http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32895048
:cool:
And in the US.
Probably the best news of the day.
Can you clarify why you prefer the US?
From Twitter:
QuoteBREAKING: Swiss Police confirm that, when arrested, all seven FIFA officials threw themselves on the ground and pretended to be injured.
:lol:
Quote from: frunk on May 27, 2015, 11:51:14 AM
From Twitter:
QuoteBREAKING: Swiss Police confirm that, when arrested, all seven FIFA officials threw themselves on the ground and pretended to be injured.
:lol:
CNN is reporting that the US dude (Glazier) wore a wire.
USA! USA!
Quote from: frunk on May 27, 2015, 11:51:14 AM
From Twitter:
QuoteBREAKING: Swiss Police confirm that, when arrested, all seven FIFA officials threw themselves on the ground and pretended to be injured.
:lmfao:
And the arch-villain Blatter is not indicted? What the fuck?
I hope they hit FIFA hard with the full power of the US judiciary.
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 12:52:36 PM
And the arch-villain Blatter is not indicted? What the fuck?
My guess is they have evidence on everyone, but not everyone has a US connection that gives the US jurisdiction.
How is jurisdiction decided anyway? Is your jurisdiction basically what you claim it is while still getting other countries to honor in your extradition requests?
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 12:52:36 PM
And the arch-villain Blatter is not indicted? What the fuck?
I hope they hit FIFA hard with the full power of the US judiciary.
Hopefully the Swiss investigation will catch him, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Quote from: DGuller on May 27, 2015, 12:58:29 PM
How is jurisdiction decided anyway? Is your jurisdiction basically what you claim it is while still getting other countries to honor in your extradition requests?
The Wolfman mentioned things like owning property in the US, having a bank account.
Quote from: DGuller on May 27, 2015, 12:58:29 PM
How is jurisdiction decided anyway? Is your jurisdiction basically what you claim it is while still getting other countries to honor in your extradition requests?
I bet every country has its own rules for each particular area of law when to claim jurisdiction. Here is Germany's claim for jurisdiction for criminal offences for example:
QuoteSection 3 - Offences committed on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany
German criminal law shall apply to acts committed on German territory.
Section 4 - Offences committed on German ships and aircraft
German criminal law shall apply, regardless of the law applicable in the locality where the act was committed, to acts committed on a ship or an aircraft entitled to fly the federal flag or the national insignia of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Section 5 - Offences committed abroad against domestic legal interests
German criminal law shall apply, regardless of the law applicable in the locality where the act was committed, to the following acts committed abroad:
1. preparation of a war of aggression (section 80);
2. high treason against the Federation (Sections 81 to 83);
3. endangering the democratic state under the rule of law
[list of 15 particular crimes]
Section 6 - Offences committed abroad against internationally protected legal interests
German criminal law shall further apply, regardless of the law of the locality where they are committed, to the following offences committed abroad:
2. offences involving nuclear energy, explosives and radiation under section 307 and section 308(1) to (4), section 309(2) and section 310;
3. attacks on air and maritime traffic (section 316c);
4. human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, for the purpose of work exploitation and assisting human trafficking (Sections 232 to 233a);
[etc.]
Section 7 - Offences committed abroad—other cases
(1) German criminal law shall apply to offences committed abroad against a German, if the act is a criminal offence at the locality of its commission or if that locality is not subject to any criminal jurisdiction.
(2) German criminal law shall apply to other offences committed abroad if the act is a criminal offence at the locality of its commission or if that locality is not subject to any criminal law jurisdiction, and if the offender:
1. was German at the time of the offence or became German after the commission; or
2. was a foreigner at the time of the offence, is discovered in Germany and, although the Extradition Act would permit extradition for such an offence, is not extradited because a request for extradition within a reasonable period of time is not made, is rejected, or the extradition is not feasible.
http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#p0009[/list]
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 12:52:36 PM
And the arch-villain Blatter is not indicted? What the fuck?
I hope they hit FIFA hard with the full power of the US judiciary.
The little fishes will give him up in order to save their own skins. No honor among thieves.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 27, 2015, 01:04:11 PM
Quote from: DGuller on May 27, 2015, 12:58:29 PM
How is jurisdiction decided anyway? Is your jurisdiction basically what you claim it is while still getting other countries to honor in your extradition requests?
The Wolfman mentioned things like owning property in the US, having a bank account.
Also, the issue blew up because the IRS found the evidences through Chuck Blazer's tax returns. It went through US bank accounts and apparently at least part of the bribing decissions were taken in US soil (CONCACAF's HQ is in Miami).
Apparently Swiss authorities have forbidden FIFA's Swiss employees (including Blatter) from leaving the country until further notice. :ph34r:
The Templars are no more!
A bunch of thieves. It is about time to make the organisation more accountable.
So how are these clowns chosen?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 27, 2015, 02:13:46 PM
The Templars are no more!
Does this mean Obama and the Pope will be dead within a year and the US will be hit with a hundred years of war and plague? Might want to sell your stocks.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 27, 2015, 02:40:16 PM
So how are these clowns chosen?
By a vote, one from each country. :hmm:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 27, 2015, 02:40:16 PM
So how are these clowns chosen?
I'm assuming it requires some sort of accreditation. You know, from a college. For clowns.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 27, 2015, 02:40:16 PM
So how are these clowns chosen?
The bozos in national federations pick a lesser clown to represent them. These lesser clowns then assemble on a continent scale and pick which of the lesser clowns should become one of the clown-gnomes of Zurich...
By the way, this is the James Bond villainesque boardroom of FIFA ... it's just too fitting.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fl.yimg.com%2Fos%2Fpublish-images%2Fsports%2F2014-04-23%2Ff43c2160-cb15-11e3-b193-f1844d10ad86_15_FIFA_I_Exekutive-komitee_1792.jpg&hash=83b61d6a359269afc4263de775303c1bf9bca6c7)
So, I guess this means that the US will never qualify for the World Cup again.
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 03:45:55 PM
The bozos in national federations pick a lesser clown to represent them.
Who picks the bozos? Who is the unmoved mover?
It's decided in the coke-filled room.
Quote from: dps on May 27, 2015, 03:51:41 PM
So, I guess this means that the US will never qualify for the World Cup again.
:lol:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 27, 2015, 03:52:45 PM
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 03:45:55 PM
The bozos in national federations pick a lesser clown to represent them.
Who picks the bozos? Who is the unmoved mover?
It's pretty complicated; mainly clubs, footballers, referees, etc... elect their representatives to the national FA; and those elect the president. In the case of Spain, our current president is an expert puppet master that's been able to swindle his way to 7 consecutive terms. Ultimately, a Football Association has access to shedloads of money, and you only need to distribute it astutely to get yourself enough votes.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 27, 2015, 03:52:45 PM
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 03:45:55 PM
The bozos in national federations pick a lesser clown to represent them.
Who picks the bozos? Who is the unmoved mover?
There is typically a few more levels of kooks, crackpots, morons and goofs until you reach the grassroots level of football where normal amateurs play their game.
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 12:52:36 PM
And the arch-villain Blatter is not indicted? What the fuck?
He paid a sufficiently large bribe?
Is corruption so endemic within FIFA that it will be necessary to destroy it in order to save it?
I don't see how world sporting organizations can be not corrupt. One country, one vote sounds egalitarian, but in reality most of the countries are highly corrupt. FIFA, Olympics, FIA, all of them are corrupt to the core cesspools.
Quote from: DGuller on May 27, 2015, 12:58:29 PM
How is jurisdiction decided anyway?
Border+bomber range.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 27, 2015, 02:40:16 PM
So how are these clowns chosen?
Believe it or not, HK gets our own FIFA representative that is separate from China's. I think each of the FIFA jurisdictions decides its own rules in electing the representative. In HK, the club owners get together and elect a representative. Because the HK soccer league is a big money sink, the club owners consider their clubs a charity operation. They are willing to endure the financial losses so long as the operation allows them to get famous and/or the business/political connections. So the club owners tend to be shady businessmen. The FIFA representative is a second generation business tycoon in HK with close links to the mainland and he has occupied the post for many decades. He is considered incorruptible however because he is insanely rich and there is no incentive for him to take bribes. Sorta like putting Bill Gates in charge of an NGO.
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 12:52:36 PM
And the arch-villain Blatter is not indicted? What the fuck?
I hope they hit FIFA hard with the full power of the US judiciary.
I would imagine everyone will flip on Blatter, and he'll be given the death penalty.
Quote from: DGuller on May 27, 2015, 12:58:29 PM
How is jurisdiction decided anyway? Is your jurisdiction basically what you claim it is while still getting other countries to honor in your extradition requests?
I gotta find a source for this, but I remember hearing a couple months ago that as long as US dollars are used in financial crimes, they can claim jurisdiction, which is a large part of the appeal of the developing Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Quote from: Neil on May 27, 2015, 09:35:19 PM
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 12:52:36 PM
And the arch-villain Blatter is not indicted? What the fuck?
I hope they hit FIFA hard with the full power of the US judiciary.
I would imagine everyone will flip on Blatter, and he'll be given the death penalty.
He would actually deserve it. Thousands are dead in the desert because of him.
Quote from: Razgovory on May 27, 2015, 05:04:51 PM
Quote from: DGuller on May 27, 2015, 12:58:29 PM
How is jurisdiction decided anyway?
Border+bomber range.
The king's writ runs only so far as the king's rifles?
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 27, 2015, 09:36:07 PM
Quote from: Neil on May 27, 2015, 09:35:19 PM
Quote from: Zanza on May 27, 2015, 12:52:36 PM
And the arch-villain Blatter is not indicted? What the fuck?
I hope they hit FIFA hard with the full power of the US judiciary.
I would imagine everyone will flip on Blatter, and he'll be given the death penalty.
He would actually deserve it. Thousands are dead in the desert because of him.
He wouldn't be the first Swiss to benefit from using slave labour.
I'm torn between wanting to see Qatar host the world cup just for the "wtf" value and wanting to see how big the bribes had to get in order to choose Qatar as the host.
I guess both are technically possible.
Quote from: Monoriu on May 27, 2015, 09:22:26 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 27, 2015, 02:40:16 PM
So how are these clowns chosen?
Believe it or not, HK gets our own FIFA representative that is separate from China's. I think each of the FIFA jurisdictions decides its own rules in electing the representative. In HK, the club owners get together and elect a representative. Because the HK soccer league is a big money sink, the club owners consider their clubs a charity operation. They are willing to endure the financial losses so long as the operation allows them to get famous and/or the business/political connections. So the club owners tend to be shady businessmen. The FIFA representative is a second generation business tycoon in HK with close links to the mainland and he has occupied the post for many decades. He is considered incorruptible however because he is insanely rich and there is no incentive for him to take bribes. Sorta like putting Bill Gates in charge of an NGO.
Incorruptible? I guess that means no World Cup for Hong Kong then.
The World Cup in Hong Kong? They would have to rip down the entire city just to make room.
Zeit.de has an article with all reasons in favor of keeping Sepp Blatter as head of FIFA (from May 2014(!):
http://www.zeit.de/sport/2014-05/sepp-blatter-fifa-korruption
QuoteEverything in favor of Sepp Blatter.
Originally he threatened to retire. Now he decided to run again for the office of FIFA President. We list all the reasons why this is good - for football and the world:
Quote from: Valmy on May 28, 2015, 07:53:22 AM
The World Cup in Hong Kong? They would have to rip down the entire city just to make room.
Joint bid with Macau. :D
Quote from: Valmy on May 28, 2015, 07:53:22 AM
The World Cup in Hong Kong? They would have to rip down the entire city just to make room.
Yeah, but think of all the economic activity that would be generated.
Here is what I don't understand about FIFA: why are European and South American associations, the ones that actually play football, going along with an organization that relies on bribing Asian and African countries to govern? Can't UEFA and CONMEBOL (tee-hee) band together and start an organization that doesn't give the same number of votes to Afghanistan as it does to Germany? Yes, Asian and African countries may balk, but then they can stick with FIFA and see if anyone cares when Chad plays Nepal in the World Cup finals.
Rumors say that if Blatter is re-elected, UEFA members consider withdrawing from FIFA tournaments.
Quote from: DGuller on May 28, 2015, 09:51:14 AM
Here is what I don't understand about FIFA: why are European and South American associations, the ones that actually play football, going along with an organization that relies on bribing Asian and African countries to govern? Can't UEFA and CONMEBOL (tee-hee) band together and start an organization that doesn't give the same number of votes to Afghanistan as it does to Germany? Yes, Asian and African countries may balk, but then they can stick with FIFA and see if anyone cares when Chad plays Nepal in the World Cup finals.
I think you are demonstrating two incorrect assumptions. FIFA is taking bribes to award hosting rights, not handing them out. 2nd, Europe and Latin America are not exactly bastions of opposition to corruption.
Agree with Guller.
Hell with World Cups, which FIFA would own the name to.
UEFA winner v. Copa America winner for title of Champion of the World
Blatter's April tweet on (now arrested) Jeffrey Webb's re-election:
QuoteCongratulations to @jeffreywebb for his re-election as @CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice-President! This shows the trust in his leadership.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 28, 2015, 09:57:15 AM
Quote from: DGuller on May 28, 2015, 09:51:14 AM
Here is what I don't understand about FIFA: why are European and South American associations, the ones that actually play football, going along with an organization that relies on bribing Asian and African countries to govern? Can't UEFA and CONMEBOL (tee-hee) band together and start an organization that doesn't give the same number of votes to Afghanistan as it does to Germany? Yes, Asian and African countries may balk, but then they can stick with FIFA and see if anyone cares when Chad plays Nepal in the World Cup finals.
I think you are demonstrating two incorrect assumptions. FIFA is taking bribes to award hosting rights, not handing them out. 2nd, Europe and Latin America are not exactly bastions of opposition to corruption.
Show me a major international sports body that's not corrupt and I'll show you a sport that's making so little money that corruption isn't worth it. (And the national organizations are often not better.)
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 28, 2015, 09:57:15 AM
Quote from: DGuller on May 28, 2015, 09:51:14 AM
Here is what I don't understand about FIFA: why are European and South American associations, the ones that actually play football, going along with an organization that relies on bribing Asian and African countries to govern? Can't UEFA and CONMEBOL (tee-hee) band together and start an organization that doesn't give the same number of votes to Afghanistan as it does to Germany? Yes, Asian and African countries may balk, but then they can stick with FIFA and see if anyone cares when Chad plays Nepal in the World Cup finals.
I think you are demonstrating two incorrect assumptions. FIFA is taking bribes to award hosting rights, not handing them out. 2nd, Europe and Latin America are not exactly bastions of opposition to corruption.
Bribing goes two ways. How is FIFA leadership getting elected in the first place? That's right, by getting Afghanistan, Chad, and Nepal to vote for them. I'm sure they have nothing but football interests at heart.
As for resistance to corruption, sure, almost everyone is corrupt to some extent. But at least Europe is less corrupt than any other continent, and they actually have some interest in the sport, which may put pressure on decisions to not be 100% based on bribes.
You think Europe is less corrupt than North America?
Quote from: DGuller on May 28, 2015, 10:06:02 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 28, 2015, 09:57:15 AM
Quote from: DGuller on May 28, 2015, 09:51:14 AM
Here is what I don't understand about FIFA: why are European and South American associations, the ones that actually play football, going along with an organization that relies on bribing Asian and African countries to govern? Can't UEFA and CONMEBOL (tee-hee) band together and start an organization that doesn't give the same number of votes to Afghanistan as it does to Germany? Yes, Asian and African countries may balk, but then they can stick with FIFA and see if anyone cares when Chad plays Nepal in the World Cup finals.
I think you are demonstrating two incorrect assumptions. FIFA is taking bribes to award hosting rights, not handing them out. 2nd, Europe and Latin America are not exactly bastions of opposition to corruption.
Bribing goes two ways. How is FIFA leadership getting elected in the first place? That's right, by getting Afghanistan, Chad, and Nepal to vote for them. I'm sure they have nothing but football interests at heart.
Blatter is pretty open with giving gifts. After the last World Cup, each FA got 2,000,000 or thereabouts, IIRC. Peanuts for the FA or the DFB, but huge sums for small island nations or many African states.
Don't get hung up too much onto the technicalities of jurisdiction DG.
US law enforcement reach is like a public sector version of Ricardian competitive advantage in action - the US Attorneys and the DOJ are just better and more experienced at dealing with this kind of sprawling corruption and fraud than most other national authorities. Since there isn't an international body to handle this sort of thing, the US DOJ naturally fills the gap.
