Harold Maynes Nicholls, a Chilean considering standing against Sepp Blatter in next year's Fifa presidential election, faces being charged by the world governing body for emails he sent to the director of the Qatari sporting academy "Aspire". ****ing hell, FIFA is just a dictatorship. Anyone who dares to even think about standing against Blatter for election has to go.
True, but at least Qatar was framed around uniting the Middle East and Russia was around uniting east and west. Our was rah rah home of football rah rah best league in the world rah rah. Plus redknapp was involved
Really? So two oil rich and notoriously corrupt fiefdoms are going to unite the world through football? Yeah, right.
The disgraceful way that foreign workers are treated in Qatar should be enough to debar them from having the World Cup. The number of deaths due to overwork and lack of food is a disgrace rivalling apartheid.
And you cannot leave without permission of your employer (despite the fact he may not be paying you).
Imp Fair enough- you have put a cynical (and probably not too wide of the mark) spin on FIFA's attempt to reach the outermost regions of the globe. I genuinely believe that there is an intention to make in roads to more obscure areas and FIFA have invested in football pitches in parts of the world where there is no tradition for the game. I think some of the islands in the Pacific have been cited as an example. However, without doubt, this has resulted in some countries have an inordinate amount of influence in the sport and with the constant flow of finance from FIFA / Blatter, a situation whereby these nations are unlikely to vote for something that will ultimately be against their interests even if it is for the greater good of the game. Basically it is those areas around the world where the game is developing from where Blatter gets his support. Blatter's intentions may well be honourable but the fact is his actions are giving an inordinate amount of influence to the kinds of countries which shouldn't be dictating where the game is run. Many African countries are alleged to have voted for Qatar after inducements are supposed to have been offered. Indeed, Hamman was banned from football because of the nature of the way the bid was touted. Part of me feels that the World Cup should be spread more evenly around the globe but, from a common sense point of view, this is currently not at all possible. Quite what the FA was doing trying to cultivate a relationship with Warner is beyond belief. The NA football body is supposed to have had reservations about him for years and I'm surprised that Warner hasn't suffered the same fate at Hamman. He was forced to resign from the CONCACAF in 2011 and later FIFA in the same year but I understand there were suspicions about corruption pre-dating this as allegedly as far back as the 1980's. Even prior to the bid, he has expressed hostility to England. Interesting to read an article in today's Express which mooted that other countries as well as England are no happy with Blatter's tenure and the suggestion is that a World Cup in Qatar during the football season in Europe will ensure that significant change will be necessary if FIFA is truly to be reflective of the international sport.
Unlike the Germans (WC 1974 and 2006) or the Mexicans (WC 1970 and 1986), I suppose? As for the Olympics...I doubt that the IOC would accept that they have anything to do with FIFA. Celtic bid???
Ian. What I am implying is that Blatter's intentions were far from honourable. He is using the romantic and honourable notion of 'spreading the love' to feather his own pockets. As simple as that. The world cup and Europeans are going to places that are being left decimated by the debts rather than feeling any 'legacy'. People will remember the world cups.......from afar and reminisce but I think that Russia and Brazil will be left in a similar situation to Portugal where the costs of those stadia cripple the clubs OR the government chalks up a massive loss. FIFA will still be celebrating their TV rights deals. As for Qatar that is simply a vanity project on behalf of the Qatar contingent and is laughable that FIFA are trying to validate a world cup in a country where they are going to build the stadiums for the event (nothing new in that) yet have zero legacy once they dismantle them to sell as lego stadia.
Blatter loves to talk about the football "family". I think he uses that expression in the same manner as the mafia does.
Found this an interesting read. Equatorial Guinea seems to be the perfect example of how all the stuff from FIFA about generating publicity and causing change is just a load of bullshit: http://www.football365.com/f365-says/9566974/F365-Focus
@OliverKayTimes: Breaking: Fifa lodge criminal complaint re suspicion of "international transfers of assets" over 2018/22 bid process http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organ.../index.html?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_news_top
Blatter: "lodging a criminal complaint over "possible misconduct" in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process proves the world governing body is committed to transparency"
