FIFA officials arrested in Switzerland on corruption charges

[Grey Fox]

It will be weird to have the World Cup Final on December 18th, in 2022.

[Syt]

Blatter has said that the nations in the federations should be reflected in the number of members in the executive committee (meaning fewer Europeans in the body).

Germany's Niersbach has said that Germany will not boycott the World Cup. Any UEFA boycott is probably off the table. Figo called it a black day for football.

But it looks like FIFA will carry on with business as usual.

[Maladict]

Damn, I thought there was finally some momentum to bring the whole thing down. 

[Syt]

A few people will be thrown to the wolves, the rest will carry on as usual and wait till things die down.

There was another corruption scandal in 2010/11, before Blatter's last election, and who here remembers that? I didn't. From Wiki:

In November 2010, two Executive members, Reynald Temarii and Amos Adamu, were banned for one and three years respectively. Temarii was also fined 5,000 Swiss Francs, while Adamu was fined 10,000 Swiss Francs. Temarii had been found breaching FIFA's code of confidentiality in a sting by The Sunday Times, while in the same sting Amos Adamu was found to have tried to sell his vote for the host of the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups. The number of Exco members for the 2 December vote was thus reduced from 24 to 22, and the winning vote requirement from 13 to 12. FIFA, however, have not ruled out the possibility of replacing Adamu and Temarii.

On 25 May 2011, Exco member Chuck Blazer reported fellow members Mohammed bin Hammam and Jack Warner to FIFA's ethics committee claiming they offered bribes to members of the Caribbean Football Union at a meeting on 10/11 May. Bin Hammam involved Sepp Blatter in the scandal claiming he knew about the alleged cash payments. As a result of this scandal, bin Hammam stood down from the June 2011 presidential election and FIFA later suspended both he and Jack Warner. Sepp Blatter stood unopposed and won the election with 186 out of 203 votes.

On 31 May 2011, in an interview with German press, when asked about who he voted for to receive the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights FIFA senior vice-president Julio Grondona said, "Yes, I voted for Qatar, because a vote for the US would be like a vote for England, and that is not possible [...] But with the English bid I said: Let us be brief. If you give back the Falkland Islands, which belong to us, you will get my vote. They then became sad and left."

[Valmy]

Calling them the 'Falkland Islands' is pretty much conceding who they belong to isn't it?

[Admiral Yi]

A few people will be thrown to the wolves, the rest will carry on as usual and wait till things die down.

I think it might go further than that.

[Barrister]

A few people will be thrown to the wolves, the rest will carry on as usual and wait till things die down.

Well that's what FIFA hopes happens.  And if there are no further charges, that is all that will happen.

If there are more rounds of charges, on the other hand...

[Norgy]

A few people will be thrown to the wolves, the rest will carry on as usual and wait till things die down.

I think it might go further than that.

It's FIFA. The whole system is rigged. Unless national federations start leaving the whole body now, nothing will be done.
Thing is, too many people get a share of all the bungs and extortion fees for this to change unless you get some incorruptible people in. A sort of remake of the 1992 Italian "Clean Hands" campaign.

Football has always had problems with rigged matches and bungs being part and parcel of transfers of players. Gambling syndicates make money; players make money. Because of its enormous appeal, football will continue to attract smaller, pettier stuff like that. What's completely unacceptable is that the whole umbrella organisation for football worldwide is corrupt to the bone.

One of my dad's old drinking buddies was a Norwegian football icon. After he left Belgium, injured and with a track record of scoring 1/1 for each game, a lot of clubs were interested in him. He chose to sign for a Norwegian club that offered lots of money under the table (cash-in-hand), a token job, a flat and a car. That was mid-70s. Norwegian football was supposed to be purely amateur. Of course it wasn't.

[Admiral Yi]

I think it will go further not because FIFA will come to Jesus, but because I think they have evidence on too many people.  Blazer flipped and wore a wire to the meeting in Miami.

[Norgy]

I just hope Blatter's heart will give in from all the stress.

[Grey Fox]

But the USA is only doing this because it lost the 2022 WC to Bullshit. Outrage over corruption is purely a western thing, as this election has shown.

[alfred russel]

It's FIFA. The whole system is rigged. Unless national federations start leaving the whole body now, nothing will be done.

As shitty as FIFA is, I think it would be really unfortunate to have it fracture like that. A sport governed by a worldwide body that includes everything from kids leagues to national team is really cool. It touches on something Berkut said earlier--a FIFA official for some kids league in bumblefuck america has a link to the official of the world cup finals, and also a link to a FIFA official in some other kids league in bumblefuck South Africa.

[Norgy]

It's FIFA. The whole system is rigged. Unless national federations start leaving the whole body now, nothing will be done.

As shitty as FIFA is, I think it would be really unfortunate to have it fracture like that. A sport governed by a worldwide body that includes everything from kids leagues to national team is really cool. It touches on something Berkut said earlier--a FIFA official for some kids league in bumblefuck america has a link to the official of the world cup finals, and also a link to a FIFA official in some other kids league in bumblefuck South Africa.

In pre-WWII America, you had two competing national federations and national leagues in football/soccer. One was recognised by FIFA, one wasn't. Unfortunately, the stockmarket crash in 1929 made short work of professional football in the US. I wrote a short piece some time ago about Werner Nilsen, a Norwegian who made his name as a regular goalscorer for several East Coast clubs (and even made it into the 1930 World Cup squad). He had a second income as a fashion model for men's clothes. I think he ended his career in Ohio or Illinois.
Anyway...
I agree with you that fracturing is bad. On the other hand, this current situation is untenable.

The UEFA isn't that much better. It's cameraderie and an old boys' club. I think the Champions League and TV deals have ruined football in Europe and pulled up the ladder for 95 % of the clubs in Europe's professional leagues. With a system of relegations and promotions, the English Premier League's so-called parachute payments alone make it impossible for any club in the second tier to realistically challenge for promotion unless they have a rich owner. However - given the sudden burst of guilt for allowing money to be everything in football, something called Financial Fair Play has been introduced. What it does, is basically to limit the deficit clubs are allowed to run. Clubs can be fined or placed under transfer embargos if they do not comply. Of course, big money clubs have already given FFP the middle finger.

[alfred russel]

To avoid fracturing a certain amount of corruption has to be tolerated--that is just the way a lot of the world operates. But a line has to be drawn somewhere, and FIFA jumped the shark giving the World Cup to Qatar.

[Syt]

Blatter has said on Swiss TV that it's no accident that the US authorities made the investigations public shortly before the elections - after all, they were candidates for 2022 and lost. Besides, people shouldn't forget that the USA are the main sponsors of Jordan, home of his rival for the election.