This often creates annoyances overseas but in this particular instance, no one seems too concerned about US overreach here; instead the view seems to be relief that someone somewhere is willing to take the shovel into the Augean stables of FIFA.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 28, 2015, 10:08:20 AM
You think Europe is less corrupt than North America?
The northern part of it, yes. The Mediterranean part of it, not so much.
The whole rotten structure needs to be torn down. Won't happen though.
Blatter in his opening speech: these are the deeds of a few individuals; we can't allow the reputation of football to be dragged into the dirt by these people; only a small minority in all of football are corrupt etc. etc.
Quote from: Syt on May 28, 2015, 10:24:04 AM
Blatter in his opening speech: these are the deeds of a few individuals; we can't allow the reputation of football to be dragged into the dirt by these people; only a small minority in all of football are corrupt etc. etc.
Well he has a point. The vast majority of people involved in the sport are not corrupt. It is just the small minority who run FIFA that are of concern.
Quote from: crazy canuck on May 28, 2015, 10:25:29 AM
Quote from: Syt on May 28, 2015, 10:24:04 AM
Blatter in his opening speech: these are the deeds of a few individuals; we can't allow the reputation of football to be dragged into the dirt by these people; only a small minority in all of football are corrupt etc. etc.
Well he has a point. The vast majority of people involved in the sport are not corrupt. It is just the small minority who run FIFA that are of concern.
He is uniquely positioned to comment on just how many people in FIFA are corrupt.
Quote from: Berkut on May 28, 2015, 10:56:35 AM
Quote from: crazy canuck on May 28, 2015, 10:25:29 AM
Quote from: Syt on May 28, 2015, 10:24:04 AM
Blatter in his opening speech: these are the deeds of a few individuals; we can't allow the reputation of football to be dragged into the dirt by these people; only a small minority in all of football are corrupt etc. etc.
Well he has a point. The vast majority of people involved in the sport are not corrupt. It is just the small minority who run FIFA that are of concern.
He is uniquely positioned to comment on just how many people in FIFA are corrupt.
:lol:
It's smart to try to spin it as an attack on futbol itself instead of the organization.
Is anyone aware of any internet chatter *defending* FIFA? Besides Putin that is.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 28, 2015, 11:01:30 AM
It's smart to try to spin it as an attack on futbol itself instead of the organization.
I guess although it presumes extreme levels of gullibility on the part of listeners.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on May 28, 2015, 11:03:57 AM
I guess although it presumes extreme levels of gullibility on the part of listeners.
Can you think of a better way to play this hand?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 28, 2015, 11:05:13 AM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on May 28, 2015, 11:03:57 AM
I guess although it presumes extreme levels of gullibility on the part of listeners.
Can you think of a better way to play this hand?
Nope.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on May 28, 2015, 11:03:57 AM
I guess although it presumes extreme levels of gullibility on the part of listeners.
Clearly it is part of a plot by US sports leagues (using their immeasurable influence over the US Government) to tarnish the competition.
Seems like a plot to take 2018 World Cup away from Russia under shaky pretenses.
Quote from: FunkMonk on May 28, 2015, 10:23:30 AM
The whole rotten structure needs to be torn down. Won't happen though.
Where do you stop? I think UEFA isn't much better than FIFA, and I wouldn't want to vouch for German DFB, or the officials of big clubs in Germany, tbh.
Quote from: Syt on May 28, 2015, 11:30:52 AM
Where do you stop? I think UEFA isn't much better than FIFA, and I wouldn't want to vouch for German DFB, or the officials of big clubs in Germany, tbh.
Make it a state responsibility. The countries with rotten politics will remain rotten, but at least you get clean reps from countries with clean politics.
Quote from: Syt on May 28, 2015, 11:30:52 AM
Quote from: FunkMonk on May 28, 2015, 10:23:30 AM
The whole rotten structure needs to be torn down. Won't happen though.
Where do you stop? I think UEFA isn't much better than FIFA, and I wouldn't want to vouch for German DFB, or the officials of big clubs in Germany, tbh.
The wide variety of organizations involved in soccer is positively dizzying.
For my kids U6 team there's the following hierarchy of organizations:
Twin Brooks Community League (not strictly soccer)
South-West Edmonton Minor Soccer Association
Edmonton Minro Soccer Association
Alberts Soccer Association
Soccer Canada
FIFA
Where does CONCACAF fit into this?
Good point - I forgot them. Inbetween Soccer Canada and FIFA.
There's probably another couple levels I'm forgetting too.
A good friend of mine is a FIFA official, or rather, he is a soccer official who is FIFA certified at the local youth/school level.
One thing that is kind of cool about FIFA from an officiating standpoint is that there is a clear advancement path, since there is a clear organizational chain from youth all the way up to (theoretically) the World Cup.
Quote from: Barrister on May 28, 2015, 11:35:25 AM
Quote from: Syt on May 28, 2015, 11:30:52 AM
Quote from: FunkMonk on May 28, 2015, 10:23:30 AM
The whole rotten structure needs to be torn down. Won't happen though.
Where do you stop? I think UEFA isn't much better than FIFA, and I wouldn't want to vouch for German DFB, or the officials of big clubs in Germany, tbh.
The wide variety of organizations involved in soccer is positively dizzying.
For my kids U6 team there's the following hierarchy of organizations:
Twin Brooks Community League (not strictly soccer)
South-West Edmonton Minor Soccer Association
Edmonton Minro Soccer Association
Alberts Soccer Association
Soccer Canada
FIFA
That just seems a pretty straight-forward geographic pyramid.
It's not that straightforward once you have to figure out how to divvy up the bribes.
For the next decade plus the World Cup should just be played in pre existing facilities in Europe, maybe in the US or Japan.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 28, 2015, 11:32:51 AM
Quote from: Syt on May 28, 2015, 11:30:52 AM
Where do you stop? I think UEFA isn't much better than FIFA, and I wouldn't want to vouch for German DFB, or the officials of big clubs in Germany, tbh.
Make it a state responsibility. The countries with rotten politics will remain rotten, but at least you get clean reps from countries with clean politics.
If there's one thing that every sporting governing body loathes it's the involvement of national governments or other official bodies in how they run their sport. Every time the Spanish government makes some noise about poking into how the Spanish FA does things all they get back is threats about blocking Spanish teams from international competitions.
It's too bad there isn't some kind of political institution that brings together a bunch of European countries so they can act in a coordinated fashion. Like some kind of "European union". That would be nice.
Quote from: alfred russel on May 28, 2015, 11:52:50 AM
For the next decade plus the World Cup should just be played in pre existing facilities in Europe, maybe in the US or Japan.
The World Cup is what gets all the attention, but when you consider the power of FIFA to decide so much more in the global world of soccer, the opportunities for corruption must be just incredible.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on May 28, 2015, 12:16:24 PM
It's too bad there isn't some kind of political institution that brings together a bunch of European countries so they can act in a coordinated fashion. Like some kind of "European union". That would be nice.
... which doesn't include all UEFA countries (e.g. Russia, Turkey, Israel ...).
Even so, it's not a topic where the public calls for political interference and I imagine many voters would resent increased government involvement in their favorite sport.
Random comments from an Austria site that made me chuckle:
Poster: "Blatter has received a prestigious order from the Austrian Republic, and you know that you don't get those without doing something important for the country! :rolleyes: "
Reply: "Well, considering Blatter's corruption, ignoring of criticism, and resistance to resigning from his post, he'd be a great addition to our government!"
I'm shocked, shocked, that there's bribing going on in here!
Quote from: Iormlund on May 28, 2015, 12:46:55 PM
I'm shocked, shocked, that there's bribing going on in here!
:lol:
I fail to be upset by a private sports organization being corrupt. Playing in/watching FIFA tournaments is extremely optional.
As per the Last Week Tonight take down of FIFA, I think I know where they got the idea for their new meeting room. Or shall we call it a war room...
Initial reaction of Sepp Blatter to the charges of corruption:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3FEhHF_fzM
Shocked reaction from sponsors, other officials etc:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z2JTPalv_s
Yay, movie quotes!
The DoJ discussing the best course of action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCbfMkh940Q
Quote from: alfred russel on May 28, 2015, 11:52:50 AM
For the next decade plus the World Cup should just be played in pre existing facilities in Europe, maybe in the US or Japan.
We had that we started to listen to the 3rd world crying about how they never have the World Cup. Hence the bribing became the official way of doing business.
I still can't believe we're having the WC in Qatar where everything has to be built! When the US can just pick 22 stadium from a list of hundreds.
Quote from: The Brain on May 28, 2015, 01:31:37 PM
I fail to be upset by a private sports organization being corrupt. Playing in/watching FIFA tournaments is extremely optional.
This is a bizarre position to take. Corruption is a form of fraud. Surely, fraud is illegal, even when perpetrated by private persons.
Quote from: Martinus on May 28, 2015, 03:21:37 PM
Quote from: The Brain on May 28, 2015, 01:31:37 PM
I fail to be upset by a private sports organization being corrupt. Playing in/watching FIFA tournaments is extremely optional.
This is a bizarre position to take. Corruption is a form of fraud. Surely, fraud is illegal, even when perpetrated by private persons.
You get upset by every single crime? Shrillax.
Quote from: The Brain on May 28, 2015, 03:26:38 PM
You get upset by every single crime?
Yes. Yes I do.
Quote from: Barrister on May 28, 2015, 03:31:46 PM
Quote from: The Brain on May 28, 2015, 03:26:38 PM
You get upset by every single crime?
Yes. Yes I do.
You know there's a hypothesis that humanity as a whole is in a galactic gaol? Maybe it's not necessary to obsessively put everyone in Machiavellian pound-you-in-the-ass gaol. Yeah. Think about that.
Quote from: The Brain on May 28, 2015, 03:34:30 PM
Quote from: Barrister on May 28, 2015, 03:31:46 PM
Quote from: The Brain on May 28, 2015, 03:26:38 PM
You get upset by every single crime?
Yes. Yes I do.
You know there's a hypothesis that humanity as a whole is in a galactic gaol? Maybe it's not necessary to obsessively put everyone in Machiavellian pound-you-in-the-ass gaol. Yeah. Think about that.
Hypothesis considered, and rejected. I believe in the healing power of gaol.
Quote from: Barrister on May 28, 2015, 03:35:43 PM
Quote from: The Brain on May 28, 2015, 03:34:30 PM
Quote from: Barrister on May 28, 2015, 03:31:46 PM
Quote from: The Brain on May 28, 2015, 03:26:38 PM
You get upset by every single crime?
Yes. Yes I do.
You know there's a hypothesis that humanity as a whole is in a galactic gaol? Maybe it's not necessary to obsessively put everyone in Machiavellian pound-you-in-the-ass gaol. Yeah. Think about that.
Hypothesis considered, and rejected. I believe in the healing power of gaol.
Sexual healing. :x
Well, BDSM has been reported by many to be quite liberating.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 28, 2015, 11:32:51 AM
Quote from: Syt on May 28, 2015, 11:30:52 AM
Where do you stop? I think UEFA isn't much better than FIFA, and I wouldn't want to vouch for German DFB, or the officials of big clubs in Germany, tbh.
Make it a state responsibility. The countries with rotten politics will remain rotten, but at least you get clean reps from countries with clean politics.
So we'd have clean soccer reps from Botswana where else? San Marino, maybe?
Quote from: Grey Fox on May 28, 2015, 02:34:13 PM
Quote from: alfred russel on May 28, 2015, 11:52:50 AM
For the next decade plus the World Cup should just be played in pre existing facilities in Europe, maybe in the US or Japan.
We had that we started to listen to the 3rd world crying about how they never have the World Cup. Hence the bribing became the official way of doing business.
I still can't believe we're having the WC in Qatar where everything has to be built! When the US can just pick 22 stadium from a list of hundreds.
Built with literal slave labor, thousands of which will die.
So the investigation into the 2018/2022 World Cups has supposedly been started by request of FIFA. Since Blatter yesterday didn't take credit for it, who made that request? Because it would have been easy for him to present himself as the guy cleaning up FIFA at long last.
And I wouldn't put it beyond him to throw a few of his cronies under the bus if it would help create the impression that FIFA is getting cleaned up. Or to scrub the books as much as possible before initiating a criminal investigation that would exonerate FIFA.
His defense of "I can't watch everyone, all the time," is a bit weak. It's not unheard of that people who are "surprised" by massive misbehavior of their underlings right under their nose take responsibility and step down because of their personal failure to prevent it.
To make sure the voting machines work everyone had to answer the question who won last year's World Cup.
About 5% of the delegates picked the wrong answer. :lol:
Surprised it was not higher, given their knowledge and love of football.
Blatter's been pulling the strings in FIFA from 1981 (!!!), and the level of corruption is his making.
Now, the candidate facing him is a Jordanian prince, which hardly instils me with confidence in FIFA's ability to sort this out. At least Norway's football federation's stated their representative won't vote for Sepp.
The best solution would be for the UEFA (which is crooked enough) to leave FIFA and let the rest of the world just fry in its own fat.
Bungs and bribes have made Blatter and his cronies popular in Africa and Asia.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/fifa/11637602/Fifa-corruption-crisis-Jack-Warner-out-dancing-hours-after-leaving-prison-on-medical-grounds.html
QuoteFifa corruption crisis: Jack Warner out dancing hours after leaving prison on medical grounds
Disgraced former Fifa vice-president enjoys himself at a political rally after leaving prison in an ambulance earlier the same day
Jack Warner was seen looking fit and well at a political rally on Thursday night, just hours after leaving prison in an ambulance on medical grounds.
The disgraced former Fifa vice-president was arrested on corruption charges on Wednesday and spent a night in the state prison of Port of Spain in his native Trinidad and Tobago.
He was granted bail on Thursday having complained of exhaustion, but by the evening was feeling perky enough to attend a political rally.
The rally was organised by his Independent Liberal Party in Chagaunas, Trinidad and Tobago, where Warner is trying to unseat the current Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessa.
The former Fifa supremo was asked about the corruption charges, and responded: "I have been in Fifa for 30 years and if I took that money, who gave it to me? Why are only officials in third world countries being charged?".
I guess that's another vote for the "USA hates the world" conspiracy theory.
Quote from: Maladict on May 29, 2015, 03:13:38 AM
To make sure the voting machines work everyone had to answer the question who won last year's World Cup.
About 5% of the delegates picked the wrong answer. :lol:
The Brazilian delegates, I guess.
One thing that's rarely brought to light is that several national federations in Africa only have funding directly from FIFA.
The whole system is built on clientilism.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 28, 2015, 11:32:51 AM
Quote from: Syt on May 28, 2015, 11:30:52 AM
Where do you stop? I think UEFA isn't much better than FIFA, and I wouldn't want to vouch for German DFB, or the officials of big clubs in Germany, tbh.
Make it a state responsibility. The countries with rotten politics will remain rotten, but at least you get clean reps from countries with clean politics.
:lmfao:
Quote from: Norgy on May 29, 2015, 03:44:17 AM
Blatter's been pulling the strings in FIFA from 1981 (!!!), and the level of corruption is his making.
I'd say the corruption dates back to at least João Havelange, whose protégé was Sepp Blatter.
Havelange sold himself as a representative of the Third World to Africa, Asia and Concacaf to counter European elitism...
Quote from: Syt on May 29, 2015, 03:50:19 AM
The former Fifa supremo was asked about the corruption charges, and responded: "I have been in Fifa for 30 years and if I took that money, who gave it to me? Why are only officials in third world countries being charged?".
]America's a third world country?
Blatter said that he doubts it was coincidence that the sting happened two days before him running for re-election, hinting at a conspiracy.
Well yeah - when better to arrest people from countries where extradition might be difficult, than when they're all gathered in one location in a relatively civilized country? Just seems very logical.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F6gj4Tws.jpg&hash=8f9e60c674220e2c937c93eeab8ee7e33c999056)
That graph is a bit misleading though; there are 4 other vice presidents that haven't been arrested.
Bomb threat at the FIFA congress.
Quote from: The Larch on May 29, 2015, 06:52:26 AM
Bomb threat at the FIFA congress.
I'd be surprised if it didn't bomb.
The Western World needs to leave FIFA & start LIFA.
Blatter is saying how it's a sad state of affairs that there are only two female FIFA officials.
Then he tries to name both of them but can only remember one name. :D
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on May 29, 2015, 05:20:26 AM
Quote from: Norgy on May 29, 2015, 03:44:17 AM
Blatter's been pulling the strings in FIFA from 1981 (!!!), and the level of corruption is his making.
I'd say the corruption dates back to at least João Havelange, whose protégé was Sepp Blatter.
