Gotta tread a bit carefully here, but some FIFA officials were arrested for taking 'millones in bribes, and corruptio', according to the BBC. No doubt Honest Sepp will see this as a witch hunt, but it would be nice to think the FIFA vote on friday might take this into account and vote for a change (Ha! Good luck with that!!). The president of the Irish FA has said he won't vote for Blatter, as the FIFA Brand name is tarnished by him, but it looks as though the votes of Fiji, Bermuda and Ascensión Island will see the man into another term of backhanders and political machinations.
Blatter has got enough votes tied up not to give a fig about these arrests. After all, he has to "finish his mission", as he so honestly declares.Business as usual I'm afraid.
OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!! Now they're saying that FIFA officials have been taking bribes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For 20 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we all thought they were a shining example of integrity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A beacon of honesty!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quite a funny few quotes from Mr Teflón, including that today was ' a sad day for fans and for football'. ???????????? Rubbish. Most football fans will be overjoyed to finally see at least some of these leeches being collared, and not by a FIFA internal enquiry, but by the FBI, who might actually do something about it. The sad bit will be if Blatter ploughs on regardless and get's re-elected. Outside Spanish politics, there are few global organisations where a leader would try to cling on to power with this sort of thing going on while he was on duty, and anyone with a scruple to spare would resign. However, I hope that the FBI push on and nail more and more of these scum. The sad thing is that it is the USA, who are'nt much of a footballing power, who have finally done something. Hang your heads in shame England, Germany, france, Italy etc etc, and also Switzerland, who will no doubt move mountains to keep these toads from being extradited or punished. It's hard to see why the major players have sat on their hands for so long about this, but maybe it's time to just forget about rebuilding FIFA. Give it to the CONCACAF federation, and build a new one. And don't put the headquarters in Switzerland. Let the japanese have it.
Looking at the mug shots of the rogues gallery arrested caused me to burst out with laughter. A picture tells a thousand stories. No British. No Spanish. No North Europeans. No Germans.
And this must be just the tip of the iceberg. There must be quite a number who are absolutely ****ting themselves in case Blatter gets indicted. If he goes down who will he take with him to get himself a deal? I don't think he has anything to worry about in tomorrow's vote!
My theory is that he does not himself take backhanders, but knows exactly who does and how much. It's the power and prestige he craves. A modern J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI for 41 years, died in office, no president dared sack him, ho knew too much.
Why single out Spain? Here in the Dominican Republic, crooked politicians are envied rather than despised. The few (possibly) honest ones are lampooned as "pendejos" (suckers). And I sure the same applies throughout Latin America, Africa, and much of Asia and Eastern Europe in both public life and private business. Actually easier for the US because there are fewer vested interests and skeletons in the cupboard. Look at Irishman Jim Boyce who claims he stumbled on a 16.000 pound watch in his garage and the feeble attempts by the English FA party to offer "inducements" at the bidding process. But I wonder if the same would have happened if the US had been awarded the Finals. I am surprised I have not seen the following idea mooted. If FIFA cannot be cleaned up, why do the western European countries, and anyone else who wants to join them, not secede from FIFA and start their own "world" federation? Europe does not need the rest of the world. Europe is where all the money is. The best players from Africa and Latin America would still want to come to Europe for the big bucks. It need not last long. Within a decade the other countries would be desperate to join when their money runs out and they have lost all their star players.
Blatter assures us that it's not his fault, since you cannot monitor everyone all of the time. God knows I'm sure he's tried. Football fans everywhere will be reassured by his words.
Does he need to take backhanders? Am I right in saying that FIFA refuse to publish how much Mr Blatter is paid? However, we do know that FIFA Officials were paid £100m in expenses in their last set of Accounts!
Honest Jack Warner wasted no time in playing the race card on release from jail on parole this morning, accusing the US Govt of.....wait for it..... "Racism" Ten out of ten for originality Jack, but just hold on a minute.... Isn't the US Attorney General who led on this case err.......black ?
On this issue of FIFA's laughable governance, I fail to understand why the FA's of Hong Kong, Botswana and Swaziland have a vote that is worth the same as those of England, Germany and Spain. Or am I missing something
This is precisely the reason Blatter keeps getting elected. Over the years he has carefully cultivated support in these tiny enclaves, knowing that his votes-for-favours policy will keep him in power. His raison d'etre.
FHB - the votes should be weighted. I would give the entire African continent one vote between them, they only have about 3 serious countries and South Africa will resemble Zimbabwe in another 20 years. Their current President thinks you can prevent AIDS by taking a shower after sex.
