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FIFA Officials Arrested Over Alleged $150M Bribery Scheme (http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/fifa-officials-arrested-federal-corruption-investigation/story?id=31326400)

I'm not sure anyone will be surprised, other than by the extent. 2 generations of officials are alleged to be involved.

And yet we're still letting Qatar happen. On the backs of human slavery dying every day.

The fact that Blatter was included makes it useless.

You mean wasn't.  No, this is standard for racekteering arrests. You get the little fish so they flip for a lighter sentencing deal and turn-in the big fish. I understand these guys were arrested after another FIFA official who was arrested in 2011 flipped on them. 

You saw the same thing with ENRON and Ken Lay. (Though that gave him enough time to set up the faking of his death and the vacating of his sentence & asset seizure after his death  :tinfoil:)

Well if you want to go full :tinfoil: maybe this is Blatter removing any last resistance to his reign.

Please note any :tinfoil: comments are meant as sarcastically and improbably as possible. I believe in conspiracy theories less than I believe in Bigfoot.

That was actually one of my thoughts. Maybe he's getting rid of voters that won't support him.

The fact that Qatar has happened at all was amazing - that it continues ought to be expected. The minute Blatter gives even an inch of Qatar, he might as well confess to taking kickbacks to make that happen and fucking little boys. Because I'm sure both things happen and I wouldn't lay odds on one being more likely than the other.

 

And then a gazillion tweets about that guy, with references to James Bond flims, Game of Thrones, Santa, etc.


http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2015-05-27/fifa-arrests-chuck-blazer-mole-fbi-irs-sepp-blatter-us-justice-department?eadid=SOC/Twi/SNMain

It looks as though the FBI case is based on events that aren't related to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids. However the Swiss have announced their own criminal proceedings (FIFA is headquartered in Zürich) about bribes and illegalities during those processes.

I mean honestly if we as a society let the Qatar bid stand while they knowingly murder people to make a sporting event happen, we should just fucking quit trying to be a society.

I hope they nail the lot of them to the wall.

I could give a shit about soccer but you're welcome, filthy euros.

They really need to drop soccer and embrace American Football.  Then they only have to deal with drugs, dog fighters, domestic abuse, child abuse, and the occasional murderer.   :awesome_for_real:

as well as a totally corrupt organising organisation  :why_so_serious:


(https://scontent-ams2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10460276_624595265253_5210387870210845025_n.jpg?oh=6841367477cc433e2b00c41389ad03b3&oe=55F46BDE)

Poorly executed but I like the picture they picked:

(http://i.imgur.com/dT8E6KJ.jpg)

Yeah, I don't think we've seen an end to this.  I'm willing to bet some, if not all, of them are going to flip on whoever they can to get the best deal possible for themselves.  This could potentially include Blatter.  God willing! :grin:

Pretty much.  Not 100% sure how much the US will push on this, but this could lead to further prosecution.  Going after all the secondary guys, getting some of them to flip, gives the prosecution a rock solid case to hit the guys at the top.  Going straight for the top guy is much more risky.

The US doing this also opens the doors for others.  Nobody wanted to fire the first shot.  Now that the US has, and is tanking the media attention/agro, others can move in.  We are hitting them for stuff that happened before the Russia/Qatar cluster fuck, which is smart since it avoids direct conflict of interest (since we were bidding also).  But now the Swiss are moving in to investigate just that.  I wouldn’t be surprised if others now also open up their own investigations.  They were doing this shit all over the place, and I'm sure it has to be illegal activity in several other countries also.

And in an unsurprising development, Putin is not amused.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/05/28/why-the-fifa-arrests-made-russia-so-angry-with-the-u-s/

 :awesome_for_real:

Also as a further demand of the US, everyone must now call it soccer.

Cold War all over again.

To no-ones surprises, Blatter was re-elected. However there was some surprise that he failed to get the 2/3rds majority needed to go through on the first round and had to go through to the seconds round where he needed a simple Majority.

And more indictments have been signaled


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/sports/soccer/more-indictments-expected-in-fifa-case-irs-official-says.html

And Sepp quits!

