Holy Smokes. Everyone knew FIFA is corrupt and there is a new vote on Friday. But the US just arrested and is extradited many key Fifia officials on bribery and corruption.
Then the Swiss are investigating the Russia Qatar votes which were clearly corrupt. The BBC is in raptures.
Just amazing. And I still think Blatter is President of FIFA after Friday vote. Does mean that I won’t see the Cup hosted in Us again for maybe ever
Ny Times reporter live tweeted the arrests by Swiss police from lobby of five star hotel where FIFA was staying. Many heads of countries football and even regions were arrested. Think 14 in all
As an American who knows very little of the world of FIFA I’ve never understood why the major countries that must generate the lions share of revenue tolerate the obvious corrupt scam that FIFA is.
The short answer,though, in the case of the UK, is that it’s been a quid pro quo for keeping the four home nations as separate votes. It wasn’t until England got screwed (as they saw it) on the 2018 bid that there was any appetite to rock the boat. There’s also the small matter of plenty of the major countries being in on the action too.
It’s pretty crazy it took this long for things to come to a head, given what was already public or semi-public, and the brazenness of the actual corruption.
So … I kinda-sorta see how the US gets involved in all this. But what did FIFA do to piss off the Swiss? Switzerland pretty much exists to give the ultra rich a place to plan morally and legally dubious maneuvers.
Aslak Oslo, Norway 7 hours ago
On behalf of the rest of the world I can safely say that we’re absolutely delighted that you’re using your power for good. If Bush had invaded FIFA instead of Iraq he’d have a street named after him in every European capital.
The U.S. is perfect for this. Not only does it have the resources and expertise to bust an organization like this, it also has a populace that mostly doesn’t give a fuck about soccer.
They are: Issa Hayatou (president of the Confederation of African Football), Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain), Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium), Senes Erzik (Turkey), Worawi Makudi (Thailand), Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus), Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Rafael Salguero (Guatemala), Hany Abo Rida (Egypt) and Vitaly Mutko (Russia – head of the 2018 World Cup and sports minister).
Sepp Blatter has been barred from leaving the country by the Swiss. Hopefully the sign he ends up in a Swiss prison- unfortunately it’s not an American prison.
A Swiss prison is too good for him, I’d want him in Butner at a minimum with Bernie Madoff.
I just watched the E:60 report on Blatter and FIFA corruption recently, and they did mention an FBI investigation, but I had no idea they were this close to moving on individuals. Gives you some hope for the future of FIFA, particularly if the Swiss investigation comes to something.
I don’t like FIFA, but I don’t understand the basis for these arrests.
It’s illegal for public servants to accept bribes, but FIFA is a private organization. As far as I can tell, there’s no federal law that prohibits bribing an official in a private organization.
Some (not all) states have laws, but they seem to be premised on showing that the bribetaker is acting against the interest of the employer. That’s easy to show when the bribetaker is at the bottom of the food chain, like a maitre’d caught taking bribes by a manager. But how are they going to prove this for the very officials who get to define the corporate interests?