Havelange sold himself as a representative of the Third World to Africa, Asia and Concacaf to counter European elitism...
Blatter was his secretary general. Back then, the IOC were the biggest corrupt crooks in international sports. But Blatter has learnt. Now FIFA is alone at the summit of Mount Crooked.
Quote from: Norgy on May 29, 2015, 08:32:49 AM
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on May 29, 2015, 05:20:26 AM
Quote from: Norgy on May 29, 2015, 03:44:17 AM
Blatter's been pulling the strings in FIFA from 1981 (!!!), and the level of corruption is his making.
I'd say the corruption dates back to at least João Havelange, whose protégé was Sepp Blatter.
Havelange sold himself as a representative of the Third World to Africa, Asia and Concacaf to counter European elitism...
Blatter was his secretary general. Back then, the IOC were the biggest corrupt crooks in international sports. But Blatter has learnt. Now FIFA is alone at the summit of Mount Crooked.
Are we sure the IOC is clean nowadays?
Doubtful. Thomas Bach was heaved into office with strong support from Middle East princes with whom he has strong business contacts.
It appears the British Serious Fraud Office is also investigating several FIFA officials who are suspected of money laundering.
Well, Prince Ali has withdrawn from the race before the second round of voting.
Blatter stays FIFA president.
Which tells you much about how rotten FIFA is when after a week like this he can still get re-elected.
Quote from: Syt on May 29, 2015, 12:21:14 PM
Well, Prince Ali has withdrawn from the race before the second round of voting.
Too bad. I hear he faced the galloping hordes and a hundred bad guys with swords.
It will be weird to have the World Cup Final on December 18th, in 2022.
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.
Damn, I thought there was finally some momentum to bring the whole thing down. :(
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:
QuoteIn 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."
Calling them the 'Falkland Islands' is pretty much conceding who they belong to isn't it?
Quote from: Syt on May 29, 2015, 03:43:28 PM
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.
Quote from: Syt on May 29, 2015, 03:43:28 PM
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...
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 29, 2015, 03:53:13 PM
Quote from: Syt on May 29, 2015, 03:43:28 PM
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.
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.
I just hope Blatter's heart will give in from all the stress.
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.
Quote from: Norgy on May 29, 2015, 04:36:03 PM
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.
Quote from: alfred russel on May 29, 2015, 05:53:52 PM
Quote from: Norgy on May 29, 2015, 04:36:03 PM
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.
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.
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.
:tinfoil:
Maybe his brain's turning into porridge.
His speech was, uhm, strange.
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.
Quote from: Syt on May 30, 2015, 04:05:06 AM
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.
:tinfoil:
America is all about soccer!
Quote from: Grey Fox on May 29, 2015, 12:50:49 PM
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.
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.
Quote from: Norgy on May 30, 2015, 11:22:47 AM
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
I agree. This shit makes me mad. I wish there was some sort of real life Arrow turning these fuckers into pincushions
Quote from: garbon on May 30, 2015, 05:34:36 AM
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.
Up to 18 European countries voted for Blatter, including France and Spain.
So much for a UEFA boycott.
Blatter claimed in an interview that Beckenbauer told of head off DFB Niersbach for his opposing Blatter. Beckenbauer and Niersbach deny that this happened.
Quote from: Maladict on June 01, 2015, 02:19:07 AM
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".
:bleeding:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/in-russia-sincere-backlash-over-satire-article-on-us-invasion-of-fifa/522781.html
QuoteIn 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.
:lol:
Quote from: Syt on June 01, 2015, 03:04:46 AM
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/in-russia-sincere-backlash-over-satire-article-on-us-invasion-of-fifa/522781.html
:lol:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/fifa/11642661/Fifa-crisis-Jack-Warner-cites-satirical-article-from-The-Onion-to-blast-US.html
Quote
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.
:lol:
Quote from: Maladict on June 01, 2015, 02:19:07 AM
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.
A RICO investigation always gets the top man eventually. We'll see what happens when Blatter and few more VPs are charged.
Quote from: Maladict on June 01, 2015, 02:19:07 AMUp to 18 European countries voted for Blatter, including France and Spain.
So much for a UEFA boycott.
A UEFA boycott was wishful thinking, many European FAs are Blatter's partners in crime.
And it's not like Platini is the most believable "rebel" himself. Before the Qatar vote he had dinner with the French president and the ruler of Qatar, and his son soon had a job with a Qatar company ...
It's obvious Platini was promised the FIFA presidency, and Blatter did not keep his word.
Platini even said so. :lol:
Elegant playmaker. Less eloquent politician.
My summary of Platini. He needs Giresse and Tigana to perform.
Quote from: Norgy on June 01, 2015, 07:04:00 AM
Elegant playmaker. Less eloquent politician.
My summary of Platini. He needs Giresse and Tigana to perform.
Elegant playmaker? I remember hearing he got the referee of the Euro 1984 final to end the game sooner than expected (no stoppage time basically) by agreeing to give his jersey for the referee's son. ;)
You're Portuguese and a sore loser, I get that.
I seem to remember the 1984 Euros were pretty great. Denmark was on fire. France was very good.
You have to agree Michel Platini was a pretty amazing player. But you never saw him track back, mark or tackle anyone.
They're getting closer! :menace:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/sports/soccer/sepp-blatters-top-fifa-deputy-jerome-valcke-is-said-to-have-transferred-money-central-to-bribery-case.html?_r=0
QuoteBlatter's Top FIFA Deputy Is Said to Have Transferred Money Central to Bribery Case
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and MATT APUZZOJUNE 1, 2015
Federal authorities believe that Sepp Blatter's top lieutenant at FIFA made $10 million in bank transactions that are central elements of the bribery scandal engulfing international soccer, United States officials and others briefed on the case said Monday. The revelation puts the money trail closer to Mr. Blatter, FIFA's president, than had been previously known.
Jérôme Valcke, the soccer organization's secretary general, is the unidentified "high-ranking FIFA official" who prosecutors say transferred $10 million in 2008 from FIFA to accounts controlled by another soccer official, Jack Warner, the officials said. The payment is a key piece of last week's indictment accusing Mr. Warner of taking a bribe in exchange for helping South Africa secure the right to host the 2010 World Cup.
The indictment does not say that the high-ranking official knew that the money was being used as a bribe and, unlike many other FIFA officials and marketing executives, Mr. Valcke is not identified as a co-conspirator in the document. Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of South Africa's World Cup bid and the current president of its soccer federation, has said the money was not a bribe but a legitimate payment into a soccer development fund in the Caribbean.
Mr. Valcke, who said in a brief email that he had not authorized the payment and did not have the power to do so, has not been charged or accused of wrongdoing.
Mr. Valcke and Mr. Blatter are the two top officials in FIFA, an organization that has more than $1 billion in the bank and generates billions more each year. Mr. Valcke's involvement is sure to raise more questions about what Mr. Blatter knew about the money transfer. The officials and others who identified Mr. Valcke spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Mr. Valcke's statement that he did not authorize the wire transfer does not directly address whether he was involved. The indictment says the unidentified official "caused" the payments to be made. And a spokeswoman for FIFA, Delia Fischer, said the chairman of the finance committee at the time, Julio Grondona, authorized the payment. Mr. Grondona died last year. Ms. Fischer said the payment was "executed in accordance with the Organisation Regulations."
Those regulations say the secretary general is responsible for maintaining the organization's accounts and has the authority to make transactions.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn brought charges last week against 14 soccer officials and marketing executives accused of corrupting FIFA, the governing body of international soccer. United States authorities have said more charges are expected and have promised to rid the organization of corruption.
The $10 million payment, made in three wire transfers in January and March 2008, is described in the indictment in paragraph No. 192 and has prompted questions about which top FIFA executive was responsible. "Definitely that is not me," Mr. Blatter said last week after he was re-elected as FIFA's president and reporters asked if he was the unidentified official. "I have no $10 million."
The charges, which were unsealed last Wednesday morning in United States District Court in Brooklyn, coupled with the arrests at dawn of several high-ranking FIFA officials at a luxury hotel in Zurich, were stunning even by the standards of international soccer, which has been dogged by allegations of corruption for years. Swiss authorities also raided FIFA's headquarters as part of a separate investigation into how FIFA chose the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Mr. Valcke, of France, has previously been involved in financial controversy. He joined FIFA in 2003 as its marketing director but was fired in December 2006 after a New York judge ruled that he and others lied repeatedly in negotiations with MasterCard and Visa over a sponsorship deal.
"The fact cannot be overlooked that FIFA's negotiations breached its business principles," FIFA said in its news release at the time. "FIFA cannot possibly accept such conduct among its own employees."
A federal appeals court threw out the ruling the next May. The next month, days after FIFA reached a settlement with MasterCard, Mr. Blatter chose Mr. Valcke to be secretary general, the organization's No. 2 post. Mr. Valcke was never charged with a crime in that case.
In an interview with the Sunday Independent, a South African newspaper, Mr. Jordaan said the timing of the payment proved that it could not have been a bribe. "How could we have paid a bribe for votes four years after we had won the bid?" he said.
American prosecutors, however, say the bribery scheme played out over several years. In 2004, as FIFA's executive committee considered where to host the 2010 World Cup, South Africa's government agreed to pay Mr. Warner and others $10 million in exchange for their votes, according to the indictment.
Mr. Warner voted for South Africa, but in the months and years after the vote, South Africa was unable to pay. So rather than take a payment directly from South Africa, the indictment says, FIFA itself paid Mr. Warner in 2008, using money that would otherwise have gone to South Africa to support the World Cup.
In effect, the indictment says the bribe was paid on the back end of the deal, so South Africa received $10 million less from FIFA than it otherwise would have.
Mr. Jordaan said the money was sent to the accounts of Concacaf, a FIFA entity that oversees soccer in North and Central America, as part of South Africa's effort to support soccer there. Mr. Warner was Concacaf's president at the time and controlled the accounts. Prosecutors say he took much of the $10 million for his personal use. Mr. Warner has maintained his innocence and said the United States brought the charges because it lost the bidding to host the 2022 World Cup.
FIFA announced Monday that, "due to the current situation," Mr. Valcke would not attend the opening of the Women's World Cup in Canada next week. "It is important that he attends to matters at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich," the organization said in a news release.
Quote from: Norgy on June 01, 2015, 01:48:46 PM
You're Portuguese and a sore loser, I get that.
I seem to remember the 1984 Euros were pretty great. Denmark was on fire. France was very good.
You have to agree Michel Platini was a pretty amazing player. But you never saw him track back, mark or tackle anyone.
You're a bitter Norwegian groupie of Platini with bad memory, it was against Spain. Nice try, though! :lol:
Remember, the infamous Arconada game?
A Frenchman reminded me of this Platini feat, as a matter of fact. So keep your :tinfoil: theory for yourself. Back to Platoche, remember Platini's classy actions at the Heysel? Very elegant to ignore the disaster...
PS: one of the great French players but I prefer the pioneers such as Kopa, Piantoni or Fontaine. I'll have Platini any day over a degenerate such as Ribéry, however. :x
:Embarrass:
No foreseeable UEFA boycott of the next 2 World Cups I'm afraid, since FIFA wisely did not change Confederations' quota. Fifa says so:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2015/m=5/news=current-allocation-of-fifa-world-cuptm-confederation-slots-maintained-2610611.html (http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2015/m=5/news=current-allocation-of-fifa-world-cuptm-confederation-slots-maintained-2610611.html)
QuoteChaired by FIFA President Blatter, the FIFA Executive Committee held its first meeting in its new composition today at the Home of FIFA in Zurich.
In his opening remarks, FIFA President Blatter welcomed the new members of the FIFA Executive Committee. He reminded all those present that he was "the President of all member associations of FIFA". He underlined again the landmark step taken by yesterday's Congress regarding the situation in Israel and Palestine and, in particular, the handshake between the presidents of both associations, Jibril Al Rajoub and Ofer Eini, which he qualified as "historic". The FIFA President also reiterated that a professional football department would be created at FIFA.
The main item on the agenda of the meeting was the allocation of slots per confederation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ and 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™. The Executive decided to keep the current allocation:
- Africa: 5
- Asia: 4.5
- Europe: 13
- North, Central America and Caribbean: 3.5
- Oceania: 0.5
- South America: 4.5
- Host: 1
With regard to the bidding process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup™, the Executive confirmed that, in accordance with the FIFA Statutes – art. 80, par. 4 stipulates that "the right to host the event shall not be awarded to members of the same Confederation for two consecutive editions of the FIFA World Cup™" – member associations from the Asian Football Confederation would not be able to bid.
Also, Blatter is making peace ouvertures to the US
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/blatter-wants-new-rule-helping-us-bid-for-2026-world-cup/2015/05/15/d2d78318-fb05-11e4-a47c-e56f4db884ed_story.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/blatter-wants-new-rule-helping-us-bid-for-2026-world-cup/2015/05/15/d2d78318-fb05-11e4-a47c-e56f4db884ed_story.html)
QuoteZURICH — FIFA President Sepp Blatter wants to implement a rule that would prevent Europe from bidding for the 2026 World Cup, improving the chances of the United States to host the tournament.
The FIFA executive committee could agree this month to block continental confederations from bidding for the following two World Cups after hosting.
"It should be this way," Blatter said Friday, adding that the proposal is "more than an option."
In a further hint at World Cup changes, Blatter pointed to increasing the number of intercontinental playoffs to give confederations more chances to qualify teams for the 2018 tournament in Russia. Blatter also said he wanted the World Cup to remain a 32-team tournament under his leadership.
Because Russia will host in 2018, a UEFA country would next be eligible for the 2030 World Cup if the continental rule is passed.
The United States is expected to bid for the 2026 tournament alongside CONCACAF neighbors Canada and Mexico. African countries could also join the contest, with speculation that Morocco is preparing a bid.
FIFA has said it will choose the 2026 host in a May 2017 vote. A shortlist of three candidates can first be presented by the executive committee.
Bid regulations for the contest — the first since December 2010 when a controversial joint process for the 2018 and 2022 tournament chose Russia and Qatar, respectively, as hosts — should be agreed to by the FIFA executive committee in Zurich this month.
The executive committee meets on May 24-25 and again on May 30, the morning after the presidential election which Blatter is strongly favored to win.
The May 30 meeting will confirm the allocation of 2018 World Cup qualifying slots open to each confederation.
Blatter has long encouraged smaller regions to seek more guaranteed places, potentially at the expense of Europe's 13 qualifying slots in the 32-team lineup.
On Friday, Blatter said the current intercontinental playoffs could be expanded. Currently, the playoffs do not involve European or African teams.
"That is a good idea and you are not so far away," Blatter said. "This gives a little bit more incentive."
Not a fan of the continental rule. Some continents are less able to host such an event. How many nations in Africa are capable of hosting a FIFA World Cup? How many in Asia? In South America?
Especially considering that they don't want two countries hosting together if possible.
Let Nigeria host the World Cup. That would be a hoot.
"Dear sir, I am writing to you because your late uncle Sepp Blatter died and left a stadium in your name. If you transfer 500 USD to this account, we will ship you the whole stadium"
NYT review of the FIFA movie:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/sports/fifa-film-an-epic-fantasy.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0
QuoteFIFA Film: An Epic Fantasy
First came an international roundup of several of its top officials on federal corruption charges, including a hotel sweep down the street from its headquarters. Close behind came the pageant of its autocratic president's re-election on a platform of: Eh, just a few bad apples.
What other drama could possibly await FIFA, the governing body of international soccer? Well, there is this movie: a star-dappled epic about FIFA, underwritten by FIFA and portraying FIFA's president, Sepp Blatter, as a resolute champion of ethics.
Its American premiere is on Friday, in the fresh wake of advance publicity conjured by last week's dramatic indictments. That's the kind of buzz you just can't buy.
The film is called "United Passions," but it is not, as the title might suggest, a lusty adventure in the way-too-friendly skies: a lonely flight attendant, a misunderstood pilot. ... No. This is about the succession of men in suits who nurtured the Fédération Internationale de Football Association from its idealistic creation a century ago to its current state of monstrosity.
The film claims from the start to be a work of "dramatic fiction," gleaned from actual events. And true to its word, the movie avoids most of the factual inconveniences that might reinforce the widespread impression of FIFA as a corrupt rogue state, operating in contradiction to the noble ideals of the sport it purports to defend.
The movie's director, Frédéric Auburtin, said in a telephone interview on Sunday that he did his best to provide as much subtext as circumstances would allow. A soccer fan from Marseilles, he knew that cries of FIFA corruption have resounded for years like so many vuvuzelas. But he also knew that FIFA was covering most of the cost, which came in around $30 million.
