Sir Fynwy Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Some of the papers here in New York are saying the FBI will be going for Blatter directly next. The FBI often makes charges with huge sentences to get people to plea bargain and implicate people further up the organisation, will the guys who've been arrested really risk 20 years in jail to protect Sepp?
Jon the Hat Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Lets hope so. Blatter has been funding 175 Football associations in FIFA with the pot of money he makes from the major nations participating in the WC. Thos making the money have handed the keys over to those taking it. Fcuked.
Dan Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 I think if you put the suitability for hosting this tournament into a league table with every country in the world Qatar wouldn't even be in the top half. It's just disgraceful that they're anywhere near it. Not a jot of footballing heritage, conditions meaning the main leagues with the best players have to completely re-organise their schedule and worst of all, stuff like this. These FIFA scumbags aren't just stealing money but they're stealing lives as well. They're filthy creatures.
Dan Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Agree with Bilo. I'd seriously toy with the idea of going to USA or Australia for a World Cup. Think they'd both be far better hosts than Qatar, or even Russia.
ramboacdc Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Quite simply, UEFA are the only real beacon of hope for this sorry mess. If they don't make a robust stand then Blatter is in until he's dead. This is damaging, no doubt about that, but the blind faith at the top won't budge if they don't have to. This is an organisation and they're only answerable to the major people who fund FIFA. Sponsors. Some of the statements so far have been tepid; Visa's statement has been more robust today but I'd just expect Russian and Qatari corporations to fill the void vacated by any sponsor who left, so I'm not sure they'd make the impact overall. UEFA though, there's your answer. The continential assiciation which holds the best teams, the biggest names, the biggest clubs and the majority of the power. If UEFA state they won't partake in the next World Cup (minus Russia of course) then Blatter is doomed, because the other confederations know UEFA is needed to make a World Cup so successful. You can also guarantee if UEFA pulled out then USA and Australia would follow. It's time for confederations and individual nations to become the kingmakers in this, not just the sponsors. It's time for them to rectify the stupid belief they had in Blatter and this organisation all along. If UEFA don't come out with a stance that is strong, radical and game changing (i.e pull out of the World Cup 2018 altogether, not just postpone the election) then I honestly believe the only way we'll see Blatter no longer president of FIFA is when he's in a coffin. And of course it's worth noting that if Blatter had stuck by his word in 2011 and not stood for president this time his cushy corrupt mates (seeing as he's somehow managed to keep his hands clean) would probably have got away with this.What a greedy idiot. FIFA needs to be ripped apart. The old rotund men in charge need throwing out from every federation in the World, including Dyke. Bring in ex-players with a brain, successful people from the business sector, combine the football knowledge and business talents to create a strong, stable and corrupt free FIFA. Ensure the 18 and 22 World Cups are re-run fairly, make sure they're awarded to the DESERVING winner and for god sake never let anything like this happen ever again. (and wake up Footballwipe, wake up ) i agree with what you say about UEFA having to be the beacon here. doesn't bode well for the english still however with platini in charge. the french and the germans will be happy though.
lgfualol Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Colombia had the world cup taken away from them 3 years before they hosted it so it could happen to Qatar. I can't believe how the sponsors, governments, etc have turned a blind eye on over one thousand people dying building stadiums, and treated like slaves. It makes me feel deeply ill. There are just so many things wrong with giving it to Qatar you could talk about it for hours.
Guest MattP Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 I don't think all the problems are going to be solved with Blatter just going mind, the whole organisation is corrupt to the core, we also shouldn't throw stones as we have in a way participated in this, Greg Dyke took his watch before returning it months later, anyone also remember us dragging ourselves to Trinidad and Japan for a friendly? We weren't doing that for the good of the team or the FA, we were doing it to bribe them to vote for us. Agree with Bilo. I'd seriously toy with the idea of going to USA or Australia for a World Cup. Think they'd both be far better hosts than Qatar, or even Russia. Australia is great, it's just you need a bank loan to go I remember landing at Sydney airport and when waiting to transfer to Melbourne ordering a pint, holding $10 and the barman saying you'll need more than that, remember paying $18 (which I think was about £10.50 at the time) for a bottle of Kopparberg.
lgfualol Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 What's the betting Blatter will get caught and avoid jail by "being too ill".
stripeyfox Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Colombia had the world cup taken away from them 3 years before they hosted it so it could happen to Qatar. I can't believe how the sponsors, governments, etc have turned a blind eye on over one thousand people dying building stadiums, and treated like slaves. It makes me feel deeply ill. There are just so many things wrong with giving it to Qatar you could talk about it for hours. The difference in that situation is that Colombia told FIFA in 1982 that they couldn't afford it. So FIFA re ran the host selection and awarded it to Mexico instead. But I agree with the general point. There are dozens of countries who are better suited to host the tournament tomorrow without wasting billions and killing hundreds building stadiums.
AyewJoking Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Might get shot down for this but I'm starting to think FIFA may actually be corrupt.
