FIFA Officials Arrested Over Alleged $150M Bribery Scheme

[Brian in Mesa]

FIFA Officials Arrested Over Alleged $150M Bribery Scheme

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/fifa-o...al-corruption-investigation/story?id=31326400

In a series of overnight busts, authorities arrested high-ranking FIFA officials over allegations of vast racketeering and corruption involving more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks spanning two decades in soccer’s controversial governing body, law enforcement officials said.

In all, 14 people, which include a trio of sports marketing executives, have been charged by the Department of Justice for allegedly “foster[ing] a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world,” as FBI Director James Comey put it. Police are also in the process of executing a search warrant at a location in Miami related to the investigation.

The investigation grew out of allegations of payoffs to officials who decided where to hold the next two World Cups, the biggest international event in sports, that landed the games in Russia for 2018 and Qatar in 2022, according to three senior U.S. law enforcement officials. The U.S. was runner-up to Qatar’s win.

 

[Dback Jon]

It's a start. Blatter needs to be in jail

 

[Kel Varnsen]

So it was only American law enforcement going after these crooks? Sorry, alleged crooks.

 

[Lorenzo]

I could be wrong but from what I've seen American and english press and governing bodies alike were really surprised by the landslide victories obtained by Russia and Qatar despite the fact that if both world cups were held tomorrow neither country could facilitate it. Then when you look at both england and usa we both could facilitate it now. It just seems weird that both countries would be left in the dark while 2 other countries with many questions could win so drastically. From that point I think FIFA has been under the hot seat. England especially is very upset and if you watch the most recent espn documentary they were holding government hearings with their Fifa representatives who were confirming corruption. I think this is a case where finally people are fed up with this same good ole boy club because they have gotten carelessly arrogant with the way they conduct business.

 

[Zeno]

They need to dissolve FIFA and come up with a new governing body.

 

[Dback Jon]

They need to dissolve FIFA and come up with a new governing body.

And the IOC.

 

[Ronin]

150 Million? Dang that's a lot of dough.....

 

[Stout]

They need to dissolve FIFA and come up with a new governing body.

Yes.

And the IOC.

And yes.

 

[Lorenzo]

They need to dissolve FIFA and come up with a new governing body.

Yes. Too bad Fifa governing body didn't follow their own mantra of fair play. What gets me is that this idiot blatter is thinking that he's going to repair the state of Fifa. He's created this mess as well and obviously did nothing to stop it.

 

[slinslin]

I could be wrong but from what I've seen American and english press and governing bodies alike were really surprised by the landslide victories obtained by Russia and Qatar despite the fact that if both world cups were held tomorrow neither country could facilitate it. Then when you look at both england and usa we both could facilitate it now. It just seems weird that both countries would be left in the dark while 2 other countries with many questions could win so drastically.

That argument means absolutely nothing.

There are some countries that could host a world cup quickly.

The US btw might not be able to as I am not sure the US has enough soccer stadiums that fullfil requirements for a World Cup as it is. They would have to play in NFL stadiums.

Anyway that argument means nothing, World Cup bids are done years in advance with the expectation of building modern arenas for the World Cup. Does not matter if the arenas are already built or not.
If that was the argument we would have World Cups only in Germany and maybe England as these are the only countries that have enough big cities with big modern soccer arenas that are continually updated regardless.

World Cup biddings have never been exclusively about what country would host the "best world cup". If that was the argument we could just permanently locate the World Cup in Western Europe - probably Germany eg 2006. Highest concentration of soccer fans, best stadiums and infrastructure, close proximity to England, France, Netherlands, Italy, Spain..
The US hosted a World Cup as recently as 1994, it is not surprising that they were not chosen. Since then only France, S.Korea/Japan, Germany, South Africa and Brazil hosted a World Cup.

It's FIFA's idea to bring the World Cup to different places.

Also as far as I am aware the current investigations have no real connection to the World Cup bidding. The officials that were arrested are all from Southern/Middle America and the corruption charges are about selling TV rights or whatever.

There has always been the idea talked about in Europe to just host a European Cup with the addition of Brazil and Argentina and that the Euro Cup is higher quality than any World Cup since there are no cannon fodder teams at a European Cup.

European soccer federations want Blatter gone for years, corruption not even being the main concern.

The joke is that the UEFA which is by far more important than all other federations put together has less voting rights than the African Football Federation.

UEFA - 53 votes
CAF - 54 votes
CONCACAF - 35 votes
COMMEBOL - 10 votes
AFC - 46 votes
OFC -11 votes

A vote from Curacao or Fiji is worth just as much as a vote from Germany or England.

All the small federations are faithful to Blatter.