"I didn't have the freedom to do a Michael Moore movie at all," he said. "If I started the movie with flashlights and sirens coming to Zurich, like what happened last Wednesday — I knew if we would write any line like this, everyone would say: 'What are you doing, man? Come on.' "
Mr. Auburtin said he would have preferred to delve deeper into the FIFA darkness. "But I accept the job," he said. "I know FIFA is producing the film. As we say in France, don't be more royalist than the king: Don't be the king if you are not the king."
Speaking of kings, Mr. Blatter, who is 79 and looks it, is portrayed in the film by the actor Tim Roth, who is 54 and doesn't. After visiting the set and meeting Mr. Roth, Mr. Blatter allowed, "In this case the casting was well done."
What remains is a sports movie without sports: a sports management movie, actually, in which most of the "action" takes place not on the pitch but in a boardroom, on a private jet — at a desk!
Blatter, sitting in an upright position, opens the envelope. What dexterity. It's Blatter again, walking into a meeting, left foot first, then the right, knotting his necktie as he goes. A cool customer, this Blatter. Now sipping his drink, now negotiating with Horst Dassler of Adidas, back and forth and ...
GOOOOOL!!! :lol:
Mr. Auburtin's involvement in the project began in the fall of 2012 with a telephone call from his good friend Gérard Depardieu, the French actor. Explaining that he had just returned from a meeting in Zurich with Mr. Blatter and a first-time movie producer, the actor asked whether Mr. Auburtin wanted to direct a film about FIFA.
As Mr. Auburtin understood it, old plans for a movie about FIFA were being resurrected in advance of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (and, perhaps, the FIFA executive election in 2015). The pressure was on, and Mr. Auburtin was known as an intelligent soccer fan who could also turn around a movie project quickly.
"I totally accept, and am very responsible, and I have no regrets," he said. "But I did not wake up in the morning and say, 'Let's do a movie about FIFA.' "
Mr. Auburtin and his co-writer, the novelist Jean-Paul Delfino, scrambled for a few months to develop a script that both covered a century of FIFA and balanced their art with the wishes of their FIFA overseers. "You know the FIFA," he said. "You cannot move a finger if they do not know the whole story."
What they came up with is a passing of the FIFA baton by three central characters: Jules Rimet, FIFA's president from 1921 to 1954; João Havelange, its president from 1974 to 1998; and Mr. Blatter.
The movie opens with a few Europeans envisioning an international soccer association that would foster good will among nations and elevate the level of play. The villains are the British, comically resistant to any intrusion in the game they invented.
One stiff-upper-lip twit asks, "What do foreigners understand of our beautiful game?" Another says: "Negroes? Playing football? Why not women while we're at it? That would be quite amusing, eh?"
(The movie, by the way, has not been well received in England.)
The film seeks drama in the building of a stadium in Uruguay before the first World Cup; in the creation of the World Cup trophy; in the ups and downs of executives during war and depression. Whenever Mr. Rimet, played by Mr. Depardieu, becomes discouraged, his daughter, played by Jemima West, raises his spirits with lines that echo another movie, about a woman called Scarlett, a plantation called Tara. ...
"Tomorrow's another day, Papa," she says. "Tomorrow's another day."
The narrative moves on to Mr. Havelange, who attracted developing countries into the FIFA fold and recognized the potential of commercial partnerships. As portrayed by Sam Neill, Mr. Havelange is a Machiavellian figure of the first order, brusque, cunning and ambitious — though he actually receives gentle treatment, with no spelling out of his implication in a multimillion-dollar bribery scandal.
Finally, there is Mr. Blatter, the St. Thomas More of soccer administration, saving the game from financial ruin, expanding the role of women, fighting corruption from within.
"From now on, we will be exemplary in all respects," Mr. Blatter announces to FIFA officials after his election in 1998. "The slightest breach of ethics will be severely punished."
As the film says at the start: "dramatic fiction."
A kind of anticipatory self-censorship was at play, Mr. Auburtin said. "Every time we are showing something about Blatter himself, it's very, very difficult because the guy is the boss," he said. "The guy is co-producing more than half the film, nearly 80 percent."
Still, Mr. Auburtin said, he and Mr. Delfino injected "a lot of subtext" that hinted at the corruption: an envelope in a fruit basket; a briefcase; a scene, entirely made up, of Mr. Havelange and Mr. Blatter alone on a ferry, speaking in FIFA code about how to win election.
And Mr. Roth told The Sunday Times of London last year that after noticing little mention in the script of corruption, "I tried to slide in a sense of it, as much as I could get in there."
In the director's eyes, the film lays out soccer — before and after money. "The sport became something else when the money arrived," Mr. Auburtin said.
Some people at FIFA "were not very happy with the film," he said, "even if it looks like an official film." He added that Mr. Blatter was moved by seeing 35 years of his life distilled in less than an hour but "had a lot of questions" after seeing it a second time.
"United Passions" — which, again, is not about love in the wild blue yonder — made its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014, and both Mr. Blatter and Mr. Auburtin walked the red carpet.
FIFA recommended the film in a blurb of a letter to its members. "Open, self-critical, and highly enjoyable," wrote Jérôme Valcke, its secretary general, who is now suspected of being involved in a $10 million transfer that figures in a bribery case.
After Cannes, the movie appeared in a few countries, including Russia and Azerbaijan, but never in France, to its French director's puzzlement and dismay. "I don't know if this comes from FIFA or the producers," he said. "It's a shame. It's not such crap."
No matter. Mr. Auburtin has moved on. He was speaking from the west coast of Ireland, where he was researching a film of his own creation, one that has nothing at all to do with this morass called FIFA.
I would comment on how sad it is that sports movies now feature the suits instead of the actual athletes but we already made Draft Day http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2223990/ and Moneyball http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/
:bleeding:
Next we will see dramas about that courageous shoe executive who decided to fund the Oregon Ducks.
Quote from: Syt on June 02, 2015, 05:20:38 AM
NYT review of the FIFA movie:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/sports/fifa-film-an-epic-fantasy.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0
The best damning with faint praise ever:
QuoteIt's not such crap.
That, from the Director. :lol:
Oh man, the timing of this thing could not be better. ;)
It certainly could not be. This is a classic case of there is no such thing as bad publicity.
My sister and I once by chance came upon a Soviet movie from the 1980ies. It was so captivating that we had to watch all of it.
It started off with a literal trainwreck, as an overworked railroad depot controller sent a train onto the wrong set of tracks, and one of the train engineers was killed. That set up the main conflict driving the movie plot: the transportation minister's struggle to keep his job after a spate of rail accidents and derailments.
For most of the movie, the plot centered around various bureaucratic machinations and political intrigue, as the minister's rivals pounced upon him. The culmination was a heated ministers' meeting, where the embattled transportation minister denounces the carelessness of other ministers' industries in transporting their cargo, which led to many of the accidents blamed on him, and declares that safe railway transportation is a team effort.
The movie didn't tell us whether he kept his job or not after all, but it did show him walking away from the meeting looking satisfied.
So the heroic bureaucrat kept his job despite his incompetence? Man they came a long way from Battleship Potemkin.
I wish there were more Soviet era movies with English subtitles. I hear they made some halfway decent war flicks.
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 09:03:07 AM
I wish there were more Soviet era movies with English subtitles. I hear they made some halfway decent war flicks.
:yes:
"They fought for the motherland" is pretty damn awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMw629pnIL4
Also: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/
Quote from: Grey Fox on May 29, 2015, 04:42:27 PM
But the USA is only doing this because it lost the 2022 WC to Bullshit.
Doubt that Loretta Lynch cares about that. The average American doesn't care much either, assuming they were even aware it happened, which they aren't.
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 09:03:07 AM
I wish there were more Soviet era movies with English subtitles. I hear they made some halfway decent war flicks.
Have you seen
Come and See?
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 09:03:07 AM
I wish there were more Soviet era movies with English subtitles. I hear they made some halfway decent war flicks.
"Come and see". It definitely has English subtitles.
Quote from: Malthus on June 02, 2015, 10:17:01 AM
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 09:03:07 AM
I wish there were more Soviet era movies with English subtitles. I hear they made some halfway decent war flicks.
Have you seen Come and See?
:hug:
Quote from: Norgy on June 02, 2015, 10:18:39 AM
Quote from: Malthus on June 02, 2015, 10:17:01 AM
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 09:03:07 AM
I wish there were more Soviet era movies with English subtitles. I hear they made some halfway decent war flicks.
Have you seen Come and See?
:hug:
Great minds, etc. ;)
Though arguably,
Come and See may not be exactly the right genre of "war movie" - more of a "war as horror" movie. It is however undeniably a great film.
FIFA has called a press conference with an hour warning. 18 CEST with Blatter. MORE DENYING!
Quote from: Liep on June 02, 2015, 11:01:54 AM
FIFA has called a press conference with an hour warning. 18 CEST with Blatter. MORE DENYING!
I really wonder if it would make the slightest difference if he called a press conference and announced "I am the mastermind behind all the corruption! And I enjoyed doing it! Any you can't stop me from doing it again - Muahahaha!" :hmm:
Blatter's election: a win for and by Russia!
http://tass.ru/en/sports/798164
QuoteSport minister: Russia has authority to influence development of sport
Russia has 324 representatives in international sport organizations of whom 57 occupy leading positions
MOSCOW, June 2 /TASS/. The recent elections of the FIFA president showed that Russia is a respected sport power, Russian Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko said at a meeting of the presidential Council for the development of physical culture and sport on Tuesday.
"I would like to note that we have regained our positions of the world sport leader and a respected and reputable sport power. The events that took place at FIFA last week showed that Russia had sufficient authority in sport and could influence events linked to development of sport," Mutko said.
"I would also like to note that the previous Council issued an instruction to increase the number of our representatives in international sport organizations. Today, we have 324 representatives of whom 57 occupy leading positions," the Russian sport minister added.
:unsure:
What on earth does that mean? They certainly are no longer a power when it comes to winning athletic events :P
Quote from: Malthus on June 02, 2015, 11:04:32 AM
I really wonder if it would make the slightest difference if he called a press conference and announced "I am the mastermind behind all the corruption! And I enjoyed doing it! Any you can't stop me from doing it again - Muahahaha!" :hmm:
FIFA has basically done that on multiple occasions already.
TASS: The fact the sun rises every day shows Russia has authority to influence astrophysics.
Always hide the chat on YouTube live events. :bleeding:
Actually just about everything in the tass story is accurate except the words "respected" and "reputable."
Quote from: Malthus on June 02, 2015, 10:17:01 AM
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 09:03:07 AM
I wish there were more Soviet era movies with English subtitles. I hear they made some halfway decent war flicks.
Have you seen Come and See?
Nope, but I think I've heard of it. Will seek it out, thanks.
Strangest hijack ever.
He's resigning?!
New elections on extraordinary conference, he won't stand.
"I'm now free from the constraint of an election. I will now be able to implement new reforms"
He's playing the innocent card: "I've wanted many reforms, but have been blocked from doing it"
Platini blocked him from implementing reforms I bet. :lol:
I bet the sponsors told him that he leaves or they leave.
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 11:33:16 AM
Quote from: Malthus on June 02, 2015, 10:17:01 AM
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 09:03:07 AM
I wish there were more Soviet era movies with English subtitles. I hear they made some halfway decent war flicks.
Have you seen Come and See?
Nope, but I think I've heard of it. Will seek it out, thanks.
At this point I will presume no one clicked the IMDB link to the exact same movie I posted, before anyone else. <_<
:P
Woah, wtf?
And Blatter's gone. :showoff: :hug: :w00t:
Quote from: Liep on June 02, 2015, 11:51:54 AM
I bet the sponsors told him that he leaves or they leave.
:yes:
THANKS OBAMA!
Now do you love America ROTW? Take that American flag you were about to burn and instead give it a big hug.
Blatter gone, term limits, independent ethical checks of members. This all sounds too good to be true.
I'm assuming that he won the election so that he could get another (hopefully not implicated) crony in to run against Prince Ali.
Guardian:
QuoteDomenico Scala (head of audit and compliance committee): "I am dedicated to putting into place the conditions for the election of a new president. There will be reforms to how the elections are conducted. Under the rules governing Fifa, the election must be voted on by members at the Fifa congress. The president will ask the executive committee to form an extraordinary congress to elect a new president. While the timing will ultimately be up to the executive committee the timing of election likely to be between December and March."
I bet John Oliver is wishing now that he waited a week before promising to patronize all the FIFA sponsors if Blatter is gone.
Quote from: Syt on June 02, 2015, 11:53:52 AM
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 11:33:16 AM
Quote from: Malthus on June 02, 2015, 10:17:01 AM
Quote from: derspiess on June 02, 2015, 09:03:07 AM
I wish there were more Soviet era movies with English subtitles. I hear they made some halfway decent war flicks.
Have you seen Come and See?
Nope, but I think I've heard of it. Will seek it out, thanks.
At this point I will presume no one clicked the IMDB link to the exact same movie I posted, before anyone else. <_<
:P
Not DerSpieß and Malthus that's for sure. :D
Quote from: DGuller on June 02, 2015, 11:58:42 AM
I bet John Oliver is wishing now that he waited a week before promising to patronize all the FIFA sponsors if Blatter is gone.
:D
Quote from: DGuller on June 02, 2015, 11:58:42 AM
I bet John Oliver is wishing now that he waited a week before promising to patronize all the FIFA sponsors if Blatter is gone.
:D
Prince Ali
fabulous he
Ali Ababwa
genuflect
show some respect
down on one knee
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51XVfq1hGTL._SL500_AA280_.jpg&hash=26d79e80cbe5e62e899b158fb46b411802684170)
So at this point Blatter still has a few months to destroy as much evidence do as many reforms as possible.
Quote from: DGuller on June 02, 2015, 11:58:42 AM
I bet John Oliver is wishing now that he waited a week before promising to patronize all the FIFA sponsors if Blatter is gone.
I think I will tune in on Sunday to see if he actually eats everything on the McDonald's value menu.
Quote from: DGuller on June 02, 2015, 11:58:42 AM
I bet John Oliver is wishing now that he waited a week before promising to patronize all the FIFA sponsors if Blatter is gone.
He'll have to drink lime flavoured Budweiser Light. And to say that he liked it. :lmfao:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 29, 2015, 03:53:13 PM
Quote from: Syt on May 29, 2015, 03:43:28 PM
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.
:punk:
Quote from: Valmy on June 02, 2015, 12:00:53 PM
Quote from: DGuller on June 02, 2015, 11:58:42 AM
I bet John Oliver is wishing now that he waited a week before promising to patronize all the FIFA sponsors if Blatter is gone.
I think I will tune in on Sunday to see if he actually eats everything on the McDonald's value menu.
I want to see if he will really drink that bud lime
Quote from: DGuller on June 02, 2015, 11:58:42 AM
I bet John Oliver is wishing now that he waited a week before promising to patronize all the FIFA sponsors if Blatter is gone.
I think he said he'd do it if the sponsor withdrew support, which I don't think any did.
A technicality that would turn his audience against him. I think he will still do it. :cool:
Quote from: Syt on June 02, 2015, 12:00:31 PM
So at this point Blatter still has a few months to destroy as much evidence do as many reforms as possible.
Yes... reforms. :shifty:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 02, 2015, 12:01:29 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 29, 2015, 03:53:13 PM
Quote from: Syt on May 29, 2015, 03:43:28 PM
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.
:punk:
"A few people" means Blatter and Valcke?
Quote from: Valmy on June 02, 2015, 12:00:53 PM
Quote from: DGuller on June 02, 2015, 11:58:42 AM
I bet John Oliver is wishing now that he waited a week before promising to patronize all the FIFA sponsors if Blatter is gone.
I think I will tune in on Sunday to see if he actually eats everything on the McDonald's value menu.
Just a bite out off, tho.
Looks like Russia's authority in sports has been truly reasserted.
http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/footballgovernance/02/61/77/26/presidentaddress2jun15_final_neutral.pdf
QuoteREMARKS BY FIFA PRESIDENT BLATTER
I have been reflecting deeply about my presidency and about the forty years in which my life has
been inextricably bound to FIFA and the great sport of football. I cherish FIFA more than
anything and I want to do only what is best for FIFA and for football. I felt compelled to stand
for re-election, as I believed that this was the best thing for the organisation. That election is
over but FIFA's challenges are not. FIFA needs a profound overhaul.
While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from
the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and
love football as much as we all do at FIFA.
Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress. I will
continue to exercise my functions as FIFA President until that election.