Larry_LCFC Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Britain: Rich football heritage, Home to one of the biggest leagues in the world, Stadiums ready to roll, Great infrastructure. Qatar: Money. That's what it boils down to, dirty money. It is an absolute disgrace Qatar are hosting it. Not one logical, justifiable decision behind it other than bribes. FIFA disgust me.
stripeyfox Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Britain: Rich football heritage, Home to one of the biggest leagues in the world, Stadiums ready to roll, Great infrastructure. Qatar: Money. That's what it boils down to, dirty money. It is an absolute disgrace Qatar are hosting it. Not one logical, justifiable decision behind it other than bribes. FIFA disgust me. Good point, although it should be remembered we didn't bid for 2022. Australia, Japan, South Korea and USA were the bids that lost out to Qatar - all of which would be more suitable than Qatar of course.
Bugg Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Britain: Rich football heritage, Home to one of the biggest leagues in the world, Stadiums ready to roll, Great infrastructure. Qatar: Money. That's what it boils down to, dirty money. It is an absolute disgrace Qatar are hosting it. Not one logical, justifiable decision behind it other than bribes. FIFA disgust me. Whilst I agree with what you're saying, we were never in the running for the 2022 World Cup. However Australia was one of the other bids for 2022 and that would have been a much better tournament than this shower of shit is going to be. Edit - damn it stripeyfox
Larry_LCFC Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 It was more a general point than specifically referring to 2022. A place like Britain cant manage to make a successful bid to host a world cup, and yet Qatar can. Anywhere would have been more suitable for 2022 than Qatar. I could host a better world cup in my back garden (sort of).
foxes_rule1978 Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Blatter is almost like a mob boss... need him to just get out now
foxes_rule1978 Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 What's the betting Blatter will get caught and avoid jail by "being too ill". As long as he is out of FIFA I don't care, of course he knows what is going on... he has turned FIFA into one of the most corrupt organisations , and they are just one big joke
stripeyfox Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 It was more a general point than specifically referring to 2022. A place like Britain cant manage to make a successful bid to host a world cup, and yet Qatar can. Anywhere would have been more suitable for 2022 than Qatar. I could host a better world cup in my back garden (sort of). I agree England Germany France Spain Italy Brazil USA Australia South Africa Japan South Korea Could host a World Cup at a few years notice max – that’s enough to keep going for nearly half a century. There are probably lots of other “joint” bids which could play host too. As you say, Qatar is the worst example of corruption winning the bid. There are zero redeeming reasons why it should be host.
foxes_rule1978 Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 I agree England Germany France Spain Italy Brazil USA Australia South Africa Japan South Korea Could host a World Cup at a few years notice max – that’s enough to keep going for nearly half a century. There are probably lots of other “joint” bids which could play host too. As you say, Qatar is the worst example of corruption winning the bid. There are zero redeeming reasons why it should be host. This is true, in fact in Britain we could host the Word Cup within less than a few months notice, stadiums are already in place and massive work was done for the Olympics in 2012...
Dan Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 England made a bit of a cock up of our bid but Russia was the worst choice of the four by a mile. Both should be re-done. No sympathy for Russia if they've already got their grounds in place. They've only got it due to money anyway.
Dan Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Good point, although it should be remembered we didn't bid for 2022. Australia, Japan, South Korea and USA were the bids that lost out to Qatar - all of which would be more suitable than Qatar of course. Even those four absolutely crucify Qatar as a potential host. Utterly laughable.
davieG Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Loretta Lynch: The woman who took on Fifa 2 hours ago From the sectionEurope US Attorney General Loretta Lynch vowed to "root out misconduct" in world football Fifa in crisis Chuck Blazer: Fifa 'supergrass' Fifa scandal 'a disaster' for sponsors Fifa corruption claims: Key questions answered Why the Americans took on Fifa As the dust began to settle on Wednesday's blockbuster indictments against nine Fifa officials and five corporate executives, one person emerged as the face of a long and complicated criminal investigation. And when the time came to announce the charges, Loretta Lynch did not mince her words. The United States attorney general said officials at football's world governing body had engaged in "rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted" corruption. After just a month in the job, Ms Lynch had landed an enormous punch. Suddenly her face was on TV screens and newspaper pages around the world. The Department of Justice would, she vowed, "root out misconduct" and "bring wrongdoers to justice". It was an extraordinary statement of intent from a woman whose nomination as attorney general had been frustrated for nearly six months as Republican senators blocked her appointment. And it was the payoff for an investigation she had spearheaded for years. Dreams of Harvard Born in 1959 in North Carolina, with the odds stacked against her, Ms Lynch harboured a dream of graduating from Harvard. "As a child she was very inquisitive," her father Lorenzo told the BBC earlier this month. "She asked questions of everybody and about everything." Her dream became a reality in 1981 when she earned a first class degree in English literature, before switching to law. She joined New York law firm Cahill Gordon