FIFA Executives arrested on corruption charges

[Getslow]

I'm the first to admit that I don't follow the game. I'll watch the occasional WC match or even a Premier League matchup on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

 

But this whole thing is like a train wreck - I can't help but look.

 

If you're an NFL fan, let me draw a perhaps imperfect analogy...

 

Imagine Roger Goodell. Think about how smug and self-righteous he is and how much money he makes just to manage a sport that was already printing money by the truckload before he got there.

 

Now imagine that he's not answerable to anyone... The union can't bother him; the owners can't control him; government regulators can't touch him... THAT is Sepp Blatter.

 

The FBI just took down the Capone of sport.

 

Now, someone will always step up and take over the family, but every time one of them falls, it gets harder and harder to manage La Cosa Nostra...

[woodsrider]

If you're an NFL fan, let me draw a perhaps imperfect analogy...

 

Imagine Roger Goodell. Think about how smug and self-righteous he is and how much money he makes just to manage a sport that was already printing money by the truckload before he got there.

 

Now imagine that he's not answerable to anyone... The union can't bother him; the owners can't control him; government regulators can't touch him... THAT is Sepp Blatter.

 

The FBI just took down the Capone of sport.

 

Now, someone will always step up and take over the family, but every time one of them falls, it gets harder and harder to manage La Cosa Nostra...

Do yo u think Qatar is in trouble of keeping the WC in 2022? From what little I've heard/read on this that could be up in the air.

[BirdBrain]

Why is it that soccer seems to be a lightning rod for major problems but not so much other sports ? There is always something with FIFA going on and let's not forgot that two countries fought a fairly lengthy "war" over a disputed game many years ago.

 

What is it about soccer that draws this kind of energy ?

[Getslow]

Why is it that soccer seems to be a lightning rod for major problems but not so much other sports ? There is always something with FIFA going on and let's not forgot that two countries fought a fairly lengthy "war" over a disputed game many years ago.

 

What is it about soccer that draws this kind of energy ?

 

Its popularity in parts of the world where where people think that making bribery payments is just a part of life. American and northern European officials are more than happy to take the payments once offered.

 

It's also a massive, worldwide organization, the members of which are national federations, regional confederations, and even non-state localities (Palestine and Gibraltar are members of FIFA). There aren't many folks to regulate it and the ones that do, find it nearly impossible.

 

If there were any other sport as massively popular on a global level as soccer, we'd have something to compare it to... but we don't have anything that even comes close. Especially not with this sort of massive, worldwide bureaucracy governing it.

 

Its a strange game that has a strange hold on a lot of people; the folks who run it take advantage of that devotion to their profit.

[BirdBrain]

Oh no, I get it...when a country starts and continues killing each other over a soccer game, you got something going on...

 

The Football War (Spanish: La guerra del fútbol), also known as the Soccer War or 100 Hour War, was a brief war fought by El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. The cause of the war was economic in nature, namely issues concerning immigration from El Salvador to Honduras.[1] These existing tensions between the two countries coincided with rioting during a 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier. The war began on 14 July 1969, when the Salvadoran military launched an attack against Honduras. The Organization of American States negotiated a ceasefire on the night of 18 July (hence "100 Hour War"), which took full effect on 20 July. Salvadoran troops were withdrawn in early August.

Despite the elapse of more than forty years, a formal peace treaty, a decision by the International Court of Justice and the support of the Organization of American States, the dispute remains active.

[Getslow]

^ Central American soccer is insane. All their stadiums have 20-foot fences surrounding the field to keep the more... dedicated... supporters away from players, coaches, and officials.

 

I absolutely HATE when the US has to go down to play World Cup qualifying matches in Guatemala, Costa Rica, or Honduras.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

FIFA admits to World Cup hosting bribes, asks U.S. for return of money

GENEVA (AP) — While acknowledging for the first time that votes were bought in past World Cup hosting contests, FIFA is seeking to claim "tens of millions of dollars" in bribe money seized by U.S. federal prosecutors.

FIFA submitted a 22-page claim to the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York on Tuesday that seeks a big share in restitution from more than $190 million already forfeited by soccer and marketing officials who pleaded guilty in the sprawling corruption case.

Tens of millions of dollars more is likely to be collected by U.S. authorities when sentences are handed down, and from dozens of officials currently indicted but who have denied bribery charges or are fighting extradition.

FIFA claims it is the victim of corrupt individuals, despite widespread criticism that bribe-taking was embedded in its culture in the presidencies of Joao Havelange andSepp Blatter, who was forced from office after 17 years by the current scandal.

"The convicted defendants abused the positions of trust they held at FIFA and other international football organizations and caused serious and lasting damage to FIFA," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Wednesday in a statement. "The monies they pocketed belonged to global football and were meant for the development and promotion of the game. FIFA as the world governing body of football wants that money back and we are determined to get it no matter how long it takes."