The next ordinary FIFA Congress will take place on 13 May 2016 in Mexico City. This would
create unnecessary delay and I will urge the Executive Committee to organise an Extraordinary
Congress for the election of my successor at the earliest opportunity. This will need to be done
in line with FIFA's statutes and we must allow enough time for the best candidates to present
themselves and to campaign.
Since I shall not be a candidate, and am therefore now free from the constraints that elections
inevitably impose, I shall be able to focus on driving far-reaching, fundamental reforms that
transcend our previous efforts. For years, we have worked hard to put in place administrative
reforms, but it is plain to me that while these must continue, they are not enough.
The Executive Committee includes representatives of confederations over whom we have no
control, but for whose actions FIFA is held responsible. We need deep-rooted structural change.
The size of the Executive Committee must be reduced and its members should be elected
through the FIFA Congress. The integrity checks for all Executive Committee members must be
organised centrally through FIFA and not through the confederations. We need term limits not
only for the president but for all members of the Executive Committee.
I have fought for these changes before and, as everyone knows, my efforts have been blocked.
This time, I will succeed.
I cannot do this alone. I have asked Domenico Scala to oversee the introduction and
implementation of these and other measures. Mr. Scala is the Independent Chairman of our
Audit and Compliance Committee elected by the FIFA Congress. He is also the Chairman of the
ad hoc Electoral Committee and, as such, he will oversee the election of my successor. Mr.
Scala enjoys the confidence of a wide range of constituents within and outside of FIFA and has
all the knowledge and experience necessary to help tackle these major reforms.
It is my deep care for FIFA and its interests, which I hold very dear, that has led me to take this
decision. I would like to thank those who have always supported me in a constructive and loyal
manner as President of FIFA and who have done so much for the game that we all love. What
matters to me more than anything is that when all of this is over, football is the winner.
# # #
Let's get Berlusconi in and keep it honest.
I think he is an utter scumbag, but FIFA could become a bit less terrible than it is if these reforms are implemented, so I hope he actually is successful with that.
Good to see Blatter gone, and can't wait to see Oliver drink Bud Lime Light.
If I was a FIFA rep though, with a hint of tarnish, I wouldn't be going to no meeting though and risk being arrested.
Proof that there is no topic anywhere that, to someone publishing on the net, isn't all about the Jooooos.
http://www.unz.com/article/keep-your-eye-on-the-camel/
:Joos
USA! USA! USA! :cheers:
L.
Quote from: DGuller on June 02, 2015, 11:58:42 AM
I bet John Oliver is wishing now that he waited a week before promising to patronize all the FIFA sponsors if Blatter is gone.
Not really - rather he is certainly proud of the fact that his show forced Blatter to resign... :P
Jews can't kick a ball.
Unless there's a "Palestine" sticker on it.
I'll believe it when the conference is convened.
Right now, it's almost a year off.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on June 02, 2015, 01:45:41 PM
I'll believe it when the conference is convened.
Right now, it's almost a year off.
I'll believe it when meaningful reforms are enacted.
Right now Blatter is just one more fall guy.
Quote from: Barrister on June 02, 2015, 01:47:47 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on June 02, 2015, 01:45:41 PM
I'll believe it when the conference is convened.
Right now, it's almost a year off.
I'll believe it when meaningful reforms are enacted.
Right now Blatter is just one more fall guy.
Who's pulling the strings then? :ph34r:
Yeah. Don't see how the big enchilada can be a fall guy.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 02, 2015, 02:15:07 PM
Yeah. Don't see how the big enchilada can be a fall guy.
He could easily be replaced by someone else just as corrupt. Reforming the organization so that it isn't so easily corruptible is important beyond just changing the people in charge.
Quote from: frunk on June 02, 2015, 02:17:21 PM
He could easily be replaced by someone else just as corrupt. Reforming the organization so that it isn't so easily corruptible is important beyond just changing the people in charge.
I don't see how this relates to the question of Blatter being a a fall guy.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 02, 2015, 02:15:07 PM
Yeah. Don't see how the big enchilada can be a fall guy.
He's a fall guy for the organization/system as a whole.
QuoteThe size of the Executive Committee must be reduced and its members should be elected
through the FIFA Congress.
This would achieve two things: kick the Brits off the ExCom and have it directly elected by 207 football associations, most of whom are under the patronage of the corrupt FIFA core.
Neither of which I see as addressing the problem, which is the system of patronage itself, created by the way each FA has equal voting rights but many of which are dependent on FIFA largesse to survive.
It's probable there is some very damaging info on Blatter that he expects to come out soon and this is his way of getting out in front on damage control.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on June 02, 2015, 02:25:11 PM
It's probable there is some very damaging info on Blatter that he expects to come out soon and this is his way of getting out in front on damage control.
My guess is he was offered a deal.
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Quote from: Syt on June 02, 2015, 03:08:14 PM
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:lol:
Quote from: Warspite on June 02, 2015, 02:24:57 PM
QuoteThe size of the Executive Committee must be reduced and its members should be elected
through the FIFA Congress.
This would achieve two things: kick the Brits off the ExCom and have it directly elected by 207 football associations, most of whom are under the patronage of the corrupt FIFA core.
Neither of which I see as addressing the problem, which is the system of patronage itself, created by the way each FA has equal voting rights but many of which are dependent on FIFA largesse to survive.
Exactly my thoughts.
"Reforms". My big butt.
Switzerland barred any Swiss citizens who work for FIFA from leaving Switzerland.... Blatter no longer works for FIFA.....Probably resigned so he could flee to Russia.
I would like to think this will bring change. I am old enough to believe there will be a promise to change and not so much change.
Quote from: PDH on June 02, 2015, 11:09:34 PM
I would like to think this will bring change. I am old enough to believe there will be a promise to change and not so much change.
There is way too much easy money in this thing for real change.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32986950
QuoteFifa's Sepp Blatter 'under investigation in US'
Fifa president Sepp Blatter is being investigated by US officials as part of their inquiry into corruption at the world football body, US media say.
The news came hours after Mr Blatter, 79, announced that he was stepping down from his role.
US prosecutors launched a criminal inquiry last week, with seven Fifa officials arrested in Switzerland, part of a group of 14 people indicted.
Two days after the arrests, Mr Blatter was re-elected president of Fifa.
However, he said on Tuesday that it appeared the mandate he had been given "does not seem to be supported by everyone in the world".
Mr Blatter said: "Fifa needs profound restructuring." He said he would continue in post until an extraordinary congress is called to elect a new president.
No dates have been set, but it is expected to take place between December 2015 and March 2016.
'Bribes and kickbacks'
US officials quoted in the New York Times said they hoped to gain the co-operation of some of the Fifa figures now under indictment on charges of racketeering and money laundering to try to build a case against Mr Blatter.
Earlier the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, who is involved in the US prosecutions, all said they would not comment on the Blatter resignation.
In its prosecution, the US justice department said 14 individuals were under investigation worldwide for allegedly accepting bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period.
Two vice-presidents were among the seven Fifa officials arrested in Zurich. They all await US extradition proceedings.
Brazilian footballing legend Pele told the BBC that the developments surrounding Fifa and Mr Blatter "surprised everyone".
"My position is like a player. I want to see football put people together, stop the war," he said.
"Fifa needs honest people."
The arrests overshadowed the vote for a new president, which Mr Blatter won, defeating his sole challenger, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan.
Prince Ali withdrew despite forcing a second round, having lost the first by 133 votes to 73.
Mr Blatter, who is Swiss and has been Fifa president since 1998, said he would urge Fifa's executive committee to organise an extraordinary congress "for the election of my successor at the earliest opportunity".
"This will need to be done in line with Fifa's statutes and we must allow enough time for the best candidates to present themselves and to campaign."
Further allegations of corruption emerged on Tuesday with claims that Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke was linked to an alleged $10m (£6m) payment of bribes over South Africa's bid to host the 2010 World Cup. He denies any wrongdoing.
A separate criminal investigation by Swiss authorities into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were allocated is also under way.
A few German sites claim that sponsors are leaning on FIFA to clean up their act.
Who needs sponsors when you have bribes?
FAZ has an OpEd saying that this is another tactic by Blatter - blaming the lack of reform on being dependent on the electorate of blockers, and that now any failure to reform is on their heads.
Quote from: Barrister on June 02, 2015, 02:23:25 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 02, 2015, 02:15:07 PM
Yeah. Don't see how the big enchilada can be a fall guy.
He's a fall guy for the organization/system as a whole.
That's like saying Louis XVI was the fall guy for the ancien regime. Sure, the monarchy eventually got back into power but when the top honcho gets axed, he is not a "fall guy".
Quote from: PDH on June 02, 2015, 11:09:34 PM
I would like to think this will bring change. I am old enough to believe there will be a promise to change and not so much change.
Sometimes I think we should execute people for corruption like China does.
Hasn't quite stopped corruption in the PRC, has it? But I'd be all for guilloutining Blatter.
Quote from: Martinus on June 03, 2015, 06:43:46 AM
That's like saying Louis XVI was the fall guy for the ancien regime.
Wait does this mean the US Government is like the Insurrectional Paris Commune? Anyway unless FIFA is being abolished I don't think this comparison holds up. This is more like sacrificing Ferdinand during the 1848 Revolution to save the Habsburg Regime.
The US is the avenging angel of death.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 03, 2015, 07:34:09 AM
The US is the avenging angel of death.
:w00t:
I have never been so proud to be an American.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 03, 2015, 07:34:09 AM
The US is the avenging angel of death.
And for once, Europe loves you for it. :hug: :uffda:
How ironic that the great transatlantic reconciliation has taken place over football, of all things.
Don't you mean: soccer?
He does.
It is called MLS afterall.
Quote from: Norgy on June 03, 2015, 08:01:22 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 03, 2015, 07:34:09 AM
The US is the avenging angel of death.
And for once, Europe loves you for it. :hug: :uffda:
Ick. Don't touch me.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on June 02, 2015, 02:25:11 PM
It's probable there is some very damaging info on Blatter that he expects to come out soon and this is his way of getting out in front on damage control.
Quote from: Syt on June 03, 2015, 02:37:10 AM
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32986950
QuoteFifa's Sepp Blatter 'under investigation in US'
Fifa president Sepp Blatter is being investigated by US officials as part of their inquiry into corruption at the world football body, US media say.
The news came hours after Mr Blatter, 79, announced that he was stepping down from his role.
That was quick.
Loretta Lynch doesn't mess around. She's no mere coal miner's daughter.
Quote from: derspiess on June 03, 2015, 09:16:59 AM
Quote from: Norgy on June 03, 2015, 08:01:22 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 03, 2015, 07:34:09 AM
The US is the avenging angel of death.
And for once, Europe loves you for it. :hug: :uffda:
Ick. Don't touch me.
Don't worry, I won't give you socialist cooties. You seem quite immune anyway.
Quote from: Norgy on June 03, 2015, 08:01:22 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 03, 2015, 07:34:09 AM
The US is the avenging angel of death.
And for once, Europe loves you for it. :hug: :uffda:
We should invite America to an honorary celebratory football tournament! [spoiler]with pro/rel and no playoffs.[/spoiler]
I hope we get that African ref that fucked us 2 Cups back.
Now that FIFA hopefully will be sorted, we just have to deal with the gambling syndicates and the match fixing. :ph34r:
Quote from: Norgy on June 03, 2015, 10:56:03 AM
Now that FIFA hopefully will be sorted, we just have to deal with the gambling syndicates and the match fixing. :ph34r:
US might be able to press the Swiss, but they can do nothing in China.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/03/us-soccer-fifa-idUSKBN0OI22P20150603?utm_source=Facebook
QuoteFBI to investigate Russia, Qatar World Cup bids
The FBI's investigation of alleged corruption at FIFA includes scrutiny of how soccer's governing body awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 competition to Qatar, a U.S. law enforcement official said.
The review would be part of a probe that goes beyond the allegations of bribery in a U.S. indictment of FIFA officials announced a week ago, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
U.S. authorities said at the time they were investigating a $150 million bribery case while Swiss prosecutors announced their own criminal inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 bids.
Russia and Qatar have denied wrongdoing in the conduct of their bids. In the case of Qatar, there was some surprise that the tournament was awarded to a small desert country with no real soccer tradition and where daytime summer temperatures can top 40 degrees Celsius (104F).
Qatar's Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah said there was no way Qatar would be stripped of its right to host the cup because it had had the best bid.
"It is very difficult for some to digest that an Arab Islamic country has this tournament, as if this right can't be for an Arab state," he told Reuters in an interview in Paris. "I believe it is because of prejudice and racism that we have this bashing campaign against Qatar."
For its part, Russia dismissed concerns it might lose the right to host the cup. "Cooperation with FIFA is going on and, most importantly, Russia is continuing preparations for the 2018 World Cup," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.
Among issues the FBI is examining is the stewardship of FIFA by its longtime president Sepp Blatter, who unexpectedly announced on Tuesday he was resigning shortly before it emerged that he too was under investigation by U.S. law enforcement.
U.S. authorities said last week that their investigation would continue.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said when she announced the indictments that the Department of Justice looked forward to continuing to work with other countries, while the case prosecutor Kelly Currie said the indictment was not the final chapter in their investigation.
A source close to FIFA said it was Blatter's advisers who had told him he must quit. Critics pointed to the widening criminal probe, disquiet among sponsors, and pressure from European soccer body UEFA as possible reasons.
Earlier, the international police organization Interpol put two former top FIFA officials on its wanted list at the request of U.S. authorities.
Interpol issued wanted person alerts for Jack Warner, a former president of CONCACAF, which governs soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, and Nicolas Leoz, the ex-head of South America's soccer federation.
The others subject to the "red notices" - which are not arrest warrants - are Alejandro Burzaco, Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, and Jose Margulies, a Brazilian who headed two companies involved in broadcasting soccer matches.
They are among FIFA officials and sports media and promotion executives named in the U.S. indictment. www.interpol.int
BRIBE DENIED
FIFA has denied that another senior official, Secretary General Jerome Valcke, was involved in a $10 million payment approved by the South African Football Association that lies at the heart of the U.S. investigation.
At a news conference in Johannesburg, sports minister Fikile Mbalula confirmed the payment to Warner during South Africa's successful bid for the 2010 World Cup but denied it was a bribe. Mbalula said the cash was intended for football development in the Caribbean, Warner's home region.
Valcke said on Wednesday he was not guilty of corrupt practice relating to the payment and he saw no reason to resign.
U.S. legal authorities announced last week they are investigating alleged bribery and corruption at FIFA going back 24 years at the same time as Swiss prosecutors revealed their probe into the award of the next two World Cups.
Blatter announced his decision to step down on Tuesday - six days after police raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials, and four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term as president.
Blatter has not been charged and FIFA did not respond to a request for comment on his being under investigation.
An election to choose a new president will probably not take place until at least December. Blatter, meanwhile, remains in his position.
FIFA executive committee member Kozo Tashima of Japan told Japanese media that Blatter should go at once.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNqsQJ3a1fI
QuoteFIFA has denied that another senior official, Secretary General Jerome Valcke, was involved in a $10 million payment approved by the South African Football Association that lies at the heart of the U.S. investigation.
At a news conference in Johannesburg, sports minister Fikile Mbalula confirmed the payment to Warner during South Africa's successful bid for the 2010 World Cup but denied it was a bribe. Mbalula said the cash was intended for football development in the Caribbean, Warner's home region.
Valcke said on Wednesday he was not guilty of corrupt practice relating to the payment and he saw no reason to resign.
Now that is some brilliant spin.
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Wasn't aware some of them were still on the lam :menace:
Warner was the one who claimed exhaustion and old age to be released from hospital, where he was being kept arrested, and then appeared dancing at a political rally that same evening. I guess he just doesn't give a crap anymore. He has some kind of political office in Trinidad, maybe he has political immunity there.
He's out on $400,000 bond now.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/04/fifa-crisis-jack-warner-says-he-fears-for-life-and-will-reveal-avalanche-of-secrets
QuoteFifa scandal: Jack Warner fears for his life and will reveal 'avalanche' of secrets
Former Fifa vice president makes dramatic TV appearance in which he claims he will prove a link between soccer's governing body and Trinidad and Tobago elections
The former Fifa vice president Jack Warner has made an extraordinary television appearance in which he says he fears for his life and claims he will prove a link between soccer's governing body and the national elections in his native Trinidad and Tobago.
The claims come while Fifa struggles to cope with the ongoing fallout following corruption charges that were issued by US authorities against Warner and 13 other key football figures.
Warner is the subject of an Interpol red notice and was arrested and held in jail overnight in Trinidad last Wednesday, but was later released on bail.