and Reindel in the mid-1980s and was appointed as a prosecutor for the city's Eastern District in 1990. Nine years years later, she was US attorney for the district. It was in Ms Lynch's first year as district attorney that she caught her first really high-profile case. Abner Louima, a Haitian, was beaten and sexually assaulted by police officers. Amid a storm of public outrage, she prosecuted the officers involved, one of whom was sentenced to 30 years in prison. On one day, she had to be escorted out of the courtroom by US marshals for her own safety. Ms Lynch left the US Attorney's office in 2001 to become a partner at Hogan and Hartson law firm, where she remained until 2010 when President Barack Obama nominated her to return to her previous job as US attorney for New York's Eastern District. Then in November 2014, Mr Obama nominated her for US attorney general. "If there's an American dream story, Loretta Lynch is it," said Democrat senator Chuck Schumer at the time. Taking on Fifa In was in her role as district attorney that her involvement in the Fifa investigation began. Over the course of five years in Brooklyn - during which she weathered criticism for striking a deal with HSBC that spared the bank from criminal charges over money laundering - a case against the football officials was pieced together. "We always knew it was going to be a very large case," Ms Lynch told the New York Times. Veins in the network of Fifa corruption alleged by Ms Lynch ran through meeting rooms in the Eastern District and through banking systems across the country, the Department of Justice said. Working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Ms Lynch used those connections to the US to bring Wednesday's long-awaited indictments. After years of investigating, she stood up at a press conference in New York on Wednesday and boldly accused Fifa officials of "abusing their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks". It was an extraordinary blow against an organisation that is alleged to have got away with bribery and corruption for more than two decades. "The pantheon of world soccer has a new hero," said Politico's Tunku Varadarajan. "To the names of Pele, Maradona, Cruyff and Messi, add another: Loretta Lynch. The US attorney general, confirmed by the Senate just three weeks ago by the most un-soccer-like score of 56-43, is destined to go down as the most consequential woman in the history of the game." Football fans around the world "should salute her", said BBC sports correspondent Matt Slater.
davieG Posted 28 May 2015 Posted 28 May 2015 Chuck Blazer: Fifa 'supergrass' 2 hours ago From the sectionUS and Canada Blazer was reportedly confronted by FBI agents in 2011 and reportedly agreed to inform on his colleagues Fifa in crisis The woman who took on Fifa Fifa scandal 'a disaster' for sponsors Fifa corruption claims: Key questions answered Why the Americans took on Fifa Of all the stories emerging from the corruption scandal now engulfing Fifa, one of the most spectacular must be that of Chuck Blazer, a member of Fifa's executive committee until 2013 and now reportedly the source of some of the information allegedly implicating a host of other Fifa grandees. For a man whose career has come to epitomise the allegations of sleaze in which football's world governing body now finds itself mired, it may be surprising - or perhaps fitting - that Blazer never actually played the sport himself. "Chuck is extraordinarily knowledgeable about soccer, but I never detected in him any real passion for the sport," Doug Logan, another prominent figure in the development of football in the US in the 1990s, toldBuzzfeed in this extensive piece. "He's what I'd affectionately call a suit." His involvement with football began when he coached his son's team in the town of New Rochelle, New York state, in the 1970s. Blazer's skills as a salesman and his knowledge of the business side of football saw him rise through regional football organisations, and then on to the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf). Blazer earned the nickname "Mr Ten Percent" because of the lucrative contract he had with Concacaf There he teamed up with Trinidadian football administrator Jack Warner to engineer Mr Warner's election as president of Concacaf in 1990. The two moved Concacaf's headquarters from Guatemala City to the US; it was at this time that Blazer signed a contract with Concacaf that entitled him to 10% commissions on all sponsorship and TV rights deals through his company Sportvertising, giving rise to his nickname of "Mr Ten Percent". From 1996 to 2013 he was on Fifa's Executive Committee. Blazer was not shy about publicising the lifestyle he enjoyed while at Fifa's upper echelons. A blog recording his travels documented, amongst other things, his meetings with world leaders and Miss Universe 2011, watching the 2012 Super Bowl in a special suite and his enthusiasm for fancy dress. He was also rumoured to have kept an apartment just for his cats in New York's famous Trump Tower skyscraper, as well as one for himself that Mr Warner accused him of paying for with Concacaf funds. But his lavish lifestyle began to unravel when it came to light that US investigators were probing confidential payments to offshore accounts operated by Blazer. According to a report on the investigation by the New York Daily News, in November 2011 Blazer was stopped while making his way to a pricey Manhattan restaurant in a mobility scooter by federal agents who had been tracking tax evasion. "We can take you away in handcuffs now - or you can co-operate," one of the agents allegedly told Blazer. He is then said to have agreed to record his colleagues using a microphone hidden in a keychain. The US Department of Justice says Blazer, now 70 and reportedly suffering from colon cancer, has pleaded guilty to counts of racketeering, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering, income tax evasion and a failure to file a report of foreign bank accounts. Blazer forfeited more than $1.9m (£1.2m) at the time of his plea and has agreed to pay a second amount to be determined at the time of sentencing.
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