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http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/27/football/fifa-corruption-charges-justice-department/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/27/football/fifa-corruption-charges-justice-department/index.html)

The U.S. Justice Department plans to announce corruption charges against senior officials at FIFA, the world's soccer governing body, law enforcement officials say.

Up to 14 people are expected to be charged Wednesday based on an indictment in federal court in New York.

Arrests were being made overnight in Zurich, where members of the scandal-plagued organization were gathering for an election Friday that could give its leader Sepp Blatter a fifth term.

Deep details on the charges have yet to be disclosed, but one thing is known - the officiating crimes during last year's World Cup games are expected to be largely ignored. Upon hearing the news of this last bit, NED's Robben is quoted as saying "Phew! I don't take dives to get sacked!" (Translated from Dutch.)

Anyone have an opinion on this?

I was just having breakfast when I saw that on the news. Well they've been arrested because of suspicious for money launder, fraud and whatnot. According to sources they have been doing this in the last 20 years.
According to what I saw this morning 6 were arrested although they won't be named.
CNN however claims that up to 14 people will be investigated/charged.

This doesn't come as a surprise to me. Someone has to stop these fixed games that have been going on for quite some time now.
I was slowly getting tired, as betting was quite harder because of it.

Not surprising at all. FIFA have turned to a bunch of white-collar gangsters long time ago. Some clean sweep will be beneficial indeed.

This is the carrot and stick approach by the US officials. First, they politely requested the FIFA officials to shift the 2018 football world cup out of Russa. The FIFA guys refused. Now it is time to get tougher. These FIFA officials will be threatened with lengthy jail terms, unless they agree to the demands by the CIA and NATO.  ;D

The timing makes me suspicious.

Nothing to do with fixed games. It's all about where and how the games take place. The whole bullshit surrounding how Qatar got the world cup was probably the final straw. There's vast amounts of politics, prestige and money tied up in where international games take place.

A friend of mine worked for FIFA for many years. The amount of boondoggling that takes place at every single level is relentless.

Yeah maybe that's the reason why Michel Platini didn't want anymore to became a candidate for president of FIFA
He is a great man and one of best UEFA president
Sepp Blatter can't lead FIFA any longer, there are so many corruption case was happened in his era

been along time coming

Arresting everyone: it's what America does.

Finaly FIFA corruption is getting fixed,i dont like usa much,but this is a great thing they have done
great to see usa trying to help a sport in this world

FIFA is corrupt? I'm shocked!  :D

FIFA have been corrupt for years. I'm glad this has happened, hopefully it will force them to clean up their act.

Looks like now if Sepp Blatter remains president in the upcoming presidential election UEFA could pull out European teams from the next world cup in Russia and big sponsors like McDonalds, Visa and Adidas would reconsider their sponsorship deals.

Blatter isn't talking about quitting. In fact, he claims that this clean up is due to his initiative.  ;D

Putin accuses US of meddling into FIFA affairs

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of meddling in FIFA's affairs and hinted that it was part of an attempt to take the 2018 World Cup away from his country.

Putin said in televised comments Thursday that he found it "odd" that the probe was launched at the request of U.S. officials for crimes which do not involve its citizens and did not happen in the United States.

Corruption charges in the U.S. were announced Wednesday against 14 people, with at least two of them holding American citizenship. Seven of the 14 were arrested Wednesday morning in Zurich ahead of a FIFA meeting and Friday's presidential election in which Sepp Blatter is expected to win a fifth term.

In a separate probe, Swiss prosecutors opened criminal proceedings into FIFA's awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.

Putin said even if "someone has done something wrong," Russia "has nothing to do with it." He then tried to portray the probe as a U.S. attempt to go after dissenters, likening the case to the persecution of whistleblowers Julian Assange and Edward Snowden.

More...http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150528/soc-fifa-raids-putin-6f86514ac8.html (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150528/soc-fifa-raids-putin-6f86514ac8.html)

UEFA can't take the decission to pull out European teams from the 2018 World Cup. It is up to the respective national bodies to take that decission. If any of these national bodies actually take the decission to boycott the world cup, then they will be facing huge financial penalties. It will be better not to mix sports with politics.

It's about time that someone starts to finally clear the crime in FIFA.
It is an open secret that FIFA traded with the World Cup and sold them to the highest bidder.
However, considering that the next World Cup in Russia and the main investigators are Americans, all may look like a political showdown.
This should have been done much sooner, and by Europeans.
Unfortunately, I fear that nothing will change and that Blatter get a new mandate.

I'm going to sue Sun for shining.

True. Maybe he want to be president of FIFA for his life since he always got much bucks from the organization. If we want FIFA to be cleaned, we should change him.

There is no doubt that many of the top guys in the FIFA are corrupt. But again, it is the timing which makes me suspicious. Remember that these arrests have occurred just a few days after FIFA turned down a request from the Polish soccer association boss, to take the 2018 world cup away from Russia. If the FIFA is so corrupt, what took the US so long to arrest them?

Yeah maybe there are few conspiracies behind this case, which disturbed US, so they take action to turn down FIFA now. It can make a psywar between US and Russia as the host of 2018 world cup. Actually we all have known about corruption in FIFA, even Homer Simpson http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/homer-simpson-predict-fifa-corruption-5780133  lol

Breaking news: Sepp Blatter has been re-elected as the president of FIFA, defeating Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan. In the first round, Blatter received 133 votes (140 is needed for an outright win, i.e two-third of the votes). His opponent managed to secure just 73 votes, mostly from the North American and Western European regions.

Another failed coup. :D

Too early to predict anything. First, the blackmail tactics (arresting FIFA officials) failed. Now the Americans have been dealt another blow, as they have lost the democratic process. But we should remember that democracy matters very little for the American lobby. May be now it is time for them to attempt a "coup" a la Ukraine.

Wow the corruption will never end, and Blatter will become the president until he bored. I think he won because didn't get capable rival, or maybe he have paid some bucks to voters  ;D. Actually I still want Michel Platini to deserve the position.

Has the FIFA corruption crisis saved Israel from vote to expel it from world football?

Geoff Lee 27 May 2015.

The FIFA corruption crisis came just as its annual congress was due to debate a motion calling for Israel to be suspended from world football.

One consequence of the US order to the Swiss police, on 27 May 2015, that it arrest and extradite seven FIFA officials for alleged corruption, could be that a vote to kick Israel out of world football for its racism towards Palestinians will now not take place. The vote was due to be held by the FIFA annual congress on 29 May and expected to win majority support among the delegates. Below Geoff Lee from Palestine Solidarity Campaign explains why the vote should go ahead. ....

http://stopwar.org.uk/news/fifa-vote-to-kick-israel-out-of-world-football-conveniently-blocked-by-us-intervention

The World Cup is the most lucrative sporting event in the world, eclipsing even the Olympics.
The 2014 qualifying rounds and final tournament brought in $4.8bn (£3.1bn) over four years and, after costs are taken into account, Fifa made a profit of more than $2bn  :o

Whatever profits they make are invested back in to developing football in countries were it is not popular, or building facilities where they are not available. At least FIFA is run by people who want football to grow, unlike the case with games such as cricket (and its official body, the International Cricket Council or ICC).

The Defendants Include Two Current FIFA Vice Presidents and the Current and Former Presidents of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF); Seven Defendants Arrested Overseas; Guilty Pleas for Four Individual Defendants and Two Corporate Defendants Also Unsealed

Blatter is in FIFA since 1991 and until now he managed to avoid all attacks and threats on his absolute power in FIFA.
For the small countries in Africa and Asia, he is the Messiah and they absolutely support him in each election.
It seems that Blatter can only be stopped by USA police, if they arrested him.
Otherwise, he will rule forever :)

It all comes down to how FIFA is organized. Each of the 209 member nations gets a single vote when it comes to electing a federation President and executive committee. That means that the Maldives, Trinidad & Tobago, or Andorra have the same say in federation decisions as Brazil, Germany, or England. The smaller countries, and the men who run their countries’ federations, also receive an equal cut of FIFA’s revenues which means there’s no incentive for them to change any of the structure to the voting process.

US to charge FIFA for corruption?

Well, okay.

But who is going to charge the US with corruption?

That's how it should be run. It should not be like the United Nations vote, where 5 nations hold veto rights and the other 200 members don't have any say in any of the resolutions. No one should be special. Every country should be having equal rights, like that in FIFA. If you give controlling vote to 4 or 5 nations, then why the remaining nations should participate in FIFA?

FIFA is always just been to a well of corruption, for many years, now can no longer cover it and encounter the problem.

I dont know what they will try and charge FIFA on but match fixing is still so obvious in all professional sport.  Once they hit the top level the teams/players create a monopoly it makes sense to channel extra income.

It's funny how pretty much everyone was charged except Sepp. He's probably the biggest corrupt fuck there is. He's been holding the game back for years in various ways. No idea how he got voted in again. It's been obvious for quite some time that Russia and Qatar bought their World Cup hostings. Blatter needs to go.

Do you have any proof for your argument that Blatter has been "holding the game back for years in various ways"? As far as I know, he was the one who did a great deal to promote the game outside its strongholds in the Latin America and Europe. If soccer is currently played in more than 200 nations, a part of the credit should go to Sepp Blatter. He undertook several development projects in regions such as Africa and Asia. And his effort has already started to pay off.

Football being played all over the world has nothing to do with him. It was already being played in those places regardless of 'development projects'. His refusal to allow both goal-line technology and video replays for years when everyone else was calling for it was bizarre and illogical.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter is the victim of a conspiracy from "behind the scenes", his daughter has told the BBC amid the corruption crisis gripping world football.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32952426 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32952426)

Football was being played in Asia and Africa for many decades. But they were lacking facilities, and the football boards in these regions had hardly any voice in the day-to-day running of FIFA. Blatter changed all that. He ended the European-American monopoly, and gave power to the boards in Africa, Asia and Oceania.

"Nobody is without fault but he is not the person who is taking money, Corinne Blatter said "

Well i don't believe it.He transformed from a simple organizer of the World Cup into a multibillion-dollar juggernaut.
Impossible if he doesn't know about bribe, corruptions etc in FIFA, he was president of FIFA since 1998.

I think your argument is true. Under Blatter leadership, FIFA has staged World Cup in Asia (Japan-South Korea) and Africa (South Africa) for the first time. But, maybe he got much extra money from that.

IMO, Blatter was more power-driven than money-driven. He gave out favors to Asian and African nations, to secure their support to remain in office. Most of his opposition came from within Europe. So he neutralized the European opposition by securing votes from the non-European countries. Even now, he enjoys overwhelming support among the Asian and African boards.

So, do you agree Blatter became president of FIFA again? I think Blatter did not favor Asian-African nations, but he did to a country that could pay him much bucks to be host of world cup.

I thought it was well known that most major league sport teams have corruption among them?  Some have small time corruption compared to FIFA, but still.

Yes. I support Sepp Blatter to the post of FIFA president. At least he is much better when compared to his American puppet rival, Prince Ali. Nations which bid for hosting rights have always tried to influence the vote by offering various favors. This has been going on for many decades now. When countries such as the United States (1994), France (1998), and England (1966) won the hosting rights through similar means, there was no media outcry. Then why complain now?

I like your argument. So how about the several corruption cases in FIFA? Is there related to Sepp Blatter or it just the handmade of someone that don't like him?

The FIFA has been corrupt ever since its creation. A cleansing drive should have been undertaken years ago. But it should not be at the orders of the United States. The Americans accusing the FIFA of corruption is like pot calling kettle black. The Americans have even used blackmail tactics (in addiiton to bribing) to get hosting rights in the past. They have no moral right to accuse the FIFA on anything.

Maybe US want to be first country that start to charged FIFA openly since no country could do that before. What will you do if the corruption in FIFA never ending? I think US action make us to keep eyes on FIFA and hope it will be more transparent in working.

Maybe you are right that FIFA was corrupt ever since its creation but Blatter really took it to much higher level and create the perfect criminal octopus, real mafia.
We can question the motivation of America to engage in a showdown with Blatter, and even doubt their true intentions and their credibility, but I think it was really high time to begin to address Crime in the top of FIFA.
The world is moving forward, not standing, so it's the time that the old dinosaur FIFA change and become transparent and open to the public.

I don't see no changes in FIFA, Blatter stays in charge. After some court battles and couple of moths of peace, the mafia will do its thing again. They will throw someone to the lions, someone will apologies for the mess and that's will be all. I do believe it's time to create a new institution to take charge of the world football.

Team America strikes again. How do they even have jurisdiction to arrest people for this stuff? In Switzerland as well. Blatter is a dinosaur and needs to go. It's time to bring in some fresh blood. They should get a ex football player and/or manager to head it; someone who actually gives a shit about promoting the game and not just his business interests.


I wouldn't say its been corrupt since the start but as with any type of organization centered around promoting something (see the Bitcoin Foundation too) it is quickly infiltrated by people with financial motivations and money always talks the loudest.

All games are somewhere involved in corruption may it be Fifa or IPL or any other sport. The games are mostly fixed and they even take help from criminals to fund the games. Betting is the main reason for these games to be abused. I don't think the number is only 14. It may be much more.

Lol... America can arrest anyone anywhere. It doesn't matter whether you are a terrorist with the ISIS, or you are the Japanese Emperor. Your citizenship, crime records.etc hardly matters. If the Americans think that you pose a threat to the US monopoly, then you'll be arrested. A few weeks ago, a Russian national was arrested by the US agents, while he was vacationing in the Maldives. Similar incidents are being reported with alarming frequency nowadays.

Im glad the us is finally doing something about fifa. Honestly soccer is a bunch of bullshit, first of all they take the name "football" from us and claim that its because they use their feet (wow what a lazy way to play a sport, you already use you legs to WALK). But secondly they are obviously corrupt. I have been anti soccer for the longest time, any chance I have to spread the truth and redpill someone about this joke of a "sport" I take. My playstation and xbox friends have all stopped playing fifa after I have messaged them explaining that its corrupt and by playing the game they are advertising this horrible business practice. I honestly feel bad for the kids in lower countries like the UK who play "football" (soccer) for fun. When they grow up and try to play with the big boys they will be disapointed to find all the corruption, crime and sex drugs in there that just spoil the overall good sportsmanship! 

Its about time ... those bastards have been ripping people off!!! I really hate them for their manipulations, and monopoly.... sons of a b*tch!

Can someone explain why the United States got involved with FIFA? It seems like they obviously had support from other nations to arrest these individuals but I wonder why the United States was the one to bring charges.

They will have had the support of local police. In fact, I pretty sure they would need it. If they don't have permission to be there then they could be arrested and probably would if they just went around arresting people. I don't think they can make arrests themselves but the local police can and then deport them to the states or wherever they're facing trial, but you know how much America likes sticking its nose in to other people's business.

US law gives the Justice Department a lot of leeway when it comes to bringing cases against foreign citizens.
Soccer, maybe not the biggest game in America but yes soccer is the most popular sport in the world.
But the US gov wants to send a message that enough is enough when it comes to corruption in the game's international governing body.

Well...  because the United States is acting like the world police. You need to understand certain facts. These are:

1. The Americans can arrest anyone (i.e any foreign citizen) anywhere.
2. No foreign nations can arrest American citizens.
3. Corruption is OK, as long as it favors the Americans.
4. No one should question the world police.