Which is great and all, but makes no sense since he just got re-elected. Unless, of course, that noose was getting a tad bit tighter.

The sponsors must have issued an ultimatum to FIFA because it was making them look bad by association. Thats McDonnels, Budweiser, Visa, Adidas, Hyundai and Kia motors...

John Oliver is going to have to chug a Bud Light Lime.

But seriously, it's soccer now.

Next step for Sepp Blatter? Faking his own death and joining Ken Lay in the south pacific to bang hot azns.

...the fuck?

I mean, it's good he's gone and all but either he was getting serious heat from the sponsors or the fix is in. Otherwise, why wait until 4 days after the election? Why not just withdraw from the election, unless the guy you'd have lost to had his own gravy train to reward and you weren't on that train? I expect the successor to be a crony of his.

Fifa will get fixed just like the banks were. They'll do "reforms" in Qatar and the Russia situation will be forgotten by the news cycle until it's too late. 

I hope not. If they follow they money they'll prove how Qatar bought and paid for the thing, and they'll redo the votes without them in the mix. It's far enough out where they can eat the expense for their lies.

I don't case as much about Russia, unless they follow through on their prison labor plan. In which case fuck them.

I imagine it took some time for the reality that his world is crumbling to sink in for a guy who think's he's that untouchable .

I think it depends on how many people Qatar has bribed. I'm sure the FBI could unravel the whole thing, but will they be allowed to? How badly does the US want 2022?

I have actually no idea, I'm just pessimistic enough to not believe that the transnational power structures involved would go so far in destroying what is ultimately a game rigged in their favor. Would be great if it happened though.

This is one of the few times where it honestly isn't about that in my mind. I think they hit a nerve with the US. We understand small corruption to a point, but if we find out about big stuff our society will not tolerate it and will hammer you to the wall.

I think the US got tweaked that it was obvious Qatar paid for it, and they've taking off the gloves no matter who gets it. We just don't want it to be THOSE assholes and we're making it personal.

My mindset is that he had to wait to win the election and then he can pick his successor with more influence. That is the only reason I can think of in terms of waiting till after the election win.

Or he needs just a little more time because the Enron-class shredders were on back order.  :why_so_serious:

I can't even imagine the mountains of dirt they must have on him to force him out when he has refused for so long. Caught fucking a dead woman, a live boy, or an animal.

Someone who's not looking to get the games in their town might actually be the only thing that could smoke all the rats out.

Hahaha, dear god yes.  I mean, he went through with the election, and then this was him immediatly after for the next few days:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/30/europe/fifa-corruption-case-blatter/

"Its a conspiracy!  The Americans are just saying these terrible things because they want the games instead of Qatar!  They also support Jordan, where my rival was from!  I vow to continue my good fight for the good of the sport!"

Or even more amusingly (and this is an actual quote instead of an over the top summary): 
And then all of a sudden it was King Aurther yelling: "Run away!  Run away!"  Guess the executive committee wasn't behind him that much.   :why_so_serious:

So yeah, dear god that is one hell of a reversal.  Can only imagine what caused it.  Though there was this bit:

I can think of no more damning an indictment than a praise from Putin.
I'd hope people understand at this point that, despite soccer (or at least, the world cup event) finally gaining decent traction in the US, its still not a major concern for the vast majority of Americans (unlike many other places in the world), or more importantly, a point of pride.  Hosting the event is less important than hosting the Olympics in the mind of most Americans I'd say, which makes the claims we are doing this just because we are that bitter of Qatar is laughable.  Having said that, Soccer has made a lot of gains in the last decade, and the last two world cups it seems like I actually saw a lot of advertisement, and a lot of people watching games publicly while it was ongoing.  Which unfortunately for FIFA, means that it has finally gotten big enough in the US where the government does care about the conduct of the organization.  Too many US dollars are now tied up in it.  So in that regard, as you said, I think the US is probably the best country to use its resources to press the attack.  But of course, if it actually does any lasting good is the big question.

I like this quote from him:
https://twitter.com/ben_rumsby/status/605783324502585347

Remember that this is the feds and it's a RICO case. RICO has been used to flip people who knew for a fact they'd be murdered if they talked, but they flipped anyway. 93% conviction rate.

