FIFA is corrupted to the bone

[sudayev 27]

It was a matter of time till the truth has been uncovered by law enforcement agencies.

The US Justice Department says "two generations of soccer officials abused their positions of trust for personal gain".

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fifa-corruption-scandal-includes-south-5770399

Swiss police have arrested some of the most powerful figures in global soccer, announcing a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups and plunging the world's most popular sport into turmoil.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-27/fifa-officials-arrested-in-swiss-us-corruption-probes/6501582

U.S. indicts world soccer officials in alleged $150 million FIFA bribery scandal

By Michael E. Miller and Fred Barbash May 27 at 8:10 AM Follow @MikeMillerDC Follow @fbarbash

A combination of file pictures made on May 27 shows FIFA officials. From left to right from upper row: Rafael Esquivel, Nicolas Leoz, Jeffrey Webb, Jack Warner, Eduardo Li, Eugenio Figueredo and Jose Maria Marin. The seven men are among several soccer officials arrested. (AFP/Getty Images)

The Justice Department unsealed a 47 count indictment early Wednesday charging 14 world soccer figures, including officials of FIFA, with racketeering, bribery, money laundering and fraud. Four of those accused, including two sports marketing companies, have already pleaded guilty and are likely to be cooperating.

Among the “alleged schemes,†said the Justice Department, were kickbacks to FIFA officials by executives and companies involved in soccer marketing and “bribes and kickbacks in connection†with “the selection of the host country for the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 FIFA presidential election.â€

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/27/top-fifa-officials-arrested-in-international-soccer-corruption-investigation-according-to-reports/

[Tonci87 163]

FIFA is corrupted to the bone

How is this news?

Seriously though, Blatter neds to be arrested too, but I suspect that the really powerfull guys will get away without so much as a scratch.

[chrisb 196]

Its just nice that a country got the balls together to actually do something about it, instead of piddle-footing around. Good on the US.

Electric chair me thinks.. O.k. a little too far..:o

Lethal injection then.:rolleyes:

[oxmox 73]

So far there were only suspicions over the years. Last big one was about Qatar and the Soccer World Championship, lets see if they have facts now.

[mistyronin 1181]

So far there were only suspicions over the years. Last big one was about Qatar and the Soccer World Championship, lets see if they have facts now.

Well they have arrested them, so I assume they have proof of it. Today there's gonna be a FBI press conference on the matter.

[oxmox 73]

What boggles me more is rather the suspicion and partially evidence of - doping - in this sport.

Soccer is a billion market, probably the biggest in sport. If I think about the Tour de France where only some millions play a role or in other sports which has more background like athletics and Olympic Games. Its mostly all about money and not the sport itself anymore.

[x3kj 1247]

Its just nice that a country got the balls together to actually do something about it, instead of piddle-footing around. Good on the US.

Maybe they can continue with politicians and bankers then... one can always dream :rolleyes:

[chrisb 196]

Maybe they can continue with politicians and bankers then... one can always dream :rolleyes:

Concerning bankers, I think that will have to be left to Iceland, they have already done it a few times. More power to their elbow, as they say. They're one of the only countries that held the banks liable, well those in Iceland at least. Most of the rest can still go about laundering money and committing fraud on a grand scale and not be touched.

But your right, we can only dream, unfortunately I think that's all it will be.. a dream. :(

[.kju 3245]

For German speaking following http://www.jensweinreich.de on corruption in sports is one of the best (twitter: https://twitter.com/jensweinreich).

[bullhorn 18]

Remember, you heard it first from John Oliver. :)

[mistyronin 1181]

Maybe they can continue with politicians and bankers then... one can always dream :rolleyes:

Nope, they are too fat to be arrested... or was too big to fail. I'm so confused...

This neo-capitalism anti-liberalism :mad:

[sudayev 27]

I wonder what sort of "benefits" they took for advocating and placing the World Cup in Russia. This is one fat affair...

[mistyronin 1181]

I wonder what sort of "benefits" they took for advocating and placing the World Cup in Russia. This is one fat affair...

