Swiss police arrest 10+ FIFA officials: indicted by US Dept of Justice

Yep, plenty of time for him to do a Farage. The good guys can't let up until he really is out the door.

 

Fortunately the reality is nothing at all like the newspapers would have you believe. Source starts 30 seconds in at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05wz90d

Summary if you prefer not to listen:

* Qatari govt did stop the BBC reporting
* The number being bandied about is a forecast, first published in 2013, not a count of actual numbers
* Qatar publishes no numbers, numbers on which the projection was made come from Indian/Nepali embassies
* Deaths are in all of Qatar, not just World Cup venues.
* By the same measures a Polish worked falling off a house roof in Swindon in 2011 would have been counted as a migrant worker fatality related to the 2012 London Olympics
* People who came up with numbers say all infrastructure in Qatar is related to World cup, so valid.
* Is all Qatar building WC related? Doubtful.
* 1/3 of the workers don't even work in construction but are included, whatever the cause of death and wherever they occur
* 500,000 Indians in Qatar, 250 die a year. Same number of 25-30 year old men living in India, the Indian government predicts that 1,000 would die.
* Qatar's death rate amongst migrant workers is lower than other countries in the Middle East
* Qatar's employment laws are awful.

I'm no defender of Qatar - near dictatorship and I hate the fact that they have the WC, but the facts do belie the hysterical headlines on this particular subject.

Vin

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33019838
That is a written article which I assume is based on the same information as that. Also at the risk of defending autocrats (whether of countries or international sports governing bodies)..... As BBC reports go it comes across as pretty sceptical. Also featuring a less than convincing rebuttal from the ITUC guy.

 

Here's an extract of an e-mail from a Canadian who isn't a big 'soccer' fan and isn't used to big games in her country [she was actually born in the UK and emigrated in 1966] bearing in mind the recent publicity about FIFA. I thought it might make a interesting view point from someone other than us jaded lot.

We’re hearing that fans attending WWC games are not only having to go through massive security but they’re being banned from taking any food - or even water - into the stadium unless they’re made by FIFA sponsors (so I guess Coca-Cola & Dasani are okay) so fans in Moncton NB yesterday were forced to abandon their picnics outside the stadium or go home. In view of the current FIFA scandal, you’d think they’d be trying to at least restore their reputation somewhat and try to refute their money-grabbing/corrupt reputation - especially when they’re already struggling to draw big crowds (except in Edmonton & Vancouver) in a country where soccer isn’t the main sport other than on the West Coast and among girls. Bad enough that the host cities were forced to rip up perfectly good grass and replace it with Astroturf (I think it is made by Monsanto - so that was probably another lucrative deal), which is not only causing burns but also affects the way they play the game....It was also a mistake to spread the games out over such a huge country rather than have them all played in Alberta & B.C.

 

banned from taking any food - or even water - into the stadium unless they’re made by FIFA sponsors (so I guess Coca-Cola & Dasani are okay)

_______________________

Its just so wrong, but its fifa I suppose.

 

Not to support FIFA, but it's sadly pretty standard practice to not allow people to take in their own food and drink to entertainment venues under the all encompassing umbrella of security.
I question the accuracy of the lady that certain brands are allowed. I would suggest only certain brands are available to purchase inside the stadium

 

But you are, if its coca cola or some-like, that's not the same rule at all. (read again, that's what he wrote)

 

Forcing host nations to change their laws to allow the sale of alcohol by brand partners within stadia (Brazil had banned it owing to a history of drunken hooliganism) is another story, though.

 

To be fair to saintlyhero my sister-in-law doesn't always get her facts completely right, but that might be first hand information from her vast network of friends (she used to work in the government).

I can remember my wife not being able to bring in chips from the concourse at the Manchester Arena (she bought them in the arena) and because she couldn't eat them all she had bin them. There were no signs anywhere in the arena at the time.

So I'm not sure why some tournaments or stadiums do this - they're all mental.

 

Wouldn't surprise me .

 

There are two strings to this. Earlier reports suggested that one of them is that, having cast around for some retained support, he has found that certain contingents in Africa and Asia still back him, and he is going to go back on his decision to resign. The other is that he will stand for re-election in December. This is amidst calls for him to go immediately and not wait for a winter FIFA summit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33126284

Frankly, I begin to wonder whether there is any sincerity in the man at all. He clings onto power against all-comers, for no discernable and plausible reason other than to satisfy himself. I think someone needs to write an article whereby we fully understand Blatter's motivation and why he gets such loyal support. DTLW.?

 

A true megalomaniac just doesn't seen any wrong they do.

 

The Loyalty comes from the money and Blatters equal share policy.
On the surface the policy seems reasonable. Every nation gets a equal slice of the FIFA budget, but then you think, is it fair that a small island nation gets the same FIFA budget as the US, which has 100x the population?

The US doesn't necessarily need FIFA money, but there are a lot of countries getting FIFA grants for more than they could possibly spend on football projects, so they're getting a surplus which would likely stop should Blatter be replaced.

Now, I'm not accusing these nations of corruption or that they're using this money for there own personal means. They could just as likely be using FIFA money to help build schools and hospitals etc
But whatever that money is used for, they don't want to lose it and keeping Blatter insures they keep it. So there vote is based on the money and not necessarily what's right for football

 

Thanks for clearing the mist, SH.

 

I read the Caymen Islands get same weighted vote as Brazil (et al) & population is 56,000 vs 209M !

 

That says to me that they don't believe they're going to keep it.

 

Or they are switching to buying tanks! I wish that didn't sound like it had an element of truth.

 

Here's the latest: