NFT: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges

Frankly, a better story would be to find the FIFA official that isn't corrupt.

It is basically slave labor they are forcing to get Qatar ready. International Trade Union Confederation has predicted that over 4,000 workers will die before its finished. Workers are not being paid, are put into deplorable working conditions and Sponsors are pulling out (Johnson & Johnson, Castrol, and Continental Tires are 3 of them)

We're probably the only entity both powerful enough and not so beholden to FIFA to actually take a stand against them.

about a year ago that was pretty interesting

step in the US because he's afraid he'd get arrested. Puts things into perspective in terms of what we think of our assortment of crappy leadership in professional sports.

Blatter should be next.

In comment 12301929 Nitro said:

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Blatter should be next.

I wish he was the first. I fucking hate that man

If his name isn't on that list it's just as likely he's behind this as a way to clear out some that didn't toe the line.

Qatar winning was a complete joke.

Fifa and Olympic committee are neck and neck with corruption.

In comment 12301945 ZogZerg said:

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Fifa and Olympic committee are neck and neck with corruption.

That's unfair to the Olympic Committee. Not thst they're clean, but FIFA is on a whole other level.

is probably the most corrupt leader of a sports organization in any of our lifetimes.

The fact that he's escaped prosecution shows just how many people he's bribed or threatened over the years.

to not use US banks to take his bribes. There's no way he's not aware of this going on. I'm sure it was even part of the report for the 2018-2022 World Cup Bid. He just chooses to ignore it.

To be honest he probably doesn't take any bribes. As the President of FIFA his salary has to be insane. It's power he wants. If he knows you did something dirty he can hang that over your head and make you his pawn.

In comment 12301953 FatMan in Charlotte said:

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is probably the most corrupt leader of a sports organization in any of our lifetimes. The fact that he's escaped prosecution shows just how many people he's bribed or threatened over the years.

Unfortunately true. The corruption in boxing seems trivial relative to FIFA. I'm not even sure the IOC is as corrupt, and they are really bad. Putting the WC in Qatar was ridiculous, especially since it will have to be played in the winter, interrupting the professional soccer season.

Shocked!

on how this develops.
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In comment 12301953 FatMan in Charlotte said:

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is probably the most corrupt leader of a sports organization in any of our lifetimes. The fact that he's escaped prosecution shows just how many people he's bribed or threatened over the years.

Fifa spokesman Walter de Gregorio faced the press alone, and confirmed that congress, and the presidential election, are due to go ahead as planned, and that there was no question of restaging the votes for the World Cup hosting rights. He said Sepp Blatter was feeling “relaxed” about the day’s developments because he was “not involved in them at all”, before clarifying: “Well he is not dancing in his office. He is very calm, he is fully co-operative with everything. That’s what I meant. He’s not a happy man, saying wow wow.”

IRS and FBI conducted an early-morning raid on CONCACAF offices in Miami today.

Just broke on ESPN radio.

was one of those arrested. No surprise there.

Russian executives are known for their ironclad morals.

the Eastern District of NY prosecutors office. Interesting because Lynch was the US Attorney for that office until she assumed the US Attorney General position a few weeks ago. I suspect that this isnt going to be treated as some local prosecution, but rather will get the full weight of the DOJ.

Do not fuck with Brooklyn hipsters' "football".

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“This for Fifa is good. It is not good in terms of image or reputation, but in terms of cleaning up, this is good … It is not a nice day, but it is also a good day. The process goes on and we are looking forward.”

I love the institutional assumption that these guys are guilty.

In comment 12301978 Deej said:

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Quote: “This for Fifa is good. It is not good in terms of image or reputation, but in terms of cleaning up, this is good … It is not a nice day, but it is also a good day. The process goes on and we are looking forward.” I love the institutional assumption that these guys are guilty.

I appreciate that they're not trying to pretend here. It's kind of like common knowledge that they're as dirty if not moreso than the IOC.

had a pretty good piece on a E:60 episode about the corruption in FIFA and the Qatar debacle. Whistleblowers actually exist over the Qatar bid and they can tie Blatter directly to benefits. But the man is a power-hungry despot.

