FIFA officials arrested in Switzerland on corruption charges

[Norgy]

Maybe his brain's turning into porridge.
His speech was, uhm, strange.

[Syt]

Well, he also said that during the session of the executive committee today he will address the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and that "some will be quite surprised." At the moment I wouldn't be surprised if he cut down the number of UEFA teams to 4 to make room for more African/Asian/Caribbean teams.

[garbon]

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.

America is all about soccer!

[dps]

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

If it were just weird, that'd be OK.  But it's not just gonna be weird, it's gonna suck.  On many, many levels.

[Norgy]

I dislike FIFA's corruption. But I dislike Qatar's record of having one slave worker dying a day from building the infrastructure more. In a country that knows fuck all about football. And whose greatest achievement was participating in the 1984 Olympics with their team (and was trashed completely by even Norway). In a country completely unsuitable for playing football. Giving them the World Cup is the equivalent of handing out the Winter Olympics to Fiji.

You'd think that at some point even FIFA's inner circle knew when to stop. But, no. If there were space aliens with chests of coin offering a bung, the 2026 World Cup will be held at M'pmi7 in Alpha Centauri.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

You'd think that at some point even FIFA's inner circle knew when to stop. But, no. If there were space aliens with chests of coin offering a bung, the 2026 World Cup will be held at M'pmi7 in Alpha Centauri.

crap, the surprise has been spoiled

[Martinus]

I agree. This shit makes me mad. I wish there was some sort of real life Arrow turning these fuckers into pincushions

[Valmy]

America is all about soccer!

I know right? I mean we enjoy the World Cup and all but if FIFA banned us from ever participating again in international soccer we might care for a minute or so.

[Maladict]

Up to 18 European countries voted for Blatter, including France and Spain.
So much for a UEFA boycott.

[Syt]

Blatter claimed in an interview that Beckenbauer told of head off DFB Niersbach for his opposing Blatter. Beckenbauer and Niersbach deny that this happened.

[Duque de Bragança]

Up to 18 European countries voted for Blatter, including France and Spain.
So much for a UEFA boycott.

Yep, le Graët claimed that Blatter was the best choice, nothing proven against him, and France was awarded the 2019 female World Cup so it was bad manners to vote against him.
But then Le Graët said it was ok to have players' agents with a criminal record, since they were good guys "types bien".

[Syt]

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/in-russia-sincere-backlash-over-satire-article-on-us-invasion-of-fifa/522781.html

In Russia, Sincere Backlash Over Satire Article on 'U.S. Invasion of FIFA'

Popular American satirist Andy Borowitz appears to have fooled the Russian government's official newspaper into believing that U.S. senator John McCain has sincerely called for a military invasion of FIFA, football's governing body.

"We must make FIFA taste the vengeful might and fury of the United States military," Borowitz "quoted" McCain as having said. The latter then supposedly roared: "I will follow Sepp Blatter to the gates of hell," with reference to FIFA's scandal-mired, newly re-elected president.

Borowitz writes a regular satirical column for American magazine The New Yorker. He often spins current events into humorous and often bizarre tales of fiction meant purely for entertainment. 

In Thursday's edition, Borowitz wrote that McCain had called on the United States to resort to military action to "dismantle and destroy" FIFA, which has been entangled in a corruption scandal that flared up last week.

At the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, Swiss authorities launched an investigation last week into criminal mismanagement and money laundering among FIFA's top officials, some of whom were arrested.

Apparently failing to see the humor in the scenario, Russian state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta published an opinion piece saying that the statements attributed to McCain attested to the United States' blatant disrespect for international law.

Rossiiskaya Gazeta's reaction, penned by Vladislav Vorobyov, cited the same McCain "quotes" featured in Borowitz's piece, arguing that these statements demonstrated that the United States was ready to bomb "any place on the planet" and that American politicians had lost touch with reality.

"It would be interesting to see who he [McCain] would order to bomb if he had real power," Vorobyov wrote. "Football stadiums? The offices of football officials in prestigious quarters of European capitals? Would all balls be sent to secret CIA prisons?"

As of Sunday, Vorobyov's article was still available on Rossiiskaya Gazeta's website.

Last week, President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of meddling in FIFA's affairs and hinted that its corruption investigation was an attempt to prevent Russia from hosting the 2018 World Cup.

[celedhring]

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/in-russia-sincere-backlash-over-satire-article-on-us-invasion-of-fifa/522781.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/fifa/11642661/Fifa-crisis-Jack-Warner-cites-satirical-article-from-The-Onion-to-blast-US.html

Fifa crisis: Jack Warner cites satirical article from The Onion to blast US
Jack Warner, former Fifa vice president, falls for a spoof article by The Onion which suggests that the US would hold a summer World Cup this year

Former Fifa vice president Jack Warner has blasted the US saying charges against him and other Fifa officials are motivated by the Americans' desire to host the World Cup.
"All of this stems from a lost bid to host the 2022 World Cup," said Warner, who is one of nine Fifa officials indicted on corruption charges by Swiss and US authorities.
"They lost to Qatar, a small country, a Muslim country .... No country in the world have divine right to host the World Cup."
Warner's virulent but clumsy attack of the US came in an eight-minute Facebook video in which he cited an article from the satirical website The Onion.
In the video he holds up a copy of The Onion spoof headlined "Fifa Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup In United States."
The satirical story was published on Wednesday by The Onion.
The 72-year-old Warner surrendered to police in Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday but has maintained his innocence all week. He was released after paying $400,000 in bail.
He is a former Fifa vice president and president of CONCACAF, the governing body for the game in North and Central America and the Caribbean, as well as the Caribbean Football Union president.
Warner also questioned why the story appeared "two days before the Fifa election" when Sepp Blatter was re-elected as president.

"If I was so bad and if Fifa was so bad, how come the head of Fifa is not?" he asked referring to Blatter's election on Friday to a fifth term.
Blatter, who has been Fifa's head since 1998, was not charged in the indictment.
The next two World Cups will be hosted in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

[Liep]

Up to 18 European countries voted for Blatter, including France and Spain.
So much for a UEFA boycott.

It was foolish to allow ourselves hope that this might chance anything in FIFA.

[jimmy olsen]

A RICO investigation always gets the top man eventually. We'll see what happens when Blatter and few more VPs are charged.