hav UK ownership? I know it isn't Arsenal (American), Chelsea (Russian), Liverpool (American), Manchester United (American) or Manchester City (UAE)......so what major clubs does that leave left? Everton? Spurs?......tell me the last time either of them seriously contended for the EPL or CL title or won the FA cup.

I'm no dyed in the wool, America kicks ass, screw the rest of the world type, in fact I'm rather fond of how out neighbor to the north (Canada) runs itself in comparison. The UK has enough of a glass house built around it though that I'd be careful about who you throw stones at.

 

You are quite correct - if UEFA withdrew from the Word Cup, it would be utterly worthless. Better still if all the non European players playing in the European leagues were denied release to play for their countries.

Imagine a World Cup without Italy, Holland, Spain, Germany, France, Portugal, England etc., plus many of the best African, Asian and South American players.

Whatever America's motives (and no nation acts without a measure of self interest), they've done us all a massive favour and acted decisively when all we did was agree with press expose after expose and mutter that someone really should put an end to all this corruption.

Personally, I'd like to see FIFA fold and a new world organisation set up, but we will probably have to make do with a cleaned up FIFA.

The most interesting thing in the coming months will be seeing if any of the accused have hard evidence on Blatter. They'll be looking at serious time, so someone will make a deal...

 

FIFA is not reformable, the corruption is systemic.

Without literally tearing it down and building a new association, issues will linger long after current officials are out.

 

This isn't a game of "who's got the most corrupt shit". I only mentioned America having its own corruption problems to highlight the oddnes of them investigating corruption elsewhere in the world (FIFA). What's their motivation? What do they gain from this. The respect and admiration of all seventeen sackher fans in America?

The point being that "only" European arrogance has the power to scare FIFA into making changes. Blatter keeps hold of the reigns because of votes from associations that have nothing to lose and everything to gain by his continued presidency. Europe has the game, the sponsors have the money.

Somehow, I don't see coca cola being the ones to lead the revolution

 

Weren't US banks used to deposit suspected bribary payments? If so then a part of the crime occured in area which the US has jurisdiction.