He initially denied any wrongdoing, and said at the time he was "afforded no due process".
Following his arrest, in a televised broadcast in Trinidad on Thursday, Warner claimed he had documentation that could prove a link between key Fifa officials and the 2010 Trinidad election.
"I will no longer keep secrets for them," he said.
Warner makes allegations that the documents "also deal with my knowledge of transactions at Fifa, including – but not limited to – its president, Mr Sepp Blatter".
Blatter has not yet responded to Warner's allegations
Warner also apologised for not disclosing his knowledge of the alleged links previously.
"Not even death will stop the avalanche that is coming" he said. "The die is cast. There can be no turning back. Let the chips fall where they fall."
Warner is yet to produce any documentation to support his allegations.
He also said in the televised address, which was a paid political advertisement, that "I reasonably actually fear for my life."
The stunning revelations out of Marabella, Trinidad come just hours after a transcript was made public of former FIFA executive Chuck Blazer's admission that he and other members of the all-powerful executive committee were bribed in return for voting for South Africa's bid for the 2010 World Cup.
Chuck Blazer, a 70-year-old soccer chief, first made the admission in testimony to a New York judge in 2013, the details of which had not been publicly available until now, following a petition from three New York-based reporters.
It revealed how the judge in the case, Raymond Dearie, referred to Fifa as a "racketeering influenced corrupt organisation", the same terminology used in cases of organised crime, and only allowed the hearing to proceed after the Brooklyn courtroom had been locked.
Entering his plea, Blazer then detailed the long list of events and marketing contracts on which he and others took kickbacks.
"Beginning in or about 1993 and continuing through the early 2000s, I and others agreed to accept bribes and kickbacks in conjunction with the broadcast and other rights to the 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003 Gold Cups," he told the judge.
The Department of Justice said last week that Blazer faces a maximum 20 years' incarceration in a US prison for the conspiracies, 10 for the failure to declare his foreign bank accounts, and five years for the tax evasion charges.
It said Blazer had pleaded guilty to receiving $750,000 from Jack Warner, part of Blazer's agreed $1m share of the $10m paid to Concacaf by Fifa, after Warner agreed to vote for South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup.
The latest claims from Warner come shortly after the resignation of the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, just days after he re-elected for a fifth term to lead the world body.
Will he provide relevant Onion articles to back up his claims?
This is getting awesomer. :D
QuoteThe die is cast. There can be no turning back. Let the chips fall where they fall.
Valmy's sig should sue for plagiarism
Will be interesting to see if they find something on the 2006 world cup or if the German organizing committee was so artful in its corruption that it didn't leave traces.
Quote from: Zanza on June 04, 2015, 10:11:50 AM
Will be interesting to see if they find something on the 2006 world cup or if the German organizing committee was so artful in its corruption that it didn't leave traces.
The old Titanic campaign comes to mind where they sent letters promising gift baskets if the execs would vote for Germany. ;)
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Throw in a case of Weihenstephaner and it would sway my vote.
I love how they bold really good sausages :perv:
The campaign was done by this guy, btw: http://languish.org/forums/index.php/topic,12076.0.html
Quote from: celedhring on June 04, 2015, 10:41:39 AM
I love how they bold really good sausages :perv:
And, hold on to your seat, a wonderful KuKuClock!
Are you implying France sent out cheese and baguettes to get France 98? SLANDER SIR!
By the looks of some of the FIFA officials, a tub of lard seems just as likely to work as a bribe.
50 gallon barrel of lube.
Quote from: Norgy on June 04, 2015, 05:46:27 AM
Will he provide relevant Onion articles to back up his claims?
:lol:
The plot thickens
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/04/fifa-payment-fai-thierry-henry-handball-loan-build-stadium
Quote
The Football Association of Ireland has claimed it was paid €5m (£3.67m) by outgoing Fifa president Sepp Blatter to drop legal action over a controversial handball by Thierry Henry that prevented the country reaching the World Cup finals in 2010.
Hardly surprising, people were speculating over it back then.
It gave us the "bus strike" though, paving the way for one of Platini's Bons mots.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on June 04, 2015, 11:01:07 PM
The plot thickens
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/04/fifa-payment-fai-thierry-henry-handball-loan-build-stadium
Quote
The Football Association of Ireland has claimed it was paid €5m (£3.67m) by outgoing Fifa president Sepp Blatter to drop legal action over a controversial handball by Thierry Henry that prevented the country reaching the World Cup finals in 2010.
Don't we call this an out of court settlement?
THE PLOT THICKENED
Quote from: Ed Anger on June 05, 2015, 08:50:14 AM
THE PLOT THICKENED
what this story needs are fifa execs getting a contagious disease and tim would explode
What if FIFA Started its Own Asteroid Mining Project During the Cold War: Fascinating Alt History Conference derailed by sudden Ebola Outbreak, Quarantine Enforced by Laser Mounted Naval Vessels Manned by Revived Cloned Neanderthals.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on June 05, 2015, 11:39:38 AM
What if FIFA Started its Own Asteroid Mining Project During the Cold War: Fascinating Alt History Conference derailed by sudden Ebola Outbreak, Quarantine Enforced by Laser Mounted Naval Vessels Manned by Revived Cloned Neanderthals.
:timgasm:
L.
It was Blatter's foot-in-mouth disease that angered FAI the most apparently.
http://www.fai.ie/domestic/news/fai-statement-050615
Woah!
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/05/fifa-scandal-arms-germany-deal-saudi-valcke-warner-delaney-ireland-henry
QuoteA dark day for Fifa after claims of arms deals for World Cup votes
• Reports in Germany reveal Saudi deal in 2006
• John Delaney is asked to provide transparency over payment
The shockwaves from the corruption scandal that brought down Sepp Blatter continue to reverberate, with claims in Germany that the 2006 World Cup vote was influenced by a shipment of rocket-propelled grenades and allegations in Egypt that a Fifa executive solicited bribes during the 2010 bidding race.
As seven Fifa officials continued to fight extradition to the US over claims they were involved in a "World Cup of fraud", Blatter's right-hand man Jérôme Valcke remained at the centre of speculation over what he knew about a $10m payment to the disgraced former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner. And pressure on the Football Association of Ireland also grew amid the fallout from its admission that it agreed a secret €5m (£3.6m) payment after threatening legal action in the wake of Thierry Henry's handball that led to the goal that ended their chances of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
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The FAI chief executive, John Delaney, said the payment was agreed after he confronted Blatter about Henry's role in Ireland's World Cup play-off defeat. Fifa has claimed the payment was a loan towards the construction of a stadium that was later written off.
The Irish taoiseach, Enda Kenny, called on Delaney to provide more detail about the situation, after Delaney admitted receiving the payment in a radio interview on Thursday. "This is quite extraordinary," said Kenny. "But I would say that any questions that need to be answered here in the interests of transparency and accountability ... John Delaney should answer and will answer all of those questions, I'm quite sure."
As it emerged that the Ireland players had no knowledge of the payment, amid calls for Delaney to explain why it was not revealed at the time, Kenny said he believed the FAI chief executive's position remained "tenable". The FAI last night released a detailed statement and bank documents to prove it had acted properly, also arguing it had suffered reputational damage after Blatter made light of an earlier meeting at a press conference.
Elsewhere, the downfall of Blatter has sparked an avalanche of claims about major decisions taken by Fifa in recent years. The German newspaper Die Zeit reported on Friday that the then chancellor Gerhard Shröder supplied arms to Saudi Arabia in return for support in Germany's World Cup bid, in which it defeated South Africa 12-11 in the final round in controversial circumstances. The claims alleged that the government lifted arms restrictions days before the vote in order to make the shipment and help swing Saudi Arabia's vote to Germany.
The claims mean that the votes for the 1998, 2006, 2010, 2018 and 2022 tournaments are now under scrutiny in some way. Brazilian authorities and the FBI are also looking into the contracts signed in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup.
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FBI sources have confirmed that it is investigating claims relating to all of those tournaments except 2006 and Egypt, one of the bidders for 2010, has now alleged that Warner – who has vigorously denied wrongdoing but was charged in the US indictment – asked for a $7m bribe.
"I did not imagine that Fifa was so corrupt," the former Egypt sports minister Aley Eddine Helal told ONTV in Cairo. "Jack Warner demanded $7m before the voting. Egypt's FA president El-Dahshori Harb met with the Fifa official in the United Arab Emirates and informed me that he wanted a $7m bribe."Helal said he and other officials on the 2010 bid committee have been silent for the 11 years since losing because they did not have any proof to back "the suspicions we have always had about the disgraceful way we lost".
Egypt failed to poll a single vote and the tournament was awarded to South Africa, which was desperate to clinch the right to host the World Cup after losing out so narrowly to Germany for 2006. New evidence has also emerged that appears to confirm that Danny Jordaan, the leader of the 2010 World Cup bid and organising committee, and the Fifa secretary general, Valcke, knew about a disputed $10m payment to Warner's Concacaf confederation.
In a statement this week, Fifa insisted that neither Blatter nor Valcke initiated the payment but a letter quickly emerged that showed the Fifa general secretary was aware of the detail in 2008. A new leaked letter from Jordaan, dated December 2007, appears to be the first time he outlines the scheme to Valcke. He suggests that the $10m, which the US alleges ended up in Warner's Bank of America account, be deducted by Fifa from the monies owed to the World Cup organising committee and sent to Concacaf. Fifa and the South African Football Federation have denied wrongdoing, claiming the payment was made in good faith to support the World Cup's Diaspora Programme in the Caribbean. Valcke insisted this week he was "beyond reproach".
Uefa's president, Michel Platini, arrived in Zurich on Friday to consider his options a week after frustration at seeing his chosen challenger to Blatter, Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein, defeated turned to relief at seeing Blatter deposed. All six global confederations are lying low, biding their time as they work out how to best calibrate their positions while Blatter attempts to cling on to power until promised elections between December and March. The FBI investigation is ongoing and further indictments are expected to follow, while US investigators and Swiss prosecutors are looking into the 2018-22 bidding race.
David Gill, the Football Association vice-chairman, has ruled out standing for the Fifa presidency.
The part about Germany and Saudi Arabia has been public knowledge for fifteen years. There is no conclusive evidence though that it wasn't merely coincidental.
There are a few more suspect deals around Germany's world cup bid, but none of them was just wiring money to the FIFA executives. It was much more circumspect and probably all legal. Mainly multinationals promising investments in the countries etc.
COINCIDENTAL PLOT THICKENS!!!111
From Postillon's weekly Sunday survey:
"Which song is Blatter listening to in this picture?"
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-g1-FDtPttB4%2FVXP6tK2O9hI%2FAAAAAAAAe2g%2FNLaUXa5I3lo%2Fs1600%2FBlattsAudio.jpg&hash=eb0f3c1c10dedaa5830f31c8d333699619121a60)
Options:
"Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley
"One Hand Washes the Other" by Clarence Clarity
"Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash
"The Godfather" soundtrack
"Money, Money, Money" by ABBA
"The Final Countdown" by Europe
"Can't Buy Me Love" by the Beatles
"Don't Speak" by No Doubt
"The Imperial March" from the Star Wars Soundtrack by John Williams
"Sinkin' Soon" by Norah Jones
"It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy feat. Ricardo Ducent
"Crazy Baldheads" by Bob Marley
"Time to Say Goodbye" by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli
"Behind Closed Doors" by Charlie Rich
Sympathy for the devil.
I'm suspecting that in the coming days it will come out that FIFA was actually the entity trying to purchase the yellowcake uranium from africa.
It's gonna happen :)
Last Week Tonight @LastWeekTonight
On tonight's Last Week Tonight, @iamjohnoliver keeps a promise
He's actually going to eat a burger and drink a Bud? The man has balls of steel. :rolleyes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXyWCQeLxrc
Man of his word.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 07, 2015, 07:41:14 PM
He's actually going to eat a burger and drink a Bud? The man has balls of steel. :rolleyes:
Really?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2488201-just-2-people-turn-up-as-self-funded-fifa-movie-makes-hollywood-debut?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national
QuoteJust 2 People Turn Up as Self-Funded FIFA Movie Makes Hollywood Debut
The self-funded FIFA movie United Passions looks like it is going to be a huge flop in the United States.
The film tells the history of FIFA, with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction star Tim Roth taking the role of Sepp Blatter.
However, in the wake of the scandals that have rocked the association, it seems there is little appetite for this sanitised telling of the FIFA story.
The film was released in just one theatre in the whole of Los Angeles and even then, the first screening was virtually empty.
As Daina Beth Solomon of Reuters noted:
At the first screening of FIFA-funded film "United Passions" in Los Angeles the week after U.S. prosecutors charged several officials of world soccer's governing body, only two people attended - one out of curiosity, the other as a soccer fan.
The 2014 French film, starring British actor Tim Roth as FIFA president Sepp Blatter, had an estimated budget of 24 million euros ($27 million), of which FIFA officials have acknowledged providing about 20 million euros.
Solomon also noted some of the reviews of the film, with the New York Times calling it "one of the most unwatchable films in recent memory" and the Guardian describing it as "excrement."
It didn't get better. After a weekend release in which the film screened in 10 cinemas across the United States, the Hollywood Reporter wrote that it had taken just $607:
Writer-director Frederic Auburtin's film beyond bombed in its limited debut in 10 theaters, earning a measly $607 on Friday and Saturday, according to those with access to Rentrak figures. The FilmBar theater in downtown Phoenix reported a gross of just $9, meaning only one person bought a ticket to see United Passions, which details the history of the now-embattled FIFA.
We are not going to lie: We kind of want to see it now.
:lol:
Why would any theater at all show it? And is Tim Roth really that desperate for a pay check?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 08, 2015, 09:24:22 AM
Why would any theater at all show it? And is Tim Roth really that desperate for a pay check?
I think movie contracts often stipulate a theater release.
I liked the fact that Oliver pointed out that technically he didn't have to drink the "beer" but he did it anyway.
i've bought and enjoyed bud light lime on more than one occasion :weep:
Quote from: LaCroix on June 08, 2015, 06:56:53 PM
i've bought and enjoyed bud light lime on more than one occasion :weep:
:console:
Looks like FIFA birbes indirectly determined the government of Trinadad
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150606/editorial/only-one-way-out
QuoteOnly One Way Out
Published on Jun 6, 2015, 8:23 pm AST
By Sunity Maharaj
The tiger she rode proudly into office has now climbed onto the Prime Minister's back, its claws in deep, bent on dragging her off the high horse of prime ministerial power.
For a moment there, the rider had seemed set for a clean dismount from the tiger so suddenly tamed. But now, whipped by betrayal and wounded by rejection, the beast is back for revenge, spurred to new life by the US Justice system.
Now playing before global audiences, this Caribbean re-make of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly starring Jack Warner in the role of Wanted Man, is a reality TV box-office hit. Finally, T&T has achieved its ambition of being an international blockbuster location. And, once again, it is Jack Warner who is putting us on the map.
From Warner's own standpoint, the US Justice Department could not have chosen a better time to have him arrested. With Persad-Bissessar's Government dead centre in its re-election campaign, Warner's political ammunition is at its most potent. Far from being irrational grand-standing, his attacks and threats constitute a very public negotiation with the Government which smells a lot like blackmail. Designed to pressure the Government into doing whatever it might take to keep him out of the US justice system, Warner's demand seems clear and specific. He wants what Ish and Steve have, and he wants it now. Indeed, what the public is seeing might be just a fraction of what is at play. We are, after all, bit players in the drama between Warner and his former queen consort.
To perceive Warner's statement as blackmail is one thing, but the idea that senior Government officials could be blackmail-able is a far more scary contemplation.
Warner's indictment in the US has already put a serious spoke in the Government's re-election campaign. Whatever momentum had been built by the Partnership's lavish May 24 launch at Macoya evaporated from the moment of Warner's arrest.
Overnight, and moving at lightning speed since then, he has been catapulted to the status of global anti-hero. At the height of the political season, when rivals are fighting to claim every inch of available political air-space, it is Warner, not the main contenders for office, who is sucking the oxygen out of the political air-space. The situation will only intensify in the approach to Warner's next court appearance and might escalate if Warner's attorneys decide to challenge the extradition request even before the scheduled hearing takes place. The outlook, therefore, is for continuing melee with increasing likelihood of instability.
With the deadline for election approaching by the day, the Prime Minister might be knocking herself for having waited so long—not that she had much choice, given the evolution of the politics since Carnival. Over the past six months, no moment had seemed like the best moment for the best electoral outcome for the Partnership. And now, her best options are down to two: calling the election immediately for mid-July, or waiting until September. For now, let's rule out the current wild speculation about delayed elections amid a state of emergency.