Sepp Blatter resigned as FIFA president on Tuesday, four days after being re-elected to a fifth term.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fifa-president-sepp-blatter-says-quit-164628917--sow.html (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fifa-president-sepp-blatter-says-quit-164628917--sow.html)

This just confirms what most of us already knew - that FIFA is one of the most corrupt organizations on the planet.
I still think they should re-vote on the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

http://media.gotraffic.net/images/iyNRos7.f0Rc/v3/1200x-1.jpg

President of UEFA Michel Platini at a press conference following a meeting of the UEFA board in Zurich on May 28, 2015. Photographer:Michael Probst/AP Photo

Michel Platini, a former Blatter protege turned fierce critic, is the man most likely to lead soccer’s governing body into a new era, according to the bookies.

Football´s Greatest Michel Platini

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdsZlr0oPr0

He's now being investigated too and I guess that's why he resigned. Something will come out about him soon enough. I've always believed he was involved in the corruption. How can he be the head of something for so long and not be or at least aware of what was going on right under his nose.


Ideally they would because there was very obviously fishy behavior going on to give these places the tournament, but I can't see it. Too much money has already been spent by these nations on stadiums and planning etc. It was always ridiculous giving the tournament to Qatar due to the heat but I guess money talks.

now is the best time for the US and Europe to pull out of FIFA for good. From what I read there already is talk about it in Europe. Next week there is meeting and the idea will be discussed then. I can guarantee they wouldn't lack sponsor support for a new league. Other nations would quickly follow suit if Europe left.

This Blatter resignation is a bit of a joke since he has stated that he´ll be in his office running things until his successor has been voted in which is scheduled to take place in 6-8 months or so.

Nothing will happen. All this is just empty rhetoric. More than half of the nations within the UEFA were supporting Blatter. Only a minority, led by England were against him. Add in the United States and Canada, and you will get the list of countries which are willing to support the "new league". And none of these nations are major powers, as far as football is considered.

Although it doesn't sound fair! That is the attribution of the strong, so you either accept it or you join ISIS  8) 8) 8) ;D

Did he need a step ladder? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAgS0c4rZBo

Blatter resigned, after some of the major sponsors (all of them based in the United States) threatened that they will pull out of the 2018 world cup unless he steps down. It will be interesting to know who will succeed him. Considering that the pro-American lobby controls less than one-third of the vote, it needs to be seen how they will get their representative elected.

I guess Sepp Blatter resigned because he doesn't want to get charged anymore by his adversaries. But, he is still charged  :)


I'm not sure if they will re-vote for 2018 host, because Russia has started to prepare for the venue. Do they want to make Russia mad and take boycott actions?

It wouldn't matter to him either way since he's screwed. Why would he care if sponsors dropped out of the world cup?


There will be people and parties that will be pushing for re-casting but Russia will have spent too much money as they're well into development and planning for it so it'll probably be too late. Maybe even Qatar will be safe but they should move that any way due to heat. There's talks of boycotting the world cup by international bodies but I doubt they'd go ahead because there'd be uproar from the fans.

Lol.. that is exactly what the Americans want. The British are also pissed off, after they lost the 2018 hosting rights to Russia. They will join the Americans along with the other vassals. Everything will depend up on who is going to get elected as the next president of FIFA. If the new president is not pro-American, then the United States and its vassals will boycott the 2018 world cup (I don't think that they'll qualify, but still  ;D).

Right, to think that this giant organization is still a NON PROFIT - that is just Maffio Tically Insane

Well, the U.S. has the bye until the fourth round of The North, Central American and Caribbean qualifier so they have until next Nov. I think to decide whether to partake in the World Cup or not. Seems pretty pointless to start in the qualifier and then later decide to boycott.

The President of the United States Soccer Federation, Sunil Gulati is trying hard to become the next president of FIFA. However, I don't think that he has got the necessary support. The last time, pro-American candidate got only around one-third of the vote, mostly from North America, Western Europe and from various vassal states of the US (Micronesia, Marshall Islands.etc).

Sunil Gulati? Doesn´t ring a bell much I guess. Current odds:

Prince Ali - evens
Michel Platini - 9/4
Sheik Ahmad Al-Sabah - 7/1
Wolfgang Niersbach - 10/1
David Gill - 10/1
Michel D'Hooghe - 10/1
Alfredo Hawit - 12/1
Michael van Praag - 12/1
Issa Hayatou - 12/1
Jerome Champagne - 14/1
Luis Figo - 14/1
Jerome Valcke - 14/1
Salman Al Khalifa - 20/1
Jim Boyce - 20/1
David Chung - 20/1
Juan Angel Napout - 20/1
Zico - 33/1
David Ginola - 50/1
Barack Obama - 50/1
Robbie Savage - 60/1
Rio Ferdinand - 100/1
Thierry Henry - 100/1
Pele - 100/1
Roy Hodgson - 100/1
Diego Maradona - 100/1
Roy Keane - 100/1
Kenny Dalglish - 100/1
Eric Cantona - 100/1
Gary Neville - 100/1
Alex Ferguson - 100/1
Jamie Carragher - 100/1
John Terry - 150/1
John Delaney - 150/1
Giovanni Trapattoni - 150/1
Alan Curbishley - 150/1
David O'Leary - 150/1
Sol Campbell - 200/1
Guillem Balague - 200/1
Eamon Dunphy - 200/1
Piers Morgan - 200/1
Prince William - 200/1
John Carver - 200/1
Kolo Toure - 500/1
Raheem Sterling - 500/1

Read more: http://www.sheptonmalletjournal.co.uk/odds-president-FIFA/story-26635338-detail/story.html#ixzz3c9f39jyE
Follow us: @sheptonjournal on Twitter | sheptonjournal on Facebook

^^^I don't know why he is not being considered as a strong candidate. The pro-US groups are pushing really hard for his selection. Anyway, as per the list, every single individual in the top 5 are pro-US. The real contest might be between Prince Ali and Michel Platini. Both are pro-US candidates, so the outcome doesn't matter much.

