FIFA busted for corruption

The worst kept secret in the world has finally been brought to light:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-blatter-isnt-among-them.html?_r=0

United States law enforcement officials declared in forceful terms on Wednesday that their broad investigation of FIFA had only begun and pledged to rid the international soccer organization of systemic corruption.

The Justice Department, F.B.I. and I.R.S. described soccer’s governing body in terms normally reserved for Mafia families and drug cartels, saying that top officials treated FIFA business decisions as chits to be traded for personal wealth. One soccer official took in more than $10 million in bribes, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said.

The schemes involving the fraud included the selection of South Africa as the host of the 2010 World Cup; the 2011 FIFA presidential elections; and several sports-marketing deals.

I'm sure this rabbit hole goes deeper, hopefully to Blattner and beyond.

Hoags wrote:The worst kept secret in the world has finally been brought to light:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-blatter-isnt-among-them.html?_r=0

United States law enforcement officials declared in forceful terms on Wednesday that their broad investigation of FIFA had only begun and pledged to rid the international soccer organization of systemic corruption.

The Justice Department, F.B.I. and I.R.S. described soccer’s governing body in terms normally reserved for Mafia families and drug cartels, saying that top officials treated FIFA business decisions as chits to be traded for personal wealth. One soccer official took in more than $10 million in bribes, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said.

The schemes involving the fraud included the selection of South Africa as the host of the 2010 World Cup; the 2011 FIFA presidential elections; and several sports-marketing deals.

I'm sure this rabbit hole goes deeper, hopefully to Blattner and beyond.

South Africa eh? So much for Nelson Mandela being above reproach...

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Hoags wrote:The worst kept secret in the world has finally been brought to light:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-blatter-isnt-among-them.html?_r=0

United States law enforcement officials declared in forceful terms on Wednesday that their broad investigation of FIFA had only begun and pledged to rid the international soccer organization of systemic corruption.

The Justice Department, F.B.I. and I.R.S. described soccer’s governing body in terms normally reserved for Mafia families and drug cartels, saying that top officials treated FIFA business decisions as chits to be traded for personal wealth. One soccer official took in more than $10 million in bribes, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said.

The schemes involving the fraud included the selection of South Africa as the host of the 2010 World Cup; the 2011 FIFA presidential elections; and several sports-marketing deals.

I'm sure this rabbit hole goes deeper, hopefully to Blattner and beyond.

South Africa eh? So much for Nelson Mandela being above reproach...

you do know that mandela hasn't been a president since 99 eh? but his wife has a deadly reputation for corruption and all sorts of terrible abuse of power.

it's no surprised that FIFA is so corrupt. there's no way they will actually be able to get it all worked out of it though. it's rooted within the organization completely. they basically would need to tear it all down and start from scratch. even if they were to rebuild without any ties people would get shot if they failed to comply. the world of soccer is completely corrupt. tremendously in its European parts. and i'm not just talking "italy" because of mafia ties. Germany is a big one also.

I hate to say it but it's almost best to ignore the internal structure and maybe focus on the abolishing the actual corruption from the actual games. they're a lot of calls that are being bought.

Still, it's pretty rare that a sports sanctioning body would be caught up in this sort of thing. Generally speaking, people in positions of authority who have the power to sway opinion and influence decisions rarely monetise their power and influence.

SeawaySensFan wrote:Still, it's pretty rare that a sports sanctioning body would be caught up in this sort of thing. Generally speaking, people in positions of authority who have the power to sway opinion and influence decisions rarely monetise their power and influence.

There is so much money in international soccer that it's pretty much systemic in FIFA and the sub-organizations to accept bribes and the like. NFL and NHL have some shady things in the past, an organization like FIFA worth billions should be no surprise. I don't know a single soccer fan who doesn't think FIFA is crooked. There's been rumours of match fixing in the past as well so I expect we will have a lot of news over the next little while.

These people are facing serious serious charges under the US RICO Act. Several people have already pleaded guilty and as they spill the beans we will hopefully see more arrests, hopefully all the way to the top and Blattner. There is no way he is innocent in all this.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the IOC get nailed on stuff like this some day.

