FIFA

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:16 am

Wouldn't it be nice if this meant the end of Sepp's reign of terror.

I have a feeling this will deserve its own thread.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:17 am

I think Sepp is behind the whole damn thing.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:24 am

He certainly fostered the environment for it.

Or, do you mean he's behind the arrests?

I think the biggest thing out of this will come from the raid of FIFA offices today, not the FBI indictments.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:25 am

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:25 am

Even if it does mean we may never see another WC hosted here in our lifetimes. My grandkids can dream.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:27 am

govmentchedda wrote:He certainly fostered the environment for it.

Or, do you mean he's behind the arrests?

I think the biggest thing out of this will come from the raid of FIFA offices today, not the FBI indictments.

I think he has agreed to cooperate to not be on the list of people they have arrested so far.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:27 am

Little known fact: one verse, cut out at the last minute, was just "Fuck Soccer" over and over again.

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:29 am

Fuckyeah!
International
Football
Arrests

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 27, 2015 8:11 am

Has anyone checked hell? Is it frozen?

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Wed May 27, 2015 8:27 am

degenerasian wrote:Has anyone checked hell? Is it frozen?

They can melt that in time to play

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 27, 2015 9:52 am

The other way to look at Sepp not being on the list is much more promising... You round up this group and someone is going to flip. This isn't the mob... these guys got so used to raking in money, almost out in the open, they're not likely going to toughen up and go silent when the evidence against them is on the table.

When England was embarrassed by FIFA for the 2018 bid, and then the US was bounced for 2022... You can only fuck around with the US and European powers for so long.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed May 27, 2015 9:56 am

If Sepp were going to engineer something like this wouldn't his main target be UEFA?

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed May 27, 2015 10:19 am

It's hard to make sense of everything that's going on, but someone who pled agreed to repay $151 million dollars? That's crazy money for one defendant to have gained from this operation.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 27, 2015 10:35 am

Rex wrote:If Sepp were going to engineer something like this wouldn't his main target be UEFA?

Except that UEFA is probably pretty clean. Bidding for the Euros is fair, it's the World Cup that was a clusterfuck in the 2011 voting.

Hell Euro 2020's host is everybody with the final four at Wembley. March Madness style, who can argue that?

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed May 27, 2015 10:36 am

sucks when your enemies are clean

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 27, 2015 10:52 am

Most of the corruption, beyond the bidding process for 2018 and 2022, is centered in CONCACAF (our region) and CONMEBOL.

Jack Warner was forced to resign when FIFA's own investigators were about to lower the boom on him back in 2011. The guy was so incredibly brazen about what he was doing, even FIFA felt compelled to act. That's really saying something.

Here, enjoy this read on Warner's partner in crime (literally), a fellow by the name of Chuck Blazer.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/th ... .of43lN4r1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

People following soccer in the US have know since the mid-90s that CONCACAF and FIFA are dirty as Hell. The bidding process for the World Cup finally went too far, was too brazen -- "fuck you, what are you going to do about it?" Warner and Blazer were dirty as Hell, but there's not really a mainstream media following soccer that was interested in really talking about it.

ETA: It should be noted that Blazer is likely the one that the FBI used as an informant in the cases being made today. I've read he wore a wire to a number of meetings. Again, important in terms of how fucked a lot of these guys arrested/indicted today and how much Blatter is a likely target.

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed May 27, 2015 10:56 am

@PFTCommenter: kind of ironic that the United States is giving FIFA a red card after giving half our future natonal team a green one

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 27, 2015 11:24 am

govmentchedda wrote:It's hard to make sense of everything that's going on, but someone who pled agreed to repay $151 million dollars? That's crazy money for one defendant to have gained from this operation.

Apparently, it's more like 4 individuals (incl Blazer) and 2 corporations have pled guilty.

A company called Traffic apparently had a guy bribe a FIFA higher up and then got appointed to a FIFA position, and subsequently used that position to help Traffic get the marketing rights for the 2013 Gold Cup and Concacaf Champions League.

This shit has been institutionalized to such an extent, they are going to just shred through Concacaf and when those guys outside of the region start to flip, it's going to be like a virus within FIFA.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 27, 2015 11:53 am

So what happens on Friday with the vote?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed May 27, 2015 11:59 am

degenerasian wrote:So what happens on Friday with the vote?

