FlyerTon Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 "Officials from football's world governing body Fifa took bribes totalling hundreds of millions of dollars over more than 20 years to allocate tournaments and rig elections, US law enforcement officials say" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32902076 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~~~ Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Question has to be, if all his turns out to be true. Can FIFA survive it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvio Tattiescone Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Wonder if the IOC are jetting off to countries with no extradition treaties right now? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Wonder if the IOC are jetting off to countries with no extradition treaties right now? They used to be as bad as FIFA but I think they sorted themselves out after the Salt Lake City shennanigans. Can't remember any recent scandals outside national drug testing anyway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Mike Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I wonder why it's the United States that have finally decided to actually do something about FIFA's nonsense? I imagine they will have an eye on hosting a World Cup in the next two decades, so it could prove costly for them to get on the wrong side of Blatter and Co. A few months back the talk amongst US soccer journalists was that FIFA leadership had informally promised the 2026 WC to the US. FIFA extended both the English and Spanish language US tv rights for one extra WC through 2026 without opening up for bids. The English language US tv rights are the most lucrative in the world and the Spanish language are something like 2nd or 3rd. The speculation was that FIFA is making good since FOX paid $425 million to take the rights away from ESPN/ABC. Then both tournaments are put on the other side of the world due to corruption. And then the Qatar WC is moved from the middle of summer (the deadest spot in the US sports calendar) to right in the middle of the NFL and college football seasons (by far the two most popular sports in the US). Fox is already going to be showing two NFL games each Sunday and probably 10 college football games across their platforms on Saturday. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLip69 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 They used to be as bad as FIFA but I think they sorted themselves out after the Salt Lake City shennanigans. Can't remember any recent scandals outside national drug testing anyway. I havent watched an Olympics or any other athletics event since Seoul. I used to be able to quote all sorts of trivia and records surrounding the Olympics, but got so disillusioned that I simply turned my back on them. I never watched a second of the London Olympics, or the Glasgow Commonwealth games. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fifer Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 There is surely no way Blatter can come out of this unscathed? There's not a hope in hell that he can even begin to try and say he didn't know about it, or took part in it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~~~ Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 There is surely no way Blatter can come out of this unscathed? There's not a hope in hell that he can even begin to try and say he didn't know about it, or took part in it. Even if somehow it is miraculous he knew nothing about this, it still happened on his watch. He'll have to go, but I suspect he doesn't see it that way 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Even if somehow it is miraculous he knew nothing about this, it still happened on his watch. He'll have to go, but I suspect he doesn't see it that way He'll only get kicked out if all the people getting the backhanders think he's damaged goods, and the gravy will stop flowing. I could see them postponing the election. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AberdeenBud Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 A few months back the talk amongst US soccer journalists was that FIFA leadership had informally promised the 2026 WC to the US. FIFA extended both the English and Spanish language US tv rights for one extra WC through 2026 without opening up for bids. The English language US tv rights are the most lucrative in the world and the Spanish language are something like 2nd or 3rd. The speculation was that FIFA is making good since FOX paid $425 million to take the rights away from ESPN/ABC. Then both tournaments are put on the other side of the world due to corruption. And then the Qatar WC is moved from the middle of summer (the deadest spot in the US sports calendar) to right in the middle of the NFL and college football seasons (by far the two most popular sports in the US). Fox is already going to be showing two NFL games each Sunday and probably 10 college football games across their platforms on Saturday. Wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if that scenario was accurate. Blatter had seemingly also "promised" 2018 to Russia, hence Putin not even bothering to attend the awarding ceremony as he already knew it was in the bag. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fifer Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 All Swiss officials not allowed to leave the country, including Blatter. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AberdeenBud Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I saw one article saying Sepp hasn't graced the US with his presence for 4 years because he's shitting a brick over this. Farcical. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 A lot of folk seem to be underestimating Blatters ability to survive. He'll come out of this stronger. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AberdeenBud Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 A lot of folk seem to be underestimating Blatters ability to survive. He'll come out of this stronger. He probably will survive, but almost no chance of him coming out of it stronger. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a1974h Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 It's not very often you can say this but hats of to the Americans 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Mike Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I saw one article saying Sepp hasn't graced the US with his presence for 4 years because he's shitting a brick over this. Farcical. This was revealed in an ESPN investigative piece from a couple weeks back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=565&v=PP1mZDdAtdE 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Interesting it is looking at 24 years of it i.e just after the USA were awarded the WC. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Mike Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 A lot of folk seem to be underestimating Blatters ability to survive. He'll come out of this stronger. I don't know. The arrests were announced at the Federal Justice Dept. headquarters. And the brand new Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, appointed by Obama just happened to be the lead investigator on this case. Obama has to be personally backing the case if he appointed her right as this high profile case was about the break. Post 9/11 anti-terrorism laws were the basis of the investigation. It seems like the full weight of the US federal government is about to come down on world football. There aren't many folks who can successfully fight the full weight of the Feds if everyone up to the President and Attorney General are personally trying to take you down. You've pretty much gotta be high up in a nuclear armed state or hide out in some desert. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyderspaceman Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) A few months back the talk amongst US soccer journalists was that FIFA leadership had informally promised the 2026 WC to the US. FIFA extended both the English and Spanish language US tv rights for one extra WC through 2026 without opening up for bids. The English language US tv rights are the most lucrative in the world and the Spanish language are something like 2nd or 3rd. The speculation was that FIFA is making good since FOX paid $425 million to take the rights away from ESPN/ABC. Then both tournaments are put on the other side of the world due to corruption. And then the Qatar WC is moved from the middle of summer (the deadest spot in the US sports calendar) to right in the middle of the NFL and college football seasons (by far the two most popular sports in the US). Fox is already going to be showing two NFL games each Sunday and probably 10 college football games across their platforms on Saturday. I did wonder why the US were getting involved. Obviously it's not for any altruistic 'sporting intgrity' reasons. It's a money thing but since we all know it's all about money anyway, go get them. Better 'fair' money than 'crooked'. (not that I really believe there is 'fairness' where cash is concerned) eta Maybe the Yanks see a chance to take over the whole shebang. Edited May 27, 2015 by cyderspaceman 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLip69 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 US involvement stemmed from their investigation of Chuck Blazer, who rolled over and squealed like a pig. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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