Football When will they finally get Blatter?

[Wij]

Does it need Jack Warner to start singing like a bird before they'll finally get him?

Also, where's all the memes of FIFA 16 having buttons for 'demand bribe', 'launder money' etc...?

 

[Wij]

Gary Lineker is so on the fence on this:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...ing-and-embarrassing-10280586.html?icn=puff-2

 

[Scouse]

UEFA and South America would love to nail him. He's taking power from them and giving it to "world" football.

/stirs @Wij's thread

 

[Wij]

UEFA and South America would love to nail him. He's taking power from them and giving it to "world" football.

/stirs @Wij's thread

Now stir my porridge!

 

[Scouse]

Now stir my porridge!

:sigh:

Who'd you leave it in this time?

 

[Gumbo]

I imagine that they probably have as much on Blatter as they have on the rest of them, but they want to pressure all the others to give them as much as they can on the big man in return for leniency to some extent. This won't be over for a decade, I doubt Blatter will live long enough to do any jail time though.

 

[Scouse]

The problem is that Blatter has been building up a crony power base amongst the other federations because they're easily corruptible. He doesn't give a shit about world football except inasmuch as it can be used to protect his own power.

Proper thread

I don't doubt that:

When the 79-year-old walks out into Zurich's vast Hallenstadion on Friday for Fifa's presidential election, he is unlikely to fear any opposition. There are just 209 electors, many of them representing small footballing nations, and Mr Blatter has been cultivating them for years.

So yep. Bribes, etc. Yadda yadda yadda. That's how business is done the world over (and I agree - it's wrong and despicable and I'd like to see it stamped out).

But in the end - he IS giving more power to smaller footballing nations - and taking it away from the axis of UEFA and South America. And IMO that's why this is such a big story - because it's certainly not the amounts of money involved.

It's because the big boys are losing some of their grip on football and they're fighting tooth and nail to keep it.

As an analogy - look at football itself in the UK and Europe as an example. It's a closed shop. It's a money-spinning machine for the established clubs. It's not a level playing field of sporting excellence - it's an entertainment behemoth