You can't change horses midstream!

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed May 27, 2015 1:11 pm

rass wrote:
@PFTCommenter: kind of ironic that the United States is giving FIFA a red card after giving half our future natonal team a green one

Very funny/ First thought I had, it's a damned good thing FIFA allowed Zelalem to play for the US before this came down.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Wed May 27, 2015 1:14 pm

Sepp says there's no place for such corruption in soccer. Glad we got that on the record.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed May 27, 2015 2:01 pm

The classic spin from FIFA is that they are to be commended as they sanctioned the probe.

I wonder what type of personality is attracted to PR? Someone who likes lying so much that they will do it even when everyone is basically laughing in their face?

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 27, 2015 2:08 pm

degenerasian wrote:So what happens on Friday with the vote?

Just about all signs point to him being re-elected. The amount of people he has funneled money to is insane. He has pork-barrel politics down to a science. The ONLY thing that's going to change the situation is literally cleaning house entirely and then shifting the means of doling out funds to remove all of the nonsense.

There are story upon story upon story out there of random countries receiving ridiculous amounts of money. And some subset of that money typical winds up in a local Federation officials pocket. The Cayman Islands has a multi-million dollar Federation HQ and a field (where grass won't grow) that was the direct result of this kind of bullshit. The Caymans have played about 1 game in the last 5 years on the international stage. There's no desire from that populace to give have of a shit about soccer. Just graft.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed May 27, 2015 2:11 pm

Pruitt wrote:The classic spin from FIFA is that they are to be commended as they sanctioned the probe.

I wonder what type of personality is attracted to PR? Someone who likes lying so much that they will do it even when everyone is basically laughing in their face?

You can be a lawyer and not be a sack of shit liar.

Same thing with public relations. If you work for a sack of shit organization/person, that's on you. But it's not that hard to pick your bosses/jobs in a way that keeps you from being a sack of shit liar.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed May 27, 2015 2:37 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote:
Pruitt wrote:The classic spin from FIFA is that they are to be commended as they sanctioned the probe.

I wonder what type of personality is attracted to PR? Someone who likes lying so much that they will do it even when everyone is basically laughing in their face?

You can be a lawyer and not be a sack of shit liar.

Same thing with public relations. If you work for a sack of shit organization/person, that's on you. But it's not that hard to pick your bosses/jobs in a way that keeps you from being a sack of shit liar.

But the companies that require their PR person to be a sack of shit liar pay better.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 27, 2015 3:35 pm

Darren Rovell @darrenrovell
Former CONCACAF prez Jack Warner has surrendered to the police in Trinidad & Tobago, per @abcnews

Post by **brian** » Wed May 27, 2015 3:58 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote:
Pruitt wrote:The classic spin from FIFA is that they are to be commended as they sanctioned the probe.

I wonder what type of personality is attracted to PR? Someone who likes lying so much that they will do it even when everyone is basically laughing in their face?

You can be a lawyer and not be a sack of shit liar.

Same thing with public relations. If you work for a sack of shit organization/person, that's on you. But it's not that hard to pick your bosses/jobs in a way that keeps you from being a sack of shit liar.

Spoken like a true PR shill.

(Just kidding. I agree with you. I did a stint in PR before as well, but in an agency. It was a lot easier to bill hours to the customers who weren't pieces of shit than vice versa. Unsurprisingly, I suppose.)

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed May 27, 2015 4:12 pm

I wish there was an over/under on when Blatter will be out as head of FIFA. I think it happens in 2015.

joeyclams · Post by **joeyclams** » Wed May 27, 2015 6:48 pm

Rex wrote:If Sepp were going to engineer something like this wouldn't his main target be UEFA?

I don't think there is anyway that Sepp is not the target of this investigation. No way they guys they arrested are who they want. Everyone's known how corrupt FIFA and Sepp are and have known for decades. I just don't see how they can be satisfied until Sepp is in custody.

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:12 pm

Calling bribes 'bungs' is so much better.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:18 pm

If Blatter killed himself as they closed in, where would this rank among all-time sports stories?