If called now, the sheer volume of Partnership and PNM campaigning could drown out Warner's platform, although, when it comes to news, good political ammunition will cut through any amount of noise. Elections now would be the most plausible strategy for the Partnership given the Warner factor, but it will require the PM, above all, to regain her footing and keep her balance. Judging from her abrupt walk-out of Parliament on Friday, she might be too rattled right now for clinical strategising.
How ironic that the Government that has most fed the public's addiction to distractions should itself fall victim to the biggest distraction of all—Jack Warner. Despite the millions spent on public relations, and the army of highly-paid political strategists under its command, the Partnership seems to have been as blind-sided as Warner by the US Justice Department's move and the dramatic consequences that have flowed from it.
To date, the party's only response has been to deny Warner's claim of having financed it into office. However, for the many who received payment directly from Warner's hands, and the many, many more of Partnership supporters who celebrated Warner's legendary generosity in buying the government of his and their choice, the PP's denial must be a real hard-sell. These supporters remember 2007 when the UNC was a broken vehicle threatened by Winston Dookeran's COP. They remember the razmatazz that Warner put on at Mid Centre Mall that sent UNC refugees scampering back, in time to help the UNC retain its position as parliamentary opposition while annihilating the COP at the polls. And again, in 2009-2010, they remember the internecine battles within the UNC and how, under his chosen queen. Warner put Humpty-Dumpty back together again, just in time to defeat Patrick Manning's PNM. To these people, asking for evidence of Warner's financing must be like asking them to prove that the sun is warm on their shoulders. They just know it.
As a man fighting for his life, Jack Warner has nothing to lose in dragging all T&T into a damaging battle. But the Prime Minister has the option of doing nothing or taking him head-on, at whatever price to self or party. For T&T's sake, she needs to call the election now and give the country a chance to hand a mandate to a new government of its choice, whether led by her or not.
This is the only way to end the political blood-letting now.
Stay classy, Jack.
QuoteJack Warner: Former FIFA vice-president investigated over missing Haiti earthquake funds, BBC reports
Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner is being investigated over the disappearance of money intended for victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the BBC has reported.
Mr Warner visited the country in the months after the disaster and pledged $974,550 from football's world governing body and the South Korean Football Association to help rebuild the country.
But US investigators said it was transferred to accounts controlled by Mr Warner for his personal use, and that four years on, the money was still unaccounted for.
A source close to the investigation told the BBC that they were working through 75 bank accounts connected to Mr Warner, but admitted some of the missing millions may never be found.
Another anonymous source said "was the most powerful man in the Caribbean".
"Given Warner's power in Trinidad, he could get transactions done that a regular person would not," he said.
The attorney-general in Mr Warner's native Trinidad and Tobago, Garvin Nicholas, has also promised to investigate.
"I think if Jack Warner actually stole money that was meant for Haiti, that is a most despicable crime, and I would expect the authorities to do all that they can to ensure the recovery of that money," he said.
Mr Warner is wanted in the US on charges of corruption and money laundering, but denies all allegations.
He has emerged as a key figure in the scandal that erupted last month as one of 14 current or former FIFA officials and sports marketing executives accused by US prosecutors of taking part in a sweeping kickbacks scheme going back 20 years involving a total of $197 million in bribes.
The scandal, which also involves a Swiss probe into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, led to the announcement of the resignation of veteran FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, just four days after his re-election for a fifth successive term.
Warner has also been accused of asking Egypt for a $US7 million bribe for votes to host the 2010 World Cup, and the BBC claimed he pocketed a $13 million payment made by South Africa through FIFA which was intended to pay for football development for the African diaspora in the Caribbean.
That's mustache-twirling villainy, I'm awaiting for the FBI to uncover their secret island base and missile silos any day now.
:lol:
http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/watch-john-olivers-message-to-jack-warner-that-aired-on-1710240005
Quote
Watch John Oliver's Message To Jack Warner That Aired On Trinidad TV
fifa scandal
6/09/15 9:11pm
Comedian and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver responded to ex-FIFA official and wanted man Jack Warner's wild "The Gloves Are Off" paid political program by buying his own airtime on Trinidad television and airing a parody titled "The Mittens Of Disapproval Are On." We recorded it, and you can watch it above.
Oliver's program was recorded from his Last Week Tonight studio, with the usual studio audience. He used the airtime to beg Jack Warner to "release everything" because "I've been looking through the indictment and... good luck with that."
The four-minute segment aired directly after an episode of 24 and pre-empted the first few minutes of Mike & Molly. TV6 is Trinidad's largest private television broadcaster.
Is anyone genuinely surprised by the corruption. To me the only surprise is that there is real desire to do something about it.
:lol:
Oh dear we export Mike & Molly? :(
I've never seen it but Roseanne was tolerable. :hmm:
I love Roseanne. Hilarious. :cool:
She's going blind these days though. :(
Quote from: jimmy olsen on June 10, 2015, 12:13:18 AM
:lol:
http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/watch-john-olivers-message-to-jack-warner-that-aired-on-1710240005
Quote
Watch John Oliver's Message To Jack Warner That Aired On Trinidad TV
fifa scandal
6/09/15 9:11pm
Comedian and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver responded to ex-FIFA official and wanted man Jack Warner's wild "The Gloves Are Off" paid political program by buying his own airtime on Trinidad television and airing a parody titled "The Mittens Of Disapproval Are On." We recorded it, and you can watch it above.
Oliver's program was recorded from his Last Week Tonight studio, with the usual studio audience. He used the airtime to beg Jack Warner to "release everything" because "I've been looking through the indictment and... good luck with that."
The four-minute segment aired directly after an episode of 24 and pre-empted the first few minutes of Mike & Molly. TV6 is Trinidad's largest private television broadcaster.
That was great
Fifa communications head Walter De Gregorio resigns after police jokeToo funny for FIFA? He seemed somewhat competent at his post.
QuoteWalter De Gregorio has left his post as Fifa's head of communications days after making a joke on television about the world governing body, despite having defended it and been its most prominent public face throughout the recent crisis which led the president, Sepp Blatter, to announce his resignation although he currently remains at the helm.
Appearing on Swiss TV on Monday De Gregorio said: "The Fifa president, secretary general and communications director are in a car. Who's driving? The police."
A statement from Fifa said De Gregorio had decided to step down with immediate effect. It marks the latest twist in the crisis engulfing Fifa, which began two and a half weeks ago when the FBI and Swiss authorities arrested numerous officials following a dawn raid in Zurich amid allegations of endemic corruption.
Fifa confirmed on Thursday that the extraordinary executive committee meeting to decide the date for the presidential election will take place on 20 July in Zurich, with a statement saying the extraordinary elective congress will be held between December and February.
De Gregorio was present at Blatter's resignation speech before a sparse media contingent. The Swiss has been one of Blatter's most senior aides since joining Fifa in September 2011, and strongly defended it after the arrests.
Only hours after US and Swiss officials raided the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich – amid the news that several senior Fifa officials faced extradition to the US on federal corruption charges – De Gregorio attempted to quell the growing storm at a press conference by describing the incident as good for Fifa.
He said: "This for Fifa is good. It is not good in terms of image or reputation but in terms of cleaning up, this is good. It is not a nice day but it is also a good day. The process goes on and we are looking forward."
However, De Gregorio's joke on Swiss TV appears to have proved pivotal for the former journalist, with Fifa releasing a statement on Thursday which said: "Walter De Gregorio has decided to relinquish his office with immediate effect as director of communications and public affairs. Mr De Gregorio joined Fifa on 14 September 2011 and will serve Fifa on a consultancy basis until the end of this year. His deputy Nicolas Maingot will resume the role ad interim."
The Fifa general secretary, Jérôme Valcke – who has come under pressure for his involvement regarding a $10m payment made by Fifa in relation to the 2010 South Africa World Cup – said: "Walter has worked incredibly hard for the past four years and we are immensely grateful for all he has done. I am glad we will be able to continue to draw on his expertise until the end of the year."
The FBI said last week it was extending its investigation into corruption at Fifa into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, to be held in Russia and Qatar. The head of the organising committee for Russia 2018, Alexei Sorokin, stated that neither the US nor Swiss investigators had contacted Russia and criticised the "hysteria" surrounding Fifa's current plight.
"We just need to ponder in whose interest it is to draw up the bridge between us and our partners in Fifa," Sorokin said. "Strangely this comes when a sizeable Fifa delegation is in Samara, where we're trying to prepare the World Cup together. It's not necessary to put yourselves into some sort of hysteria or trance about all this. The organisation has the capability to self-regulate and possibly fix incorrect decisions made in the past. The participation of law enforcement organs isn't necessary."
On Thursday the European parliament called on Blatter to stand down with immediate effect, urging its member states to cooperate fully with the ongoing investigations into corruption.
Only two hours after De Gregorio's departure was announced, an extract from the Fifa Weekly magazine was publicised in which Blatter wrote: "Fifa is going through difficult times. This makes me all the more proud that our organisation runs smoothly in a crisis." It is thought he was referring to the Women's and Under-20 World Cups when describing the smooth running of Fifa.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/11/fifa-communications-head-walter-de-gregorio-resigns (http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/11/fifa-communications-head-walter-de-gregorio-resigns)
:lol:
Sepp is considering withdrawing his resignation :ph34r:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/14/fifa_s_sepp_blatter_reportedly_reconsidering_decision_to_resign.html
I can understand that African/Asian federations would want to keep the system in place, because for many of them FIFA is the main source of income. For a reform of FIFA you have to come up with a system that will keep both the major federations happy, as well as the small ones.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/majority-see-fifa-scandal-as-attack-on-russia/523833.html
QuoteMajority See FIFA Scandal as Attack on Russia
Most Russians think that corruption allegations against officials at FIFA, football's governing body, leveled by U.S. investigators last month are an attempt to prevent Russia from hosting the 2018 World Cup, according to a survey published Wednesday by state-run pollster VTsIOM.
A total of 65 percent of respondents said that the work of the FBI was an "attempt to pressure Russia and obstruct the World Cup in Russia," according to VTsIOM.
Seven FIFA officials were arrested in Switzerland last month as the organization gathered to elect a new president as a result of a U.S. Justice Department investigation into racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. Another seven defendants have been indicted in the case.
A popular perception that politics is the reason for the U.S. probe chimes with statements made by President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials, who accuse the United States of trying to dominate the world. Anti-U.S. rhetoric from officials, and in state-controlled media, has intensified as ties between Russia and the West have deteriorated over the Ukraine crisis, which began in early 2014.
"The arrests look, to say the very least, really strange. ... It is clearly yet another attempt [by the U.S.] to spread its jurisdiction to other states," Putin said in an interview on May 28.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who is also on FIFA's executive committee, echoed Putin's criticism of the United States' role in the arrests. "For some reason they come to Europe to arrest people," he said last month.
He noted that FIFA's continental federation in the United States is headquartered in Miami. "They could have arrested them there," Mutko said.
Moscow officials have tended to avoid mentioning a parallel probe into FIFA officials launched by Swiss investigators last month looking at possible wrongdoing in the allocation of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to the oil-rich Gulf state of Qatar.
The U.S. investigation is not explicitly looking at the voting procedure for the allocation of the World Cup.
In their questions to respondents, VTsIOM elided the U.S. and Swiss investigations, stating that the FBI had accused the detained FIFA officials of vote-buying to rig the awarding of the World Cup to Russia.
Both Russia and FIFA have said that the criminal inquiries against FIFA will not have any impact on Russia's status as the host of the tournament, which is set to take place between June 14 and July 15.
The survey, which involved 1,600 people and had a margin of error of 3.5 percent, also showed that 65 percent of Russians think the World Cup was awarded fairly and honestly to Russia while just 13 percent believed the voting procedure was likely tainted by violations.
U.S. investigators said this week that they have been eyeing corruption at FIFA since as early as 2011, when they signed an agreement with senior FIFA official Chuck Blazer, who pleaded guilty to bribery and money laundering charges, to pass on information about FIFA, the BBC Sport news site reported Tuesday.
Russia was awarded the 2018 World Cup in 2010 after a bidding campaign marred by allegations of bribe-taking, spying and vote-rigging. An investigation was carried out for FIFA by former U.S. Federal Prosecutor Michael Garcia into allegations of wrongdoing, but FIFA refused to publish Garcia's report, citing legal concerns. Garcia rejected the ruling and resigned.
Swiss prosecutors, who have seized around nine terabytes of data so far in connection with the case, said Wednesday that their investigation was independent of the U.S. probe and they were unconcerned about any impact their work might have on Russia's hosting of the 2018 tournament, the Reuters news agency reported.
:lol:
If we can just get the people of the world to identify Russia with FIFA we will have won. Surely that would even get the Germans to up defense spending.
Damn it they figured it out.
Russia is small potatoes compared to Trinidad and Tobago.
"Fifa president Sepp Blatter breaks his silence: "I did not resign, I put myself and my office in the hands of the FIFA congress.""
:bleeding: :lol: :weep:
Wow, that must suck for John Oliver then...
Webb is out on bail, Blatter's re-election FIFA presidential election is scheduled for February, despite calls to have it sooner, and a heckler/protester/comedian throws money at Blatter.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa.espncdn.com%2Fcombiner%2Fi%2F%3Fimg%3D%2Fmedia%2Fmotion%2FESPNi%2F2015%2F0720%2Fint_150720_WATCH_Protester_throws_money_at_Blatter%2Fint_150720_WATCH_Protester_throws_money_at_Blatter.jpg&hash=bfd9b84d931a215605c04b0601520ebf51301dbc)
Video: http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/4/video/2528851/watch-intruder-throws-money-at-blatter?ex_cid=espnFB
Beautiful. :wub:
(https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11168757_10153483473338633_2880612841572532054_n.jpg?oh=b4ca820b73fc46dce1a6a25807c19290&oe=56571FE5)
Quote from: Syt on July 20, 2015, 09:07:32 AM
Beautiful. :wub:
(https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11168757_10153483473338633_2880612841572532054_n.jpg?oh=b4ca820b73fc46dce1a6a25807c19290&oe=56571FE5)
"One dollar bills? Yuck. Disgusting."
I was going to say, what a waste of money, even if those are US$1 bills.
But then, I have to admit, this picture will grab the headlines and it really drives the point home. Beautifully done.
Also saves a lot of time in image editing. :P
Quote from: Monoriu on July 20, 2015, 09:39:17 AM
I was going to say, what a waste of money, even if those are US$1 bills.
You can rest easy, Mono.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/20/sepp-blatter-fifa-dollar-bills-press-conference-lee-nelson
QuoteThe Fifa president Sepp Blatter walked out of a press conference after being showered with fake dollar bills by the British comedian Lee Nelson.
:hmm: I thought the rag content looked a little low.
North Korea 2026 :lol:
Id heard he had money thrown at him but that is actually rather funny
And here's what Ronaldo thinks:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3182940/Cristiano-Ronaldo-storms-interview-saying-does-not-f-FIFA.html
QuoteCristiano Ronaldo storms out interview saying he does not 'give a f*** about FIFA'
Cristiano Ronaldo does not give a f*** about FIFA - and that's straight from the horse's mouth.
The Ballon d'Or holder was asked in a recent interview his view on the scandals engulfing world football's governing body and he made his feelings clear.
'I don't care about FIFA, Qatar, I don't give a f***,' he said, before adding, 'speak about FIFA, come on...', as he stood up and walked out of the interview.
Fourteen people - including seven current FIFA officials - were arrested in May in connection with and FBI investigation into fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
Major doubts have arisen about the legitimacy of FIFA's awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar and shamed president Sepp Blatter is in the process of stepping down.
Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo, who was giving the interview in English, was recorded on video storming out of the interview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA--AL-7jj4
To be fair, it seems he was there to promote Nike products and allegedly was annoyed when he was asked about FIFA instead of how awesome Nike is.
The interview in transcription:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/03/football/cristiano-ronaldo-fifa-qatar-football?sr=cnnifb
QuoteAndres Oppenheimer (AO) (Spanish): Cristiano, many thanks for joining us. Before asking you about your new line of sporting headphones that you've come to the US to launch, we have to ask you about the issue in football that has been in the spotlight of the entire world: the corruption scandal surrounding FIFA. Question -- how is the corruption scandal at FIFA affecting playing on the field of play? Is it something that worries you?
Cristiano Ronaldo (CR) (Spanish): Do you want me to be honest? (yes.) It doesn't worry me at all. (why is that?) I do my profession, my job, I give me all for my club...the rest doesn't matter to me. I don't care what happens on the outside.