Hoags wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:Still, it's pretty rare that a sports sanctioning body would be caught up in this sort of thing. Generally speaking, people in positions of authority who have the power to sway opinion and influence decisions rarely monetise their power and influence.

There is so much money in international soccer that it's pretty much systemic in FIFA and the sub-organizations to accept bribes and the like.  NFL and NHL have some shady things in the past, an organization like FIFA worth billions should be no surprise.  I don't know a single soccer fan who doesn't think FIFA is crooked.  There's been rumours of match fixing in the past as well so I expect we will have a lot of news over the next little while.

These people are facing serious serious charges under the US RICO Act.  Several people have already pleaded guilty and as they spill the beans we will hopefully see more arrests, hopefully all the way to the top and Blattner.  There is no way he is innocent in all this.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the IOC get nailed on stuff like this some day.

rumors? pretty much established facts. itatly gott nailed for it a few years back.

didn't the IOC get nailed for accepting bribes from some cities to host the games?
the advantage with the IOC is that a couple of the most recent games have run a deficit which means it makes it a bit more unlikely that they pay extra to want to host them. i think vancouver broke even. (before or after bribes? who knows)

Flo The Action wrote:
rumors? pretty much established facts. itatly gott nailed for it a few years back.

didn't the IOC get nailed for accepting bribes from some cities to host the games?
the advantage with the IOC is that a couple of the most recent games have run a deficit which means it makes it a bit more unlikely that they pay extra to want to host them. i think vancouver broke even. (before or after bribes? who knows)

Oh I don't think I heard about that. I always heard about match fixing during qualifiers and the like. I don't remember reading that anyone got busted for it.

There were bribes paid for the 2002 Salt Lake City Games as I recall. I don't think anything happened since but as you said the games are a money sink for the host city so no one should be paying bribes for something like that.

Hoags wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:
rumors? pretty much established facts. itatly gott nailed for it a few years back.

didn't the IOC get nailed for accepting bribes from some cities to host the games?
the advantage with the IOC is that a couple of the most recent games have run a deficit which means it makes it a bit more unlikely that they pay extra to want to host them. i think vancouver broke even. (before or after bribes? who knows)

Oh I don't think I heard about that.  I always heard about match fixing during qualifiers and the like.  I don't remember reading that anyone got busted for it.

There were bribes paid for the 2002 Salt Lake City Games as I recall.  I don't think anything happened since but as you said the games are a money sink for the host city so no one should be paying bribes for something like that.

wrll since LA to Salt Lake City the games made money. It's only been down trending since then. Vancouver got lucky if you ask me by actually breaking even. But there were a certain amount of years where they were viewed as profitable.

SeawaySensFan wrote:Still, it's pretty rare that a sports sanctioning body would be caught up in this sort of thing. Generally speaking, people in positions of authority who have the power to sway opinion and influence decisions rarely monetise their power and influence.

I loved this post more than you will ever know.

tim1_2 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:Still, it's pretty rare that a sports sanctioning body would be caught up in this sort of thing. Generally speaking, people in positions of authority who have the power to sway opinion and influence decisions rarely monetise their power and influence.

I loved this post more than you will ever know.

This post loves you right back, old friend.

Ya, I am loving the rhetoric coming from it too. The Russians think it's an attempt from the Americans to stop the next World Cup from being held in Russia. Too funny.

That said, explain to me how Qatar got them? A country that is up there with some pretty corrupt, dangerous nations and they're allowing them to move the tournament over winter so the players don't die of heat. I guess they have the money and the fan base to support a World Cup but the concessions they're allowing to let them host it are pretty crazy.

Who's this Seth Bladder everyone keeps talking about?

SeawaySensFan wrote:Who's this Seth Bladder everyone keeps talking about?

Well, whoever he is, he just got re-elected to whatever position he was already in.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:Who's this Seth Bladder everyone keeps talking about?

Well, whoever he is, he just got re-elected to whatever position he was already in.

President of FIFA for the last two decades or so.

The fact that he got re-elected shows just how corrupt the whole organization really is.



He's the guy at the top and he had no idea what was going on

Can we say Dung ?

I heard on the radio there would be a "Seth Bladder" update. I google "Seth Bladder" and get nothing. Anyone know what the hubbub is all about?

Thanks in advance!