You don't get it... The FIFA guys are not corrupt, they are really nice and honest people victims of a US super evil conspiracy...

(Time) Russia Sees U.S. Conspiracy Against World Cup Plans in FIFA Scandal

Sweeping corruption probes in the U.S. and Switzerland have cast a shadow over Vladimir Putin's plans to host the international soccer championships in 2018

Russian officials were quick to claim Wednesday that a U.S. conspiracy is behind the corruption scandal that shook the world of international soccer. Early that morning, police in Switzerland complied with a U.S. request to arrest nine senior officials at FIFA, the sport’s governing body, as part of a far-reaching probe into decades of alleged bribe-taking and backroom deals.

But why, the Russians asked, would a nation as indifferent to soccer as the U.S. pursue a corruption probe at the heart of the game? Even more suspect to many in Moscow was the timing of the dragnet in Zurich: The next FIFA World Cup tournament is due to be held in Russia in 2018, and President Vladimir Putin has been overseeing the preparations personally.

[.kju 3245]

For non German readers people to follow:

Andrew Jennings: https://transparencyinsportblog.wordpress.com

Declan Hill: http://declanhill.com

[Tonci87 163]

You don't get it... The FIFA guys are not corrupt, they are really nice and honest people victims of a US super evil conspiracy...

(Time) Russia Sees U.S. Conspiracy Against World Cup Plans in FIFA Scandal

It´s amazing, the Russian are really willing to blame everything on the US.... But then again, maybe those Russian officials don´t see corruption as such a big deal, it´s everyday business Towarischtsch ;)

On a more serious note, Blatter needs to step down and be arrested afterwards, because there is no way in hell he didn´t know what was happening. After that both the Quatar and Russian World cups need to be investigated and possibly revoked.

[roberthammer 582]

It was a matter of time when they got a good proof of "buying" World Cups - the Russian and Qatar one

and that's the reason why Russians are defending these people because they want to have that World Cup in 2018 - also FIFA were cleaning their dirty money with these WC (lol) to build new stadiums while half of it gone into their pockets

Blatter will go down if not by the law then by "putting him out of the way" style

[oxmox 73]

How the U.S. can arrest FIFA officials in Switzerland, explained

But from a practical standpoint, it's worth explaining how, exactly, the United States can point out a criminal conspiracy involving a foreign organization and then have people arrested in Europe. The idea of the United States as the world's police force is rarely understood to be so literal.

To understand how the United States was able to flex its legal muscle across the Atlantic, we spoke by phone with Jessica Tillipman, assistant dean and lecturer at the George Washington University Law School.

"You have U.S. statutes where there are extraterritorial provisions that can reach foreign citizens if they violate certain laws," Tillipman explained. For most of those laws, there has to be "a jurisdictional hook," she explained, an aspect of the crime that took place within the United States' jurisdiction: A phone call that included a person in the United States, for example, or a visit to the country, or, as has happened, an e-mail that passed through a server in the country. "There has to be some sort of touch point for the United States," Tillipman said.

So maybe the United States doesn't have the strongest track record on taking an interest in soccer. But when it comes to flexing international muscle, we're usually the champions -- which makes the FIFA arrests far less surprising.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/05/27/how-the-us-can-arrest-fifa-officials-in-switzerland-explained/

[x3kj 1247]

an e-mail that passed through a server in the country

so that means any global thing is US's business now because NSA?

[mistyronin 1181]

so that means any global thing is US's business now because NSA?

Same happen with other countries. Some European countries courts conducted investigations on crimes that happened in South America, etc.

[spooky lynx 73]

You don't get it... The FIFA guys are not corrupt, they are really nice and honest people victims of a US super evil conspiracy...

(Time) Russia Sees U.S. Conspiracy Against World Cup Plans in FIFA Scandal

The question is why the corruption is pointed only now. I bet everything was known perfectly for years already.

[Richie 330]

FIFA is corrupted to the bone

and in other shocking news, water has been discovered to be wet :rolleyes:

The question is why the corruption is pointed only now. I bet everything was known perfectly for years already.