This is the same reason Messi and Ronaldo are always votes for the Ballon'Dor. If only the European voters counted than it would not be the case but all these small time states that get very little coverage voting comes down to nothing but media presence.

 

[Zeno]

The US btw might not be able to as I am not sure the US has enough soccer stadiums that fullfil requirements for a World Cup as it is. They would have to play in NFL stadiums.

Every new NFL stadium was built with the ability to accommodate a soccer pitch so that they would be considered legitimate candidates for World Cup venues. NFL owners think with their wallets and they recognize an income opportunity. A lot of college stadiums also operate under the same principle.

Stadiums and infrastructure is not an issue when it comes to the US hosting. The US could honestly host a tournament with just a couple of months notice and they would have more fields available then what they needed.

Next years Copa America will be here with 16 teams, here are the venues that have bid to host matches...

 

[slinslin]

I know that they can fit a soccer field but what I am not sure of is the the NFL stadiums really fullfil the requirements set for how close the first rows are to the sidelines.
Soccer fields are smaller than american football fields.

 

[Cards Czar]

I know that they can fit a soccer field but what I am not sure of is the the NFL stadiums really fullfil the requirements set for how close the first rows are to the sidelines.
Soccer fields are smaller than american football fields.

You are a little bit off on the size of the fields.

The length of the Football/Soccer field for international adult matches is in the range 110-120 yards (100-110 m) and the width is in the range 70-80 yards (64-75 m), while American football fields are 120 yards (109.7 m) long, that's including the 10 yard (9.1m) for the goal area on each side, by 53.3 yards (48.8 m) wide. Soccer/Football fields have more Square Yard play-area than American Football Fields.

 

[Zeno]

You are a little bit off on the size of the fields.

The length of the Football/Soccer field for international adult matches is in the range 110-120 yards (100-110 m) and the width is in the range 70-80 yards (64-75 m), while American football fields are 120 yards (109.7 m) long, that's including the 10 yard (9.1m) for the goal area on each side, by 53.3 yards (48.8 m) wide. Soccer/Football fields have more Square Yard play-area than American Football Fields.

Yep, it is always the width of the soccer fields that create issues in NFL stadiums, which is why all the new stadiums have taken that in to account.

 

[Stout]

Yeah, no bribes were involved in QATAR hosting the World Cup LOL I mean, please, they can't even HOST the tournament. FIFA is insisting the tournament be changed to wintertime to accommodate the entirely unsuitable host country.

 

[cardfaninfl]

Blah, blah, blah... (I can't wait to give a negative opinion on) The US ...

blah, blah, blah... (another ridiculous, unsupported opinion about) the US...

blah, blah, blah... (what I really want to talk about is) Germany (the greatest country in the world is)... probably Germany ...blah, blah, blah ... the Euro Cup is higher quality (because it has) Germany ... blah, blah, blah..

This is the same reason Messi and Ronaldo are always votes for the Ballon'Dor. If only the European voters counted than it would not be the case but all these small time states that get very little coverage voting comes down to nothing but media presence.

I didn't want to make fun of the last paragraph. You did that so well on your own.

 

[Milgod]

Qatar should never have been handed the WC. The whole process was a joke made even worse by the fact that they then got to switch to a winter date.

I do love it when Slin comes on to educate everyone about the game. He's right when he says that bids are made with the idea that stadia will be built, so the 'can host it tomorrow' argument doesn't really matter. However, the US bid was the highest rated bid. I have a feeling that Qatar was given the lowest score by the independent group that ranks the bids before the voting. It's a tiny country with poor infrastructure (not to mention human rights) and could never have hosted a tournament in the traditional summer months.

 

[Lorenzo]

Qatar should never have been handed the WC. The whole process was a joke made even worse by the fact that they then got to switch to a winter date.

I do love it when Slin comes on to educate everyone about the game. He's right when he says that bids are made with the idea that stadia will be built, so the 'can host it tomorrow' argument doesn't really matter. However, the US bid was the highest rated bid. I have a feeling that Qatar was given the lowest score by the independent group that ranks the bids before the voting. It's a tiny country with poor infrastructure (not to mention human rights) and could never have hosted a tournament in the traditional summer months.

Excellent point and I do agree with the point as well that new stadia are expected to be built. In 94 I recall the USA using its existing stadia that were absolutely dreadful compared to what we could offer today. I don't think we had any stadiums built for that and it was successful. And I do think that the USA will continue its trend of building new stadiums for both nfl and MLS with or without the world cup. I've heard NFL owners say that they built their new stadiums with the envision of it hosting a world cup final.... It won't matter though anyway because the USA will not be hosting a worldcup. As well the copa America could be in doubt due to our own corruption which has a lot to do with the charges that were filed. I think the Qatar awarding possibly just triggered the USA and other investigations.