Also remember that the US case isn't about the 2018 or 2022 bids. It's about shit that happened before that process in other areas of the sport. Switzerland is investigating the bribes paid during World Cup bids.

Yeah, the US case won't do diddly for the Qatar Cup.  That's bought and paid for barring a miracle.  Hell,  they released a report that essentially said it was BOUGHT and FIFA ignored it.

Once a case gets accepted at the federal level and indictments handed down...it's a pretty good bet that someone is getting wrecked in court, or pleading out.

AUSAs generally don't like to take shitty cases - hell, they often don't even take the slam dunk cases if the charges are sufficiently bland. This whole thing getting rolled out against so many people? Heh, they might as well just surrender now.

Fifa is going for the "blame a dead guy" gambit.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9872780?

That's a bit ironic, considering your entire political system is based on (legalized) corruption at a grand scale...  :awesome_for_real:

I'm wondering if Blatter went through with the election if only so he could pretend that not continuing as president was entirely his choice; "You can't fire me, I quit!".

Meh we're top 20 in the world by corruption perception indexes in terms of cleanest countries. Like I said, we do have some, but you can't be dickish about it. One of the favorite American pasttimes is a good ole-fashioned witchhunt. It's ironically similar to the way we view professional sporting rules, there "Gamesmanship" and there's "Cheating." God help you if you get found cheating. We love to tear down people we've built up.

I think Blatter went through it because he thought he was going to get away with it. But it become clear as sponsors started pulling out that he wasn't.

If it weren't for those meddling American kids and their dog, he'd still be in office.

Blatter didn't want Qatar to win 2022, that was all Platini.

And Sepp hasn't quit yet, just announced his intention to.

Just like he announced his intention not to stand for reelection every time, only to change after announcing the world needed him.

Lot of water still to go with this story.

And now, Sepp is saying that he did not resign!

Sepp Blatter: Fifa president says he did not resign (http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33284185)


I think the Swiss police might need to speed up their inquiry...  :why_so_serious:

He is such a fucking weasel. Fuck him and fuck all the shitty little countries in FIFA that sell their votes so he and his cronies can destroy soccer for their own profit. Fucking cunts, the lot of them.

Hey, look!

Switzerland launches criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter (http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/story/2630695/criminal-proceedings-opened-against-sepp-blatter)

 :popcorn:

Shit's getting real today:

Coca-cola (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-02/coca-cola-calls-for-fifa-s-sepp-blatter-to-step-down-immediately) has called for Sepp Blatter to step down, joined by MacDonalds,Budweiser's parent company AB InBev (https://twitter.com/CNBCnow/status/650040968780062720), and VISA (https://twitter.com/RobHarris/status/650045247288946688).

So now it looks like FIFA is going to suspend Blatter for 90 days.

:popcorn:

And it keeps getting better!

Blatter and Platini given 90 day suspensions, Moon given six year suspension (http://www.espnfc.com/fifa-world-cup/story/2653219/sepp-blatter-and-michel-platini-get-provisional-fifa-bans)

So pretty much everyone running for FIFA president in February is embroiled in an ethics scandal.

Maybe they should disqualify anyone who has been an executive at FIFA in the past? Heh.

They could get some random drunken Gooner out of the stands at the Emirates and be assured of having a more ethical executive than they do now.

It is all really just window dressing unless they take the 2022 World Cup away from Qatar and award it to somewhere that has the infrastructure (and the climate) for it, or that can build the infrastructure without killing a migrant worker every day.

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini banned from football for eight years by Fifa. (http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/21/sepp-blatter-michel-platini-banned-from-football-fifa)

 :yahoo:

This is still true though right?

Oh yeah, FIFA's not changing the World Cup places. The bribes have already been paid, can't renege now.

Oooh eeeemmm geeeeee they sacrificed 2 people and are now smelling of roses for another 20 years till the next scandal too big to be hushed up causes them to sacrifice another 2 people.

In the meantime every team with sense will be trying NOT to qualify for the quatar world cup becasye fuck if they are going to give the honest bribes back.