AO (Spanish): And your teammates?
CR (Spanish): I don't know. You have to speak with them. I don't know, I can't answer for everyone else.
AO (Spanish): But, don't tell me that you guys don't speak about it in the locker room.
CR (Spanish): You want to know the truth? We don't speak about it at all.
AO (Spanish): Not at all?
CR (Spanish): Not at all. We talk about other things.
AO (Spanish): What do you guys talk about?
CR (Spanish): About music, about women, about fashion, about shoes, about suitcases/bags, about jewelry, about haircuts...any more (you want me to list?)
AO (Spanish): You know, I don't believe you...it's difficult to believe it. Cristiano, the whole world is talking about it.
CR (Spanish): Yes, but personally, I don't talk about it.
AO (Spanish): (Tries to say something)
CR (Portuguese): Something in Portuguese.
AO (Spanish): Cristiano, one of the related issues that people talk about is the World Cup in Qatar. Many sports figures say that to play...
CR: snapping fingers...
Someone in the background (Spanish): OK, this isn't...
CR (English): This is, this is bulls**t.
Someone in the background (Spanish): We're trying to talk about...
CR (English): I can't speak like that. This is bulls**t. Speak about FIFA, I don't care about FIFA. And Qatar...I don't give a f**k. What you want me to do? (gestures with hand). Speak about product, he speaks about FIFA...come on. (walks off)
So, nothing here about Blatter being investigated over a massive bribe to Platini?
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/sep/25/sepp-blatter-fifa-president-time-up
Quote from: jimmy olsen on September 30, 2015, 10:45:00 PM
So, nothing here about Blatter being investigated over a massive bribe to Platini?
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/sep/25/sepp-blatter-fifa-president-time-up
I seem to be totally alone in the football thread. :(
Quote from: jimmy olsen on September 30, 2015, 10:45:00 PM
So, nothing here about Blatter being investigated over a massive bribe to Platini?
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/sep/25/sepp-blatter-fifa-president-time-up
Careful, Platini still has a groupie in this forum. :D
QuoteAbout music, about women, about fashion, about shoes, about suitcases/bags, about jewelry, about haircuts...any more (you want me to list?)
Pick one that does not match the others. :hmm:
Quote from: Martinus on October 01, 2015, 04:23:17 AM
QuoteAbout music, about women, about fashion, about shoes, about suitcases/bags, about jewelry, about haircuts...any more (you want me to list?)
Pick one that does not match the others. :hmm:
Hmmm.. no one stands out to me. :hmm:
I spend most of my time talking about suitcases.
Are they full of unmarked bills?
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 02, 2015, 07:38:07 AM
Are they full of unmarked bills?
Gosh I hope so. Why else would you discuss suitcases?
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 02, 2015, 07:38:07 AM
Are they full of unmarked bills?
The ducks will want to have a word with him.
Quote from: Valmy on October 02, 2015, 07:40:03 AM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 02, 2015, 07:38:07 AM
Are they full of unmarked bills?
Gosh I hope so. Why else would you discuss suitcases?
I could see it for people who travel together regularly making small talk.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 02, 2015, 07:51:45 AM
Quote from: Valmy on October 02, 2015, 07:40:03 AM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on October 02, 2015, 07:38:07 AM
Are they full of unmarked bills?
Gosh I hope so. Why else would you discuss suitcases?
I could see it for people who travel together regularly making small talk.
That's what I thought, especially if everyone in that group makes enough money in one week to easily fill a suitcase with cash.
Quote from: Liep on October 01, 2015, 04:27:28 AM
Quote from: Martinus on October 01, 2015, 04:23:17 AM
QuoteAbout music, about women, about fashion, about shoes, about suitcases/bags, about jewelry, about haircuts...any more (you want me to list?)
Pick one that does not match the others. :hmm:
Hmmm.. no one stands out to me. :hmm:
Well, from my experience, guys who talk about fashion, shoes and jewelry usually do not spend a lot of time talking about women. Unless he meant Madonna and Lady Gaga.
Quote from: Martinus on October 02, 2015, 08:23:25 AM
Well, from my experience, guys who talk about fashion, shoes and jewelry usually do not spend a lot of time talking about women. Unless he meant Madonna and Lady Gaga.
Remember, this is a group of guys who aren't friends but are forced to spend a lot of time together. Superficial things like a new pair of shoes, fancy bling or wild haircut are easy to notice and comment on.
Quote from: Martinus on October 02, 2015, 08:23:25 AM
Well, from my experience, guys who talk about fashion, shoes and jewelry usually do not spend a lot of time talking about women. Unless he meant Madonna and Lady Gaga.
But what about guys who discuss luggage?
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/oct/02/coca-cola-mcdonalds-fifa-president-sepp-blatter-stand-down
QuoteCoca-Cola and McDonald's lead calls for Sepp Blatter to stand down
Four of Fifa's leading sponsors – Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Visa and Budweiser – have demanded that its embattled president, Sepp Blatter, step down immediately in the face of a continuing corruption crisis.
The dramatic intervention on Friday night from four of Fifa's biggest backers hugely increases the pressure on the 79-year-old after Swiss prosecutors last week opened criminal proceedings against him.
The four American companies have been under pressure themselves to take a stand since May, when the US Department of Justice alleged a "World Cup of fraud" and charged 14 people, including nine current or former football officials, with money laundering, racketeering and other offences.
The move came seven days after Blatter was accused of making a "disloyal payment" of £1.3m to Uefa's president, Michel Platini, in 2011 and handing a World Cup TV contract to the disgraced former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner for below market value. The Fifa president, who denies wrongdoing, last night refused to stand down and is determined to remain in post until next February.
But the Football Association chairman, Greg Dyke, dubbed the intervention a "game changer".
He told the Guardian: "I think this is the big moment. It doesn't matter what Blatter says, if the people who pay for Fifa want change, they will get change.
"What matters is not just that Blatter goes, because he was going to go anyway. What matters is that they want to see a proper, comprehensive reform process."
Coca-Cola is one of five top-tier Fifa global partners who contribute a large proportion of the $1.62bn it earns from sponsors every four yeas.
It said: "For the benefit of the game the Coca-Cola company is calling for Fifa president Joseph Blatter to step down immediately so that a credible and sustainable reform process can begin in earnest."
The soft drinks giant, which alongside Adidas is the governing body's oldest sponsor, added: "Every day that passes, the image and reputation of Fifa continues to tarnish. Fifa needs comprehensive and urgent reform and that can only be accomplished through a truly independent approach."
In a coordinated strategy the financial services company Visa, also a top-tier sponsor with a contract through to the 2022 World Cup, added its weight to the calls for Blatter to resign immediately.
After the $2.5bn poured into its coffers by broadcasters, sponsors wanting to attach their brand to the world's biggest sporting event are Fifa's next biggest contributor to revenues of $5.7bn over four years.
McDonald's, a second-tier sponsor, said: "It would be in the best interest of the game for Fifa president Sepp Blatter to step down immediately so that the reform process can proceed with the credibility that is needed."
Budweiser's owner, Anheuser-Busch InBev, later became the fourth major sponsor to call for Blatter's head. A spokesman said: "It would be appropriate for Mr Blatter to step down as we believe his continued presence to be an obstacle in the reform process."
Since US prosecutors launched dawn raids in Zurich in May on the eve of Fifa's Congress, Blatter and the organisation he has shaped in his own image have been in meltdown.
He won re-election days after those arrests but was forced to promise to stand down in early June. Since then he has clung to his plan to leave in February in the vain belief that he will able to salvage some of his reputation in the meantime by introducing long overdue reforms.
Jaimie Fuller, of the campaign group New Fifa Now, said the clear demand from sponsors marked a major development. He said: "Never before have we seen a sponsor of an international sports federation take such drastic action as to call for an independent reform commission, let alone demand the president step down in the face of a criminal investigation.
"The drastic nature of the call stresses the extreme problems faced by Fifa and should show everyone how it is teetering on the abyss."
Fifa's malaise has increased in the past week as Platini, the Frenchman who was favourite to succeed Blatter, has been drawn into the crisis. He, too, denies wrongdoing.
Platini was questioned under Swiss law as somewhere "between a witness and an accused person" as to why the £1.3m payment was made nine years after his contract with Fifa ended.
Earlier this week he told AFP that Blatter had said Fifa did not have the money to pay him at the time and he had not got around to claiming the cash until February 2011, two months before Blatter was re-elected.
However, Fifa's accounts show that it made a surplus of 155m Swiss Francs during the period from 1999 to 2002.
In the absence of the secretary general Jérôme Valcke, who has been suspended pending an investigation into claims that World Cup tickets were resold above face value, the organisation is, in effect, being run by lawyers on a day-to-day basis.
It was Valcke who met a coalition of sponsors in the wake of the May meltdown to try to reassure them that Fifa was serious about reform. The lead role taken by Coca-Cola will be seen as of particular significance, given its central role in the Fifa story.
Back in 1975 the then newly recruited Blatter led Fifa's global development programme, funded by Coca-Cola. Dubbed Project One, its purpose was to spread football to all corners of the world and turn the soft drink into a global brand.
Patrick Nally, the British marketeer who helped devise the programme, told Bloomberg: "The whole foundation of Fifa and Blatter is built on the foundation of the marketing skills of the Coca-Cola company. No Coke, no Blatter."
If Blatter was to stand down, Fifa's long-standing vice-president Issa Hayatou – himself the target of various historical allegations – would step up before February's election.
Although some of Fifa's sponsors have previously called on Fifa to restore its credibility, in July Coca-Cola became the first to advocate wholesale reform. The Guardian revealed it had sent a letter to the International Trade Union Confederation following a New Fifa Now campaign to try to force sponsors to take responsibility for driving change at Fifa.
Fifa recently reorganised its sponsorship portfolio. Adidas, Visa, Coca-Cola, Gazprom and Hyundai are top-level Fifa partners while Budweiser and McDonald's are known as World Cup partners.
The Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber has said that its investigation – which began as a probe into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups but has since widened – has not even reached half-time.
Swiss prosecutors have already seized on property in the Alps suspected of being linked to money laundering, as well as 11TB of data and 121 suspect banking transactions.
The US attorney general Loretta Lynch has also said its investigations continue and vowed that more arrests will follow.
Blatter, for his part, insists he is going nowhere. His US-based lawyer Richard Cullen said: "While Coca-Cola is a valued sponsor of Fifa, Mr Blatter respectfully disagrees with its position and believes firmly that his leaving office now would not be in the best interest of Fifa nor would it advance the process of reform. And, therefore, he will not resign." :lol:
Dietrich >>> Blatter
You know, it wasn't that long ago that Blatter was gunning for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Quote from: Hamilcar on October 03, 2015, 10:42:55 AM
You know, it wasn't that long ago that Blatter was gunning for a Nobel Peace Prize.
What are you blattering about? :rolleyes:
:P
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34657900
Quote
Sepp Blatter: Russia 2018 World Cup 'agreed before vote'
Suspended Fifa president Sepp Blatter has suggested there was an agreement in place for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup - before the vote took place.
The 79-year-old told Russian news agency Tass of a "discussion" in 2010 about future World Cups.
He added a late swing in voting that gave Qatar the 2022 World Cup undid a similar agreement to hand it to USA.
The Swiss is serving a 90-day ban alongside Uefa chief Michel Platini. Both men deny any wrongdoing.
Asked whether it was a mistake to hold voting for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments simultaneously, Blatter replied that before the ballot: "It was agreed that we go to Russia because it's never been in Russia, eastern Europe, and for 2022 we go back to America."
Fifa requests sanctions for Blatter and Plantini!
http://www.goal.com/en/news/745/fifa/2015/11/21/17543902/fifa-requests-sanctions-for-blatter-and-platini
I guess capital punishment is not on the cards?
FIFA's ethical committee wants both Blatter and Platini suspended for life from football.
I guess that is pretty much capital punishment by FIFA standards.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/21/sepp-blatter-michel-platini-banned-from-football-fifa
QuoteSepp Blatter and Michel Platini banned from football for eight years by Fifa
(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/483323be99c3b23312626ad6c4d29ca878c601ab/0_133_2200_1320/master/2200.jpg?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=99060e7c5f06411ce92a901ed675c134)
• Fifa and Uefa presidents banned by world body's ethics committee
• Downfall results from payment of 2m Swiss francs by Blatter to Platini
Sepp Blatter and the longtime Fifa president's one-time heir apparent, Michel Platini, have been banned from football for eight years, ending the career of the former and definitively derailing the vaulting ambitions of the latter.
The Fifa ethics committee, chaired by the German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, has ruled that both men should be banned despite their protestations that they did nothing wrong when Blatter paid the Uefa president 2m Swiss francs (£1.35m) in 2011, nine years after both men claimed it was originally due.
The committee found that: "Mr Blatter, in his position as president of Fifa, authorised the payment to Mr Platini which had no legal basis in the written agreement signed between both officials on 25 August 1999. Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment. His assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber."
In addition to being banned, Blatter was fined 50,000 Swiss francs or £34,000 and Platini 80,000 Swiss francs or £54,000.
Blatter's personal adviser Klaus Stoehlker said that the 79-year-old would appeal against the ban and was prepared to take the case to the court of arbitration for sport in Lausanne.
Fifa was thrown into crisis in May when Swiss police raided the five-star Baur au Lac hotel and nine senior football officials were indicted in the US on charges including money laundering and racketeering. Last month, a further indictment followed against a further 16 individuals.
Under huge pressure, Blatter agreed to stand down in June a few days after being re-elected for a fifth term as president. Platini quickly emerged as the favourite to succeed him, much to the public chagrin of his one-time mentor.
Blatter appeared personally before the ethics committee on Thursday, protesting his innocence in a letter to all 209 Fifa members in which he likened the process to the Spanish inquisition. Platini refused to appear in person, with his lawyers conducting the nine-hour hearing before Eckert and three other judges. But the Frenchman railed against the ethics committee's provisional 90-day suspension and complained of ulterior political motives to force him out of the race to succeed Blatter.
Neither man has been able to provide a written contract for the payment, however, or definitively explain away why it was eventually paid in 2011, a few weeks before the presidential election at a time when Blatter was facing a challenge from Mohamed bin Hammam, the Qatari who himself was ultimately banned over bribery claims. Blatter and Platini said the payment related to a period between 1998 and 2002 when the Frenchman acted as a special adviser to the Swiss. Platini has claimed Blatter told him at the time that Fifa could not afford to pay him, despite the governing body making £78m over that four-year cycle, and did not want to break its wage structure.
Both Blatter and Platini have said they believed their verbal contract was legal under Swiss law. However, Swiss law places a five-year time limit on such payments. The fact that the payments did not feature in Fifa's accounts was believed to form part of the case against them.
The ethics committee found that: "The payment to Mr Platini had no legal basis in the written agreement signed between both officials on 25 August 1999. Mr Platini's assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber."
Switzerland's attorney general is investigating whether the 2m Swiss francs constitutes what is termed a "disloyal payment".
Blatter has been interviewed as part of a criminal investigation against him and Platini spoken to as "someone between a witness and an accused person" under Swiss law.
The 79-year-old Blatter, who over 18 years as Fifa president and 22 before that as a senior executive had become synonymous with its culture of patronage and perks as football's commercial income boomed, has cut a disconsolate figure in recent weeks since being provisionally suspended for 90 days.
"This is not justice. I put these people into the office, where they are now in the ethics committee and they don't even have the courage to listen to the secretary general, Platini or me," he said in one of many interviews he has given over the period, during which he has variously railed at the US investigators, Uefa and the British media.
Since being levered into position by the late Adidas executive Horst Dassler and João Havelange, his predecessor as president, Blatter survived a series of scandals and corruption storms. But, barring a successful appeal to the court of arbitration for sport, his long career in football is now over.
Platini's fall from grace has been swifter still. In the wake of Blatter's demise, the Uefa president was the most powerful man in football and swiftly emerged as the strong favourite to succeed him despite questions over his support for Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid and his formerly close links to Blatter.
But the former world footballer of the year, who expected to attend this summer's European Championship in France as Fifa president, now faces being cast from the sport that made him at the age of 60.
Blatter has said the decision is shameful, and he will take legal action.
It doesn't even feel like justice. It reminds me more of a new dictator cleaning house after he takes over.
Those assholes should go to prison or at least end up financially ruined.
Quote from: Zanza on December 21, 2015, 06:48:22 AM
Those assholes should go to prison or at least end up financially ruined.
They were fined tens of thousands of dollars!
Eight years? In Blatter years, that's 3 months.