FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges

[chrysleraspen08 227]

FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html

[the admiral 29,074]

Prosecutors planned to unseal an indictment against more than 10 officials, not all of whom are in Zurich, law enforcement officials said. Among them are Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands, a vice president of the executive committee

Hmm, where can we find people involved in wire fraud and money laundering? Why, in the Cayman Islands, of course!

Is it true that FIFA has kept nations from investigating them by threatening to suspend their national federations? Suspend us, then! We don't care enough about soccer to riot if you do! I mean really, let's be honest: taking down Septic Bladder is more important to The Beautiful Game than actually playing it. We're not going to get out-prosecuted by freaking Ghana, I'll tell you that much right now.

[Dexter Morgan 231]

The Americans took down FIFA. The world now has to call football soccer. It's only fair.

[IanC 59]

FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html

Unfortunately it wont make a blind bit of difference to the outcome of the election. The Teflon Don Blatter will still be in charge of Fifa.

[NJTank 1,129]

FIFA Corrupt in other news water is wet

[Evil Doctor 39]

FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html

So FIFA is an evil organization bent on world domination, who knew?

Betting Sepp Blatter has an Angora Cat. Also betting that Sepp is in fact an alien in human disguise. Sepp Blatter, what a fakey name...

[pmoehrin 1,118]

Good.

I complain about the NCAA being corrupt, but the NCAA isn't linked to deaths on a daily basis.

The only downside I could see with the US being the ones is people may say they're only doing it to steal the World Cup from Qatar.

Highly doubt that's even remotely the case, just because name another time when the US has done something like this. But just be ready to hear argument made over and over again.

This is going to be a long drawn out legal process as well given the money both sides have, so this story is just getting started, but no doubt today is a good day as bad people are finally going to have to answer for their actions in a court of law.

[pcgd 272]

I think most of the legit football/soccer community felt England should have gotten the 2018 and USA the 2022. Corruption is the only thing that kept that from happening. It wasn't like Europe was split between US and Qatar. I doubt you'll hear much about the US trying to steal the World Cup except from 3rd world nations that accepted bribes.

[crashcarson15 2,482]

Went ahead and split this into a new topic; there’s more to this than Qatar 2022 and it’s a discussion more people may be interested in partaking in.

[Crabcake 1,718]

This report sickens me. I have been sickened before by sports organizations, most notably the NCAA and NFL, but this takes the cake. I don't care about the consequences of having to prolong World Cups, etc., just tear the whole thing down and start over again. It's the only way that things can ever hope to get better.

Roger Goodell and Mark Emmert are probably relieved that there is somehow a sports organization more corrupt and messed-up than they are.

[JayMac 3,870]

Top 3 most corrupt sports organizations:

1. FIFA

2. IOC

3. NCAA

I'm hoping Blatter finally gets what is coming to him.

[pmoehrin 1,118]

I doubt you'll hear much about the US trying to steal the World Cup except from 3rd world nations that accepted bribes.

I hope that's the case, but if I was going to mount a pro FIFA argument that would be it.

Also Qater is far from a third world country. Their GDP per capita is $100K, almost zero unemployment and next to no poverty if you don't include all the slave labor.

[Gothamite 24,460]

Oh, sure. Little things like that...

"First/Second/Third World" ceased to have much relevance once the Cold War ended, since they indicated developed countries (allied either with us or the Soviet Union) and developing countries.

By the classical definition, Qatar is a first world country; a developed economy, allied with the United States. But the designation doesn't take into account how much their economy counts on the slave underclass or their appalling human rights record. In more informal parlance, "First World" connotes "free democracy" to many people, and Qatar, as a religious and hereditary dictatorship, doesn't fit that bill.

[the admiral 29,074]

Yeah, sure, if.

[marble21 430]

I will be amazed if anything actually comes out of this.

As many people have posted to suggest, FIFAs corruption may well be the biggest elephant in the room of all time.

[Germanshepherd 1,077]

None of this really matters as long as Sepp Blatter is still in charge at the end of this fiasco.

[marble21 430]

None of this really matters as long as Sepp Blatter is still in charge at the end of this fiasco.

It's a circular problem. Blatter is just the figurehead but so long as he is in power, it gives all of the corrupt officials power. So long as they have power, he (or whoever else they collectively choose to elect) will get voted back in.

Aside from literally everyone involved being put in prison or a massive boycott of the world cup, I can't see anything ever changing. Let's face it, neither of those scenarios is likely going to happen.

[Evil Doctor 39]

Apparently I'm not the only one who see's Blatter as a Bond villain...

I'm watching the indictment news conference now. Once guy got at least $10 million in bribes? These guys put all other crooks to shame...

[pmoehrin 1,118]

None of this really matters as long as Sepp Blatter is still in charge at the end of this fiasco.

It's a circular problem. Blatter is just the figurehead but so long as he is in power, it gives all of the corrupt officials power. So long as they have power, he (or whoever else they collectively choose to elect) will get voted back in.

Aside from literally everyone involved being put in prison or a massive boycott of the world cup, I can't see anything ever changing. Let's face it, neither of those scenarios is likely going to happen.

The Justice Department news is great, but it could very well be a case too little too late at this point.

They're already trying to play this off as the cost of doing business. I don't know how you can really counter that other then what you just described.

[IanC 59]

Blatter would be too slippery to get implicated with all this but the ideal scenario would be on Friday when Fifa are just about to announce the winner of the elections and then gets intterupted and Blatter gets arrested.