 

[Lorenzo]

That argument means absolutely nothing.

There are some countries that could host a world cup quickly.

The US btw might not be able to as I am not sure the US has enough soccer stadiums that fullfil requirements for a World Cup as it is. They would have to play in NFL stadiums.

Anyway that argument means nothing, World Cup bids are done years in advance with the expectation of building modern arenas for the World Cup. Does not matter if the arenas are already built or not.
If that was the argument we would have World Cups only in Germany and maybe England as these are the only countries that have enough big cities with big modern soccer arenas that are continually updated regardless.

World Cup biddings have never been exclusively about what country would host the "best world cup". If that was the argument we could just permanently locate the World Cup in Western Europe - probably Germany eg 2006. Highest concentration of soccer fans, best stadiums and infrastructure, close proximity to England, France, Netherlands, Italy, Spain..
The US hosted a World Cup as recently as 1994, it is not surprising that they were not chosen. Since then only France, S.Korea/Japan, Germany, South Africa and Brazil hosted a World Cup.

It's FIFA's idea to bring the World Cup to different places.

Also as far as I am aware the current investigations have no real connection to the World Cup bidding. The officials that were arrested are all from Southern/Middle America and the corruption charges are about selling TV rights or whatever.

There has always been the idea talked about in Europe to just host a European Cup with the addition of Brazil and Argentina and that the Euro Cup is higher quality than any World Cup since there are no cannon fodder teams at a European Cup.

European soccer federations want Blatter gone for years, corruption not even being the main concern.

The joke is that the UEFA which is by far more important than all other federations put together has less voting rights than the African Football Federation.

UEFA - 53 votes
CAF - 54 votes
CONCACAF - 35 votes
COMMEBOL - 10 votes
AFC - 46 votes
OFC -11 votes

A vote from Curacao or Fiji is worth just as much as a vote from Germany or England.

All the small federations are faithful to Blatter.

This is the same reason Messi and Ronaldo are always votes for the Ballon'Dor. If only the European voters counted than it would not be the case but all these small time states that get very little coverage voting comes down to nothing but media presence.

so your knowledge of American stadia is about as strong as my knowledge of football in general.

Since as you say the WC was just here in 94 when the USA built 0 soccer stadiums to host the event and used a college football stadium to host the final. Those stadiums are dreadful compared to what the USA could offer now with a few days of prep....yet that world cup broke ticket sales records in spite of the USA not being a soccer country with soccer cities. But to add to my first comment that you replied to...yes maybe having the facilities in place already is not the deciding factor, but I don't see how that means nothing...but maybe I'm wrong now that qatar won the bid maybe it doesn't mean anything.

And the euro tournament.... So why not just cancel the world cup and play the euro's every 2 years alternating between germany and england. then we can just sit back watch the same ole two world wars and one world cup every two years. Let's see if EUFA follows through with your bit and just boycott's the world cup all together. Or better yet if they are serious just cancel the Euro's since that is the real world tournament that will have a greater impact on the rest of the planet that cares so much.....blatter would surely resign.

 

[Lorenzo]

I will say that I agree that the idea of the world cup is not to go to the same countries over and over again. That's where I agree with what FIFA is doing. If anything I think the 94 WC is a good example of that. The WC came to a place that didn't get two sheets about football(or so we thought). I think we learned then that many people, especially emmigrants, care about it. And many americans have embraced the sport finally. Without that WC we may never have. I think that's why we want a second chance. We want to put on the best world cup in history and at least field a team that could have a home field advantage. Hopefully we could use our state of the art NFL stadiums like glendale, houston, DFW, giants, and convert them. hopefully we could build a soccer specific monster stadium in LA, miami, or chicago(All towns loaded with soccer fans). Hopefully by the time we get another one we will have a better team on the pitch as well.

I'm not completely opposed to the world cup being in the middle east and other places like China and even russia(Although I don't agree with their president). But what I think FIFA needs to do is to take the ideas that they have made of continuing to spread the game farther around the world, but do it fair and in a noble manner. The countries that they bring the world cup to need to be committed to football and have some sort of resemblence of that committent in place beforehand rather than just throw money around or promise to build in the future. With all of their corruption allowing one man to be elected to 5 consecutive terms does not sound like a good idea. We deal with the same problems with our american congress because of no limits on how many terms people get.

and blatter's latest comments were childish and just reinforce that he needs to go because he is not going to embrace any change.

 

[Lorenzo]

I didn't want to make fun of the last paragraph. You did that so well on your own.

haha good one.....I think what I read was that the world cup is a tournament that should be played in countries all around the world regardless of who has the best facilities, but let's take out all of the fodder football nations and only european countries should play add brazil/argentina and only host games in germany and england?