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Wed May 27, 2015 8:52 pm

How is it that the USA is the lead entity in this prosecution, as opposed to Switzerland where I believe FIFA is headquartered?

I'm curious as to how blatant corruption could take place pretty much in plain sight for several decades and not be effectively prosecuted. Could a major drug dealer operate in a European country for several decades without being taken down by the authorities? I suppose a better example would be some form of corporate crime.

And I suppose the answer is that it's quite realistic that illegal banking practices, for example, could continue for a couple decades in Switzerland or England, with many people knowing the details. The Swiss banks that have recently been subject to legal action for laundering drug money and enabling tax evasion are examples where there was eventually some form of legal action. No doubt for each one we know, there are a dozen that have escaped prosecution.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Wed May 27, 2015 8:58 pm

mister d wrote:If Blatter killed himself as they closed in, where would this rank among all-time sports stories?

Soccer fans just about everywhere (e.g., perhaps not in Quatar and Russia) would no doubt exult.

But this story is about the business side of a sport. Not about the games that have been played in that sport. Unless there's evidence that Blatter has influenced game results, as opposed to where they're played or who get's paid, then this isn't a gigantic sports story. So, for example, if he did something to cause referees to affect game outcomes in championship games, as has been alleged in the NBA, then that would be a far bigger story.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed May 27, 2015 8:59 pm

combination of the USA's extremely broad federal criminal laws (RICO and wire fraud, in this case), chutzpah, and the fact that the guy who finally sang happened to be an American who failed to pay taxes.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed May 27, 2015 9:01 pm

DC47 wrote:How is it that the USA is the lead entity in this prosecution, as opposed to Switzerland where I believe FIFA is headquartered?

I'm curious as to how blatant corruption could take place pretty much in plain sight for several decades and not be effectively prosecuted. Could a major drug dealer operate in a European country for several decades without being taken down by the authorities? I suppose a better example would be some form of corporate crime.

And I suppose the answer is that it's quite realistic that illegal banking practices, for example, could continue for a couple decades in Switzerland or England, with many people knowing the details. The Swiss banks that have recently been subject to legal action for laundering drug money and enabling tax evasion are examples where there was eventually some form of legal action. No doubt for each one we know, there are a dozen that have escaped prosecution.

My understanding is that the investigation revolves around CONCACAF, the federation for North America, Central American and the Caribbean Island nations. I read part of it had to do with the Gold Cup, which is played in the US. No idea how Blatter et al have gotten away with their BS for so long, but I assume he knows hot to grease the right wheels. He is also known for getting retribution against national federations who vote against him or fail to tow his line.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed May 27, 2015 9:05 pm

DC47 wrote:But this story is about the business side of a sport. Not about the games that have been played in that sport. Unless there's evidence that Blatter has influenced game results, as opposed to where they're played or who get's paid, then this isn't a gigantic sports story.

Really? If it comes out that ESPN kicked Selig millions personally on the TV deal and DC paid him directly to facilitate the Expos move, you don't think that would be a massive sports story?

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed May 27, 2015 9:07 pm

DC47 wrote:
mister d wrote:If Blatter killed himself as they closed in, where would this rank among all-time sports stories?
Soccer fans just about everywhere (e.g., perhaps not in Quatar and Russia) would no doubt exult.

To be fair, Sepp did make some good points, like when he said women should have to play in shorter shorts and tighter shirts to get more fans.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Wed May 27, 2015 9:16 pm

mister d wrote:
DC47 wrote:But this story is about the business side of a sport. Not about the games that have been played in that sport. Unless there's evidence that Blatter has influenced game results, as opposed to where they're played or who get's paid, then this isn't a gigantic sports story.
Really? If it comes out that ESPN kicked Selig millions personally on the TV deal and DC paid him directly to facilitate the Expos move, you don't think that would be a massive sports story?

The Tiger Woods stuff was about the, uh, personal side of the sport. Not the rounds that have been played in that sport.

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed May 27, 2015 9:17 pm

The Sybian wrote:…like when he said women should have to play in shorter shorts and tighter shirts to get more fans.

I gotta re-evaluate