Maybe the bookmakers at Paddy Power have never heard of the guy. I bet they hardly ever even think about the United States Soccer Federation. Which by the way turned 102 years old last April.  It´s one of the earliest member organizations of FIFA.

They grow about as much moss there in the FIDE presidency as Popes. In 111 years there have been eight presidents, three from England, France two and one each from Belgium, Brazil and Switzerland (Blatter). The salary is pretty handsome, like five million dollars p.a. last i heard.

The official salary is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2018 FIFA world cup revenues are expected at $4 billion (that is, if every thing goes according to the plan). And taking in to account all the corruption that has been going on since ages, I believe that the FIFA officials will pocket at least 10% of that revenue, either directly or indirectly.

Wow, Four freakin´billion dollars!? Amazing. What a gravy train. Well, people tend to just hate corruption at least until they get to be a part of it themselves. Maybe the Brits and Yanks have been out in the cold for a while, haven´t followed it much really.

I wonder if the contracts with Russia and Qatar have any get out clauses.

Get out clauses on which sides? If the hosts bought them which it's looking like they did then they're not going to want to pull out and FIFA was the one who sold them so they're not going to have a chance to get out either. Maybe there will be some lawsuits or the hosts will be disqualified.

That Prince Ali guy probably bought his way into Fifa anyway. I wouldn't trust him. They need to get someone who was previously involved with football at a player or managerial level.

There is no such thing. But countries boycotting events such as World Cup, after confirming their presence will be severely punished, if the past instances are anything to go by. For example, they can be banned from the next two or three world cups and other regional FIFA tournaments, in addition to a very heavy financial penalty.

I think widespread corruption at fifa makes this situation a little bit different. I doubt countries will boycott it after Blatter's resignation but there will surely be a few countries like England complaining that they should have the world cup or it should be put back to another vote. They wont pull out though.

As I had posted earlier, a lot will depend on the FIFA presidential vote. If some US-puppet, such as Prince Ali is elected as the president, then he can legitimately cancel the event in Russia and conduct another vote to decide the hosts for 2018. If someone else is elected, then indications are that England might try to organize a paralell event in London.

Now and after Joseph Blatter resigned after winning for his fifth term , can't we say that there was a lot of presseasure on him and most likely have something to do with the corruption on the FIFA and that's what made him leave ?  ::)

The UK did want to take the place of Qatar as the host of the 2022 World Cup they even said they have the facilities for it, that said I do find it concerning that the United States wants to control international football/soccer and while FIFA is one corrupt organization it does remain one of only a handful of professional sport organizations not directly in the control of the USA.

Which is why Sepp Blatter despite the corruption was still able to acquire the amount of votes he did, and even teetering on the brink of disgrace, Blatter was still able to command almost two-thirds of the membership While patronage and funding such as the case with Ireland goes into soccer in my opinion the US just wants some of that gravy train and take it under their wing that said it looks like the corruption is starting to unravel after all these years.

On one hand FIFA has brought soccer tournaments to many places around the world such as South Africa, Brazil, Russia, and soon Qatar and truly has a global footprint instead of a US centric one that only hosts tournaments with countries it has good relationships with so my feelings are mixed about what this means in the long run.

MLB,NHL,NFL,NBA, and Boxing to an extent are major professional sports leagues with most games played in the United States and players are attracted and move there in order to compete, Soccer/Football meanwhile tends to remain a more internationalized sport with Premier Leagues in the UK, MLS in North America and the African League and all of them meeting under the FIFA banner to compete, if this leads towards a strong regionalization of FIFA it concerns me that international soccer will slowly over time become a compartamentalized representation of countries and not what it is today which admittably is also partially due to Sepp Bladder.


http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/04/england-ready-host-2022-fifa-world-cup-qatar-ditched-culture-secretary-says

As the Guardian humbly said Under Sepp Blatter, it wasn’t all bad

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/05/sepp-blatter-fifa-world-cup-south-africa

The United Kingdom want to host the 2018 World Cup, not the 2022 edition. A few years ago, Russia was selected ahead of England, as the hosts for the 2018 WC. The British are quite a bit pissed off about that loss. They are still hopeful of taking the hosting rights away from Russia and hosting it in England.

On several newsfeeds they keep referring to Qatar and not Russia including the Guardian link in my last post but I agree with you that they also want to take the World Cup away from Russia.

Its an open secret that the FIFA is corrupt the question is why take action now and it looks like the US losing its bid to Qatar just was the trigger that finally set it all off with the UK also holding a grudge over 2018.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33005152
Fifa crisis: England 'ready to host 2022 World Cup if asked'
England would be ready and able to host the Fifa World Cup in 2022 if it is stripped from Qatar, according to a British government minister.

Swiss and US authorities are looking at corruption claims around the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 events.