He really is no different than some actual dictators of countries in the way he's run FIFA. He's gotten rid of anyone who challenges him, including people who were once close friends who decided to speak out about corruption. He has rigged votes for World Cup hosts as well as the FIFA elections he's won. Some African delegates have literally walked away with $100M dollars just for siding with Blatter as President or for siding for the choice he's told them to for World Cups.

I used to think the Olympic corruption couldn't be topped. Take a look into FIFA's issues under Blatter. They make the Olympics look like the cleanest organization in the world.

FIFA makes the IOC look like the NCAA.

Someone will roll on Sepp and the others. These are softened criminals who will be terrified of prison. The first round of arrested guys may end up as the lucky one.

That would be shocking to me.

Maybe since these guys are foreigners it's possible, but I'm not used to seeing dirty white collar guys go to jail.

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Usually the white collar guys dont get arrested. Guys who get arrested tend to go to prison.

I dont know the facts and evidence. Just a guess, but I'd think arresting foreign NGO leaders via extradition means you have good evidence. It is too risky otherwise, especially since it will be hard to develop more facts outside the jurisdiction of the FBI.

US attorney general Loretta Lynch’s striking assessment: “The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States. It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.”

They may be more corrupt due to the size of the bribes that they get to stay in power and bribes which dictate where major events will be had (which will make even more sums for others), but until they start dabbling in match-fixing, then the IOC and boxing powers-that-be will always be considered more corrupt to me than FIFA.

will always seem worse to me as a sports fan

the USA ends up in the "Group of Death" in 2018?

by Piers Morgan.

is fantastic.

At the same time though I think he's dreaming if he thinks this will alter the result of Friday's election.

Blatter will be seen as toxic and his support will wane but probably not as soon as Friday.

the election, it would be just desserts for Blatter. He's made last hour payments to voters to turn the tide of the election in past ones. It would be quite ironic if this news finally kicked his sorry ass out.

Blatter once was supposedly behind on votes by a significant margin and yet won elections in the past and payments were able to be shown to be given to several delegates. They just couldn't prove definitively that it came from Blatter.

In comment 12302036 Gene said:

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For the win!

Great piece by Morgan. Blatter makes Darth Vader look like Snow White. FIFA is worse than the IOC, the NCAA, and boxing. Combined.

Oliver on Blatter.

Link

is whacking people, and I'm not quite sure he hasn't done that in the past via a bunch of intermediaries.

a harsh story on FIFA practices. In short, each member country gets a vote, there are more than 200 member countries, and it's dirt cheap to bribe enough third world representatives to keep a solid majority. And if the ruling faction doesn't like someone, why, he gets expelled for bribery!

have been getting the most bribes. There are several African countries and Blatter figured out they can be had for relatively cheap.

Currie says Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb “used his positions of trust” to “solicit and collect bribes from sports marketing executives who needed his support to get contracts.”

“This sort of corruption and bribery in international soccer has been going on for two decades,” he says, adding the investigation leading to these indictments took years. “This is only the beginning.”

Richard Weber, chief of the IRS criminal investigation, now at the dais.

“This really is the World Cup of fraud,” he says, “and today we are issuing Fifa a red card.”

Are you sure David Caruso didn't take the podium?

Giving the 2010 World Cup to South Africa even though they had no business getting it.

I think the Qatar bid was far more corrupt. They essentially gave Qatar the bid in return for millions from a shiekh.

Blatter is going to also be arrested and charged.

Who penned the best "FIFA makes (fill in the blank) look like" comparison?

AcidTest with...Blatter makes Darth Vader look like Snow White

Deej with...FIFA makes the IOC look like the NCAA.

FMiC with...They make the Olympics look like the cleanest organization in the world.

I vote for Acid, because the moment I read that post, I saw Darth Vader force choking all the dwarves at once.