Hat's off to the AG for having the sack to take these corrupt bastards on...
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genuflected
had to look it up
@BrooksDT: Whoever arrests a majority of the FIFA Executive Committee gets to host the World Cup, right? Isn't that how it works?
I was laughing in recent days before these indictments when various online types were trying to compare Goodell with Sepp Blatter. Hell, if they were ever in the same room Sepp would be telling Rog to get his f-ing shine box.
No secret to even the casual observer of sports but the corruption in world soccer is breathtaking. For example:
@patersonjon: FBI says bribes associated with 2016 #Concacaf Gold Cup in US amounted to two thirds of costs of staging the tournament. #FIFAarrests #FIFA
Our friends from Nike are in some deep **** here, too. Brazilian FA is a particular target of this investigation and they've been basically bought and paid for by Nike who has been their official sponsor for the past 15 years.
All of this will be fun to watch. Still betting FIFA re-elects Sepp as President this Friday, though.
....and Sepp is completely blameless in all of this. 
Nothing like a good ol white guy dancing.
Of course FIFA and Sepp are corrupt. It's called supply and demand, and they have an event that has global demand, and they are the only one's who supply it. Matches have been fixed for a long time. But after the 2022 award to Qatar, you knew it was dirty, and then "negotiating" with the EPL to play in the winter. DURTY!!!!
The USA women might as well not even show up in Canada. They are doomed.
Won't change anything. Just force them to be a bit more discreet in the future. Maybe.
Too big to fail.
"Be more discreet? **** that. We're too big to fail!!!"
Kenneth Lay
Originally Posted by El-Ka-Bong:
genuflected
had to look it up
Never an altar boy, eh?
http://bigstory.ap.org/article...942bcfc3a988dec76ba/soccer-world-shocked-fifa-raids
And Louis Renault was shocked that there was gambling going on at Rick's.
And Louis Renault was shocked that there was gambling going on at Rick's.
Or born Catholic, never mind being an altar boy.quote:Never an altar boy, eh?
"I'm a recovering Catholic."
(caller to the old Tom Snyder Show)
"It's them cat-licks."
(for Stephen King readers)
FIFA President Sepp Blatter says FIFA will work hard with authorities to "root out any misconduct" after the arrest and indictment of several top officials in a far-reaching corruption investigation.
Well, I feel better now. Just a dozen or so bad apples really.
Here's what's gonna happen...
The corrupt CONCACAF officials who did dirty bidness on US soil are fukt.
Sepp may get some pressure to resign, but he won't. Ever. The dude will die in his office chair.
He owns too many of the small countries that have an equal vote under FIFA bylaws, to lose.
Spain, France, Italy, Germany, England, Brazil, Netherlands and Argentina account for something like 98% of FIFA's revenue...yet they only have 8 votes out of 209.
Sepp is no dum-dum. He set FIFA up so he could never lose...building a $20,000 soccer pitch for kids in Angola every few years is a cheap way to secure their vote. He was Dana White before Dana White.
Change will only happen IF, and only if the power 8 countries unilaterally boycott...and they won't do that because there is too much money at stake.
Who is this obese Santa Clause look-a-like **** from the US I keep hearing about that turned government informant? These are some seedy ****ers.
I'm reminded of the hotel guy in Bedtime Stories
That's Chuck Blazer. His bio is instructive.
In 1989, Blazer was unemployed when he went to Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago and convinced Jack Warner (one of the indicted parties in the 2015 FIFA corruption case) to run for CONCACAF president. Blazer managed Warner’s campaign, won, and became General Secretary.[3] It would quickly become a lucrative friendship for both men. Warner appointed Blazer general secretary of the organisation. The contract Blazer signed would result in his “Mr 10 per cent” moniker as it included an agreement to pay Blazer’s company a 10 per cent cut of a variety of sponsorship and TV rights fees. At the time the organisation’s coffers were virtually empty and its revenues, then measured in thousands of dollars a year, paltry. Blazer swiftly changed that. He moved Concacaf’s headquarters from Nicaragua to the US and began drumming up millions of dollars of business. More than 20 years later its revenues stood at more than $40m a year. According to US court documents, from 1996 to 2011, Blazer made $15.3m in commission from sponsorships, sale of TV rights, ticket sales and a host of other deals.[4]
He was a member of the FIFA Executive Committee from 1996 to April 2013, when Sunil Gulati was elected to replace him.[5][6] Also, Blazer served as Commissioner of the American Soccer League and Executive Vice President of the United States Soccer Federation.[7] He was the General Secretary of CONCACAF from 1990 until 2011.[8]...