UK Sport Secretary John Whittingdale says England has the facilities but added it is unlikely to happen as Russia is staging the 2018 tournament.

Under Fifa rules the Cup cannot be held on the same continent twice in a row.

So what will they do as pro-US candidates if one of them is elected to be President of FIFA? You just hate US so much. I think Platini doesn't have any relation with US, and he is the most suit candidate because of his professionalism in UEFA. Go watch UCL final dude.

Another Frenchman throws his hat into the FIFA ring, none other than David Ginola, that memorable and flamboyant striker. "We need to get rid of everything and start from scratch," says the FIFA President candidate @teamginola

Ginola vs. Barnsley 1999

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYmpW6dpZ58

If I hate the United States so much, then I have my own reasons for that. A democratically elected president has been forced to step down as a result of blackmailing by the US, and a US-puppet is about to take up that post. I don't like the arrogance and disdain shown by the Americans. If you want an American as the FIFA president, then get him elected through democratic means, not through the backdoor. 

Didn't I read on a "related article" on FB that said everyone that was looked at for corruption are back at work and are no longer being looked at?

I don't want any American to be FIFA president. My choice is just Michel Platini, and he is a French. You can look his track record and that's not related with America. It's okay if you hate US, I respect that.

No problem with Michel Platini as the president, although I fear that he will scuttle the globalization of the game (esp. in regions such as Africa and Asia) and will concentrate the power in the hands of Europeans and Americans. But he should get the necessary two-thirds vote, and he should not indulge in any blackmail tactics.

.....As far back as 2005, Blatter has refused to get embroiled in Washington’s geopolitical chess game(s). Under him FIFA refused to surrender to the US Department of State’s demands that Iran’s team be blocked from participating World Cup 2006 or demands that Palestine not be admitted into FIFA. FIFA’s geopolitical offenses, however, may have reached a tipping point..... much more

Forget Sports: Geopolitics is Behind the FIFA Scandal As the War Against Russia Enters a New Front

Mahdi Darius NAZEMROAYA | 05.06.2015 | 00:00

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/06/05/forget-sports-geopolitics-behind-fifa-scandal-as-war-against-russia-enters-a-new-front.html

Why do you so worry about the vote? We have known about two-thirds vote rule. We are talking about Platini's ability now as a leader an organization. And he is most suitable candidate for FIFA president. You can make speculation about US action behind him, but you can't ignore his track records.

So it is going to affect Palestine and Iran the most. That makes me suspicious about the additional players, other than the United States. That said, I don't think that the Americans will get the necessary two-third vote to expel Iran. Iran is having friendly relations with a large number of nations. Hosting rights for the 2018 World Cup, also seems to be safe with Russia (for now). The only losers are going to be Palestine.

Yes, and apartheid and racism won´t be any problem at all and there´ll be no sanctions about that unless it´s deemed to be practiced by those unfriendly to U.S. corporate and political interests.

They cannot charge FIFA for any corruptions, since there is no American federal involvement in FIFA. FIFA is headquartered in Zurich, and is an association established under the Laws of Switzerland. FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. Looking at above it clarifies everything, however, US can sue legally but will fail to win over against FIFA Completely.

Germany delivered a shipment of rocket-propelled grenades to Saudi Arabia in exchange for support for its bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup, German media reported Friday.

Die verkauften WM-Turniere

http://www.zeit.de/sport/2015-06/chuck-blazer-fifa-fussball-weltmeisterschaft-2022

This is nothing when compared to the foul pay used by the United States, to get the hosting rights for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. They used a mix of carrot and stick, by blackmailing some of the potential hosts to withdraw from the race, and tried to bribe some of the voting members by offering loans and grants. At that time, Blatter also played his part, helping the US to win the rights.

Well, i´m sure that the corruption back then was as always for god, country, Wall Street and democracy so it
wasn´t really corruption. Righteous men deserve their just returns.

New news, sounds like the US is proposing that the Qatar and Russia World Cup host awards be revoked, claiming that they were earned through bribes. This would put both of these World Cup host dates up for reassignment to other countries!

Let's get this conversation back on track...

The gloves are off'

Jack Warner is one of 14 people charged by US prosecutors over alleged corruption at Fifa.

The US Justice department alleges the 14 accepted bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period.

Mr Warner denies all charges of corruption.


http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83425000/jpg/_83425579_fifa_gallery_624_no_sb_v7.jpg

Yes, and being thoroughly corrupt themselves they´ll gather support with their usual methods; threats, coercion and bribery.

Wonderful. So the 2018 World Cup will be hosted in the United Kingdom (as they were the runners up in the vote for hosting rights), and the 2022 World Cup will be hosted in the United States. The American domination of FIFA is now complete. Let me see if Domenico Scala holds enough power to put in practise what he says.

Ahh, and a motive arises. Things have come full circle. Thanks everyone, I think I can close this thread now. It was all about the UK and USA seeking their respective opportunities to host the upcoming World Cups!

 ;D

Well, when you´re dealing with criminals with a long and very solid history of all sorts of scams obviously every time they begin positioning themselves for a new one you look for a motive. Which never is very hard to spot of course.

That was a real motive and anyone with an IQ of more than 60 would be able to understand it. But things are not going to be that easy for the NATO lobby. I don't think that they'll be able to get the necessary two-third vote, to move these world cups to the UK and the USA respectively. Better luck next time!

