Might be a good time to start pulling out of the world cup. If one starts, the chances are more will follow.
Wait until he`s been elected (as he undoubtedly will be) then everyone pull out and leave him to dry. Nice.
Rumours that Blatter will be thrown out of FIFA even if he doesnt get hit with this directly. If this bribery is proved, does this null and void the WC votes for 2018 and 2022 ? Need to re-vote ?
Interesting. Suppose it all depends on the outcome of the hearing which I doubt will be any time soon. I still think the best way is for teams to pull out. It`s the only real way to show they mean business.
From what I have read this morning there are 2 investigations - one by US authorities into corrupt Latin American dealings (using US Banks) which is the one that has led to these arrests. The other is by Swiss authorities into the awarding of the 2018/2022 word cups which is ongoing so there may well be more to come.
"According to a statement from the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office the investigations concern alleged "bribes and kickbacks" worth around $100m, paid to football officials in exchange for marketing and sponsorship rights to tournaments in Latin America. The FBI has been investigating alleged corruption at CONCACAF under the former leadership of its former president Jack Warner of Trinidad, and former secretary general Chuck Blazer, for some years. Warner resigned his FIFA posts in 2011 after being accused of bribing officials. Blazer is reported to have been co-operating with the FBI after he was threatened with prosecution for unpaid taxes. He is said to have used a bugged key-fob to gather evidence from conversations held during the London Olympics." Can`t find any mention of the world cup thing. Where did you get that info?
On the BBC here's the link and a paragraph describing what I am on about (sometimes I don't know meself !) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32895048 "Six football officials have been arrested over corruption charges at governing body Fifa and face extradition to the US, officials say. Separately, Swiss prosecutors have launched a criminal case into the 2018 and 2022 football World Cup bids." Further down the article it says "In a separate move, prosecutors opened criminal proceedings "against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups," said a statement from the Swiss attorney-general."
"Many have wondered how Sepp Blatter can have been in charge of Fifa for so long, amid so many reports of corruption, and yet remain, apparently, untouched. One Swiss newspaper jokingly called him "the dark prince of football, the godfather, Don Blatterone' - but no inquiry has ever revealed proof of his involvement in bribery. "He's a survivor," says one member of parliament, Roland Buechel. "Nothing ever sticks to him; there is always someone between him and the bribes." Hopefully they can nail him this time.
"It has persistently been dogged by reports of corruption which it says it investigates itself, but until now it has escaped major criminal cases in any country. In particular, the decision to award the World Cup to Qatar, a tiny desert country with no domestic tradition of football, was heavily criticised by football officials in Western countries. FIFA was forced to acknowledge that it is too hot to play football there in the summer when the cup is traditionally held, forcing schedules around the globe to be rewritten to move the cup. FIFA hired a former U.S. prosecutor to examine allegations of bribery over the awarding of the World Cups to Qatar and Russia, but has refused to publish his report, releasing only a summary in which it said there were no major irregularities. The investigator quit, saying his report had been mischaracterised." This bloke could be the star witness.
I been listening to all this on the radio while working outside. Looks like the house of cards could be about to fall. The press conference was an utter farce.
My immediate thought was that Blatter instigated this himself . . . . to divert attention from the biggest lying, thieving, and totally dishonest bastard in football 'Whiter than white' is almost certainly only one man's view of the fat bastard (no, I don't mean Mike Ashley) and the rest of the football world knows that he's simply a ****
Blatter won't resign no matter what comes out about anybody else. They are going to need the smoking gun to nail him otherwise he'll just carry on regardless. The bloke has no morals and his supporters will continue to support him until the prison door shuts.
How long does this have to go on for, FIFA is a complete farce. Nothing will change unless the FA of every country stands up and says no, we wont enter the world cup, we wont be patronised by corruption. If the likes of Brazil, Argentina, England, Spain, France, Italy etc all stand united. Then the corporate sponsors will not want to be involved in the world cup if these leading nations are not there. Its time all these investigations actually provided a positive result for once
former FA chief executive Mark Palios has just been interviewed on Sky news and played a very straight bat to every question. Of course when it comes to demeaning your office, he's no stranger to controversy himself ................Faria Alam I think she was called. Football eh.............................................and there's us just worrying about stopping up every year.