...On November 1, 2014, the New York Daily News reported that Blazer had been a confidential informant for the FBI and the IRS, and recorded key meetings between executives for FIFA and for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Blazer was compelled to inform for the FBI and IRS after they uncovered more than a decade of unpaid taxes on hidden, multi-million dollar incomes. It was also reported that Blazer is extremely ill with colon cancer.[19]
On May 27, 2015, several FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich, with Blazer having been a key cooperating witness in the investigation that led to the arrests.[20] In exchange for his cooperation, Blazer agreed to plead guilty to charges that include racketeering, wire fraud, income tax evasion and money laundering.[21]
Dude's turning state's evidence probably the key to yesterday's indictments.
Heard yesterday that Chuck was one of the strongest forces behind the initial successes of the U.S. Women's National Team. So he's got that going for him. I mean, if you're into that kind of thing.
Originally Posted by ChilliJon:
Who is this obese Santa Clause look-a-like **** from the US I keep hearing about that turned government informant? These are some seedy ****ers.
To the FBI he is Santa. Christmas in May yesterday. Lots of prezzies.
If they get this guy to roll (Jack Warner) Sepp is toast.
Even though the US investigation is focused on CONCACAF (it's the Swiss investigation that's zeroing in on the World Cup 2018 and 2022 bids), Soviet President Putin is caterwauling about the US.
Any chance the investigation can take some of the Russian oligarchs who have gotten involved in football like Abramovich?
Any chance the investigation can take some of the Russian oligarchs who have gotten involved in football like Abramovich?
Check this out, Fedya. May have started with something akin to that in mind.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05...nytcore-iphone-share
...Despite the broad nature of the charges, the case itself arrived at the Justice Department as something of a surprise. The four-year investigation grew out of an unrelated inquiry into aspects of Russian organized crime by the Eurasian Joint Organized Crime Task Force in the F.B.I.’s New York office, according to people with knowledge of the case’s origins. Authorities soon realized the potential scope of an investigation into the sporting world’s most powerful, secretive organization...
Originally Posted by Goalline:
Originally Posted by cuqui:
Why is that man wearing a bra?
Not a bra. FIFA blacked out his "Leaky Blatter" tattoo.
And doesn't "Sepp Blatter" sound like something you're diagnosed with because of heavy drinking?
.
What if the FBI investigated how Super Bowl cities are chosen ?
I bet there's more than a few puckered hinders at 345 Park Avenue today
Originally Posted by Satori:
.
What if the FBI investigated how Super Bowl cities are chosen ?
Same goes for any athletic events hosted in this country. Olympics, NCAA BB tournaments, NCAA football conference championships, track and field events...basically any event that is hosted at at a "neutral" location.
Originally Posted by Timmy!:
Originally Posted by Satori:
.
What if the FBI investigated how Super Bowl cities are chosen ?
Same goes for any athletic events hosted in this country. Olympics, NCAA BB tournaments, NCAA football conference championships, track and field events...basically any event that is hosted at at a "neutral" location.
Well, we know Salt Lake paid bribes to host the Winter Olympics not so long ago.
Originally Posted by PackFoo:
Here's what's gonna happen...
The corrupt CONCACAF officials who did dirty bidness on US soil are fukt.
Sepp may get some pressure to resign, but he won't. Ever. The dude will die in his office chair.
He owns too many of the small countries that have an equal vote under FIFA bylaws, to lose.
Spain, France, Italy, Germany, England, Brazil, Netherlands and Argentina account for something like 98% of FIFA's revenue...yet they only have 8 votes out of 209.
Sepp is no dum-dum. He set FIFA up so he could never lose...building a $20,000 soccer pitch for kids in Angola every few years is a cheap way to secure their vote. He was Dana White before Dana White.
Change will only happen IF, and only if the power 8 countries unilaterally boycott...and they won't do that because there is too much money at stake.
Excellent analysis, and exactly what happened.
This is how close the vote was...Prince Ali got 73 votes out of 206...3 were disallowed. Pretty much UEFA (minus Russia) and CONCACAF were his only votes...the majority of the money making soccer countries wanted Ali. But the African and Asian money suckers wanted Sepp.
This may actually be better off for the sport long term...this will keep the heat on, and may eventually lead to a WC boycott by the major powers. It's not just the FBI that's interested now in this...British, Swiss and German governments are all investigating.
The good news is, Sepp's days are numbered...he's 79. If changes aren't made, there is a real possibility UEFA pulls out of FIFA altogether. Good luck being a billion dollar entity without Spain, France, Germany, Italy, etc. And if UEFA pulls out, CONCACAF is probably next, and only a matter of time before CONMEBOL follows. F Africa and Asia...let Ghana and South Korea slug it out for the FIFA WC.