FIFA has cleared itself

FIFA has been at the center of corruption investigations for years, but the organization has long dismissed allegations that top officials were on the take.
Qatar 2022 World Cup: the most controversial ever?
Qatar 2022: The unanswered questions 10 photos
EXPAND GALLERY

In December, FIFA's Ethics Committee said it was closing its investigation into alleged corruption in the 2018 and 2022 bidding process that awarded the World Cup to Russia and Qatar, respectively.

Criticism immediately followed. There were allegations of corruption in the bidding process. Qatar's oppressive heat also drew ridicule, as did its labor rights record.

FIFA said its investigation found no corruption and it had no reason to reopen the bidding process.

In December 2012, FIFA banned for life bin Hammam, the Qatari member of its top governing body who had previously been suspended along with Warner for ethics violations.


     
   

I don't blame em' I mean they do run for a living... you gotta share the wealth. Even though I watch world soccer(friendlies, etc.)

For now, they will concentrate on Russia, as it is their main target. Qatar is one of the most reliable allies of the United States in the Middle East region, and I don't think that they will take away the world cup from them. But there are some horrific facts that should be studied, about the conditions in Qatar. More than 1,500 laborers have died so far during the construction of the world cup venues.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/23/qatar-nepal-workers-world-cup-2022-death-toll-doha

People like Neymar getting payed well over 2x the amount of $ those 1500 make in a lifetime(not a neymar hater, just think it's sad ). :(

An average laborer in Qatar earns some $400-600 per month for working 12-hours a day in slave-like conditions (they are mostly from Nepal, India, and DPRK). May be FIFA should make it mandatory for the countries which are hosting the major tournaments such as World Cup, to provide adequate compensation for workers who get killed or maimed during the construction of venues.

Hahah, perfectly described. 'White collar gangsters'. I hope things change and do not affect the beautiful game of football :)

Is that a good or a bad thing?

Now that would be funny if they were hosted there. USA and UK would stil probably have to bribe someone to get them though. There will be long legal battle though from Russia and Qatar to keep them though. I personally can't see them revoking them.

Now let's wait some ... and i hope Bye bye World Soccer in Russia .... Too bad ... how Russia will recover the black money gived ???  ;D ;D

Swiss investigating 53 cases of possible money laundering at Fifa:

• Swiss attorney general says ‘53 suspicious banking relations’ uncovered
• Investigation into 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids could take years
• Fifa’s Sepp Blatter and Jérôme Valcke not being ruled out of investigation

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/17/fifa-investigation-53-cases-money-laundering-swiss-attorney-general (http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/17/fifa-investigation-53-cases-money-laundering-swiss-attorney-general)

In that case, it seems very unlikely that Russia will be disqualified from hosting the 2018 World Cup. That said, anything can happen, if an American puppet is elected as the next FIFA president, instead of someone from the Blatter camp. Expect many more dirty tricks being played around, by both the sides.

My thoughts exactly!

Hopefully if there is any proof or corruption to do with Russia and Qatar winning the rights to host the world cup they should lose the right immediately. And I think we all know the only reason they won those builds was through bribes and backhanders. Money talks as they say, especially when it comes to FIFA officials, as if they aren't wealthy enough... Bunch of greedy bastards.

They will of course play dumb and pretend that they don't know much where in fact, they are the one who have all the power and knowledge.

They might have won the World Cup hosting rights by offering bribes. But what about the rival bids? Russia had beaten a bid from England, despite the British openly trying to bribe the member nations. And Qatar won the rights for 2022, against a strong bid from the United States. The US guys not only offered bribes, but also resorted to blackmailing to win the bid.

Well unless there is a seperate investigation they will likely hide the facts about any corrpution charges in relation to the 1994 bid for the World cup such as Brazil's debt etc.
Although there was bidding wars for Salt Lake City during the Olympics so I can't say that it's impossible for more skeletons to come out of the closet.

That said the World Cup is expensive (Note Washington source on Russia) but apparently they are over budget.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/28/fifa-scandal-highlights-culture-of-corruption-in-w/?page=all

The actual World Cup is more of a three-week event, but it’s more like a ten-year building process where you use the World Cup as an excuse to build billions of dollars in general infrastructure.”

This reminds me of a The Simpsons video on youtube, as it turns out The Simpsons had previously broadcast an episode which showed FIFA executive being charged of corruption and hence being arrested. Just youtube the simpson prediction.

Anyway, it doesn't come as a surprise really, it has been long speculated, and it was a matter of time when it came to light, so yeah, no surprises there.

It's high time the officials of FIFA get to know where earth is. Football is losing its glory to other emerging sports. I hope with this cleaning process, football once again reach the heights.

Yeah I've watched the episode few days ago  :) I think the corruptions on FIFA will never go to end although Sepp Blatter was resign as the president. It will spend couple years to clean corruption in that organization. The best and shortest way is close down FIFA, and it sounds impossible to do.

What sort of rubbish? Who will organize the 2018 World Cup (and the other major football tournaments which are due, such as the 2015 UEFA Super Cup, 2015 AFC Champions League, and the 2016 Copa Centroamericana) if FIFA is closed down? Closing down FIFA is not the solution, as football will not be able to survive without a central body.