It's been alleged for years but now they have a whistle blower, the US FIFA guy was caught with millions of dollars of undeclared money, so the IRS and others are all over him, to try and get off lighter he's agreed to bring the rest down with him.

[sudayev 27]

Vladimir Putin backs Sepp Blatter and accuses the US.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Thursday of meddling outside its jurisdiction in the arrest of top officials from soccer's world governing body, FIFA.

Putin said the arrests in Switzerland on Wednesday were an "obvious attempt" to prevent FIFA head Sepp Blatter's re-election this week but that the 79-year-old had Russia's backing.

The world's most popular sport was plunged into turmoil this week when seven senior soccer officials were arrested on U.S. corruption charges to face extradition from Switzerland.

Swiss authorities have also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups, including the 2018 tournament in Russia.

"If anything happened, it did not happen on U.S. territory and the United states has nothing to do with it," Putin said. "This is yet another blatant attempt [by the United States] to extend its jurisdiction to other states."

Citing former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, both of whom have evaded prosecution in the United States by hiding abroad, Putin questioned Washington's right to request the FIFA officials' extradition.

"Unfortunately, our American partners use such methods to achieve their selfish aims and illegally persecute people. I do not rule out that in the case of FIFA, it's exactly the same," Putin said.

He said FIFA head Blatter, who is standing for re-election to a fifth term at the FIFA Congress in Zurich on Friday, had been pressured to strip Russia of its rights to host the 2018 World Cup.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/522495.html

Largest sponsors are concerned.

German sportswear company Adidas, long associated with FIFA, said the football body should do more to establish transparent compliance standards.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, whose Budweiser brand is a sponsor of the 2018 World Cup, said it was closely monitoring developments.

Coca-Cola Co, another FIFA sponsor, said the charges had "tarnished the mission and ideals of the FIFA World Cup and we have repeatedly expressed our concerns about these serious allegations".

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/putin-backs-fifa-blatter-corruption-scandal-150528090732032.html

[oxmox 73]

Nike becomes suspected player in alleged $150 million FIFA bribery scandal

The international investigation into bribery, fraud and corruption at FIFA involved some surprising American names: The Miami chairman of a popular nationwide soccer league, and a major U.S. sportswear firm some believe could be Nike.

For more than two decades, the Justice Department said Wednesday, five "unscrupulous" U.S. and South American sports and banking executives helped funnel more than $150 million in bribes to officials atop FIFA, the multibillion-dollar goliath governing the world's most popular sport.

The indictment also alleges bribes were paid and pocketed in connection with the sponsorship of the Brazilian national soccer team by "a major U.S. sportswear company." Although investigators will not name the company, the indictment says the sportswear firm signed a 10-year, $160 million sponsorship deal with the Brazilian team in 1996, closely matching Nike’s clothes, shoes and equipment deal with the team that year.

The Brazilian sponsorship deal helped transform Nike from a brand mostly known for running and basketball shoes into a global sports giant. Nike’s soccer revenue surpassed $2.2 billion in fiscal year 2014, up from $40 million in 1994.

The lone American executive charged so far is Aaron Davidson, 44, the president of Traffic Sports USA, a Miami-based arm of the Traffic Group, a Brazilian sports marketing conglomerate.

Both Traffic Sports International and Traffic Sports USA pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy this month.

Jack Warner, a former FIFA vice president and soccer official from Trinidad and Tobago charged in the U.S. case, said in a statement to the Daily Mail in London that the investigation hid economic motives.

“The large world powers typically take actions to affect world football,'' Warner said. " World football is an enormous international business.â€

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/27/meet-the-unscrupulous-executives-who-conspired-with-fifa-officials-to-funnel-150-million-in-bribes/

Edited May 28, 2015 by oxmox

[mr burns 132]

“The large world powers typically take actions to affect world football,'' Warner said. " World football is an enormous international business.â€

Same as human trafficking ... i wonder how he´d justify that :j:

[Tonci87 163]