yes and no, I'll wait to see what happens, they had Bernie Ecclestone bang to rights and he walked after forking out a £30m fine (which was nothing to what his bribery gained him). And Blatter is still free, you think one of them will do a deal?
Corruption seems to be rife within FIFA, so it wouldn't surprise me if one or more of them did a deal to escape any charges. Seems that is the way, law only applies in it's full force to the poor. If you're rich enough you can buy your way out of trouble,
As I've put on another thread, once U,S, prosecutors get hold of these guys. My view is that, depending on the evidence against them, they will start a very quick game of "save your own arse" if the septics have enough to bring charges, tremendous pressure will be brought to bear on the defendants to enter into a plea bargain agreement. Faced with the threat of the next 100 yrs in jail ( the U.S. Doesn't **** about with petty prison sentences) these guys will say whatever they're asked to say to minimalise the penalties on themselves. A lot will depend on how strong the evidence against them is.
FIFA, a bunch of plutocrats like Blatter, with 1.5bn in the bank and the power to make or break economies with WC tournaments and severe leverage over corporate sponsorship and football federations and 0 accountability Damn straight they are corrupt, every last stinking senior FIFA exec is rotten. UEFA are also rotten to the core. Lets be honest tho, the FA are also rotten to the core. Football was more corrupt when the FA ran things, they taught FIFA everything they know
It follows that the biggest, richest game in the world would attract the biggest crooks. It's a disgrace that they have been allowed to peddle their blatant corruotion around the globe for as long as they have. However, the U.S. Seems to be very aggressively prosecuting this, the party might well be over for Blatter and his merry band of thieves - at last!
Rich plutocrats, when do they ever go to jail? In extremely rare circumstances. Sure look at HSBC and barclays, fraud and laundering money for mexican and colombian drug cartels, not one went to jail over that. The fact FIFA are continuing elections, and have said no matter what the outcome of the 2018 and 2022 investigations, the venues will not be changed, is clear evidence they do't give a **** about this "legal quandary" cos with their money and power, no one that matters will go to jail, ever.
I think you underestimate the apparent determination of the U.S authorities to prosecute this. Sure the big banks got away with fines - billions of dollars. Plus, the individuals concerned were criminally prosecuted too. If the apparent determination of the U.S. to pursue this is backed up by solid evidence, people will be doing jail time. Mostly, I suspect, as I said earlier, through plea bargains. The U.S. District attorney can come down very hard with the serious charges that have been laid. Any one of which can carry a lifetime in jail, if convicted.
The laundering of drug cartel money seen 0 convictions. The fines Amount to a fraction of the money made from the criminal activity and are nothing more than token punishments. The senior bankers were not sent to prison because "It would hurt the economy" their defence argued. What you will see is as usual a bunch of middlemen getting hung out to dry. Blatter is dirty as fk and he's not even on the list. FIFA is a dirty game and you can't play unless you are dirty also. Just like politics in fact.
The fines levied were not insignifican by any means, they amounted to bilions of dollars. The senior bankers, with justification in most cases, pleased that they had no knowledge of what their traders were doing. They are massive global organizations that dwarf FIFA. Blatter may, almost certainly will, claim that he had no knowledge of the corruption. It remains to be seen if his minions will remain loyal when faced with many long years in jail
maybe he was top of the list and filled in the blanks below so he would walk, like the mafia don grass.
"The indictment also alleges that corruption and bribery extended to the 2011 presidential FIFA election, and to agreements regarding sponsorship of the Brazilian national soccer team by a major U.S. sportswear company," - U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch Which major US Sportswear company sponsored Brazil in 2011 and has done for many years? Nike. Bloody hell. This should be interesting.
You could count the number of people surprised FIFA is corrupt on one hand... If all the fingers were removed from said hand by the hitman of a major crime syndicate fronted by Sepp Blatter... Look at all the useless motherfuckers (Ginola, Figo et al) who have backed down against big Seppy. Burn FIFA to the ground, send a turd to Qatar with the message "**** off, signed 'football fans everywhere'" and give England the ****ing world cup because that's all we really want!!!
The banks stood accused of handling the cash and failing in their duties to check it's origins. They were the vehicle by which the cash was moved, not the bent ****ers moving it In this case they've got the proof of where the money came from and went to, so they've got the guilty parties at either end of the chain. The banks aren't the issue, so as per you've completely missed the point in striving to try and get your favourite hobby horse out.
The Americans will send Chuck Norris is and Arnie will erase all records of his existence. #blatterwho #conspiracy #sisuknows