I think you didn't read all of my post. You can check what I wrote in bold. It's just my opinion, and sounds you have the best solution here. What would you do if your farm is full of pests? I think the best and shortest solution is burn down that, and make a new one. Maybe you can make a best of the best solution, but I'm pretty sure the solution is not a shortest way.

No. The issue here is the prevalent corruption within FIFA. Closing down FIFA will do more harm than good. You are suggesting to replace FIFA with a new global governing body for football. And what are the chances that this new body will be free from corruption? The priority should be to cleanse FIFA, by suspending the corrupt members.

Suspending the corrupt members would be a best method if the corruptors want to admit their mistakes honestly, and what the authorities will do to make that. Anyways, I'm sure the suspending method will spend long time to be done, and I don't know who will do that. US? Or NATO?

US and NATO? May be for this time, the United Sates should stay out, rather than stick their nose in other people's business. IMO, the best solution will be to form an investigative committee within FIFA itself, headed by the former greats of the game. They should investigate the corrupt practices, and suspend anyone who is found to be guilty. 

And I think there is possibility to the corruptors to join this committee, and will impede the investigation. Or they can point the innocent person, to save their selves. It's not that easy, since the corruption by FIFA has happened for long time.

They're not charging all of FIFA. Just some officials related to CONCACAF.

I don't see what the link between CONCACAF and host selection to world cup, but US will try to ban Russia become the host. There are some CONMEBOL officials that was charged too anyway, and I think it was related to Brazil as host of last world cup.

Finding the right person to head the investigation team can be a huge challenge, but I hope, eventually the right people will be found. Giving the same power to the pro-NATO guys is not the solution, as a NATO-headed investigation will be extremely biased, and they will attempt every trick to take the hosting rights away from Russia and Qatar.

fifa busted...

tell me a sport where there is no corruption :)

Actually I think it's easy to find who that can head the investigation, since there are some capable one. The problem is on his subordinates that can be instigated to cooperate with the suspects and get bribe from them. Btw, we hope the problems in FIFA can be solved soon and no more scandals again.

Do you feel that the actions had to be taken by US Justice Department not surprise you? I am curious what the deal by US, interrupt FIFA maybe. I think football (we can say soccer) is not majority sport in US, except football (yeah I mean the real football there), basketball, and baseball.

Fifa had it coming...they knew they were wrong.. Sepp Blatter of all people had been facing so many allegation.. and still he continued to, wat I believe, adhere to corrupt practices..

I can imagine their meeting to have the world event held in the summer in a country where the temperatures hit 120 degrees in the shade. How much can we line our pockets with for doing something even this stupid?

Qatar has promised that it will use revolutionary cooling techniques, to lower the temperature inside the stadiums. Qatar is filthy rich (thanks to the LNG sales), and they can even afford to conduct the Winter Olympics in Doha at the peak of the summer season. So, let them waste their money. Why bother about it? 

Yeah they have what everyone want, money. With money, they can make or build everything with futuristic technology. We can't underestimate Middle East countries again, especially Qatar and UEA. And, I think they can become host of World Cup with money too. imo, actually there is nothing wrong with this, we can give Asian the chance as host of World Cup again, it would be a football development to the continent.

Football is quite popular in Asia, with the exception of China and India, the two most populous nations. Most of the GCC nations (such as the UAE and Qatar) are football crazy ones. If the FIFA want to globalize the game, then it should give China a chance to host the World Cup. (I don't think that India has the capability to do it).

I think that the best solution is to disband FIFA once and for all or alternatively we need that UEFA will leave FIFA. Without European clubs and countries FIFA can say goodbye.
I like the situation in boxing - there are a lot of federation WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO etc. There is no main and only, one big centralized world organisation. Something like in bitcoin.

Things have changed a lot dude. The FIFA can survive without UEFA. Europe is a stagnant market, compared to the booming ones in places such as Latin America, Eurasia, Africa, China.etc. And that is why the World Cup is more popular than the Euro Cup. As long as football super-powers such as Argentina and Brazil stay loyal to the FIFA, they won't feel the pinch. On the other hand, UEFA will be isolated and they will lose their hold in the day to day running of FIFA.

Football is really popular in India too. 3 out of 7 kids play football here in India. It is not as popular as cricket but yes, it is passsionately followed by a lot of Indians. The reason why the international team isn't so popular is because Indian government fails to provide the kind of stage, opportunities and pay to such talents. The parents too, feel that it is better to be a mainstream engineer or a doctor than have a shot at football.

As far as India is concerned, football is a long way behind cricket in terms of popularity, although the situation might be a little bit better in the cities. I know this, because I regularly visit India. The revenues generated by cricket is almost 100 times of that generated by football. Even the recently launched Indian Super League generated only a fraction of the revenues which the Indian Premier League got.

Yeah but World Cup is held 1 time in every 4 years. UEFA has many more big competitions then, like European Cup, Champions League, European League, European Super Cup, and some of national big leagues, e.g Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, etc. I think UEFA has same level with FIFA.


Wow Indian Super League has invited many football legends there to join some Indian Club. I hope there are more Indian people that get attracted to football.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/lee-nelson-hijacks-fifa-press-conference-throws-wad-of-cash-over-sepp-blatter-10402050.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pqO6tK8_Wg

Haha. "This is for North Korea 2026" *Throws wad of cash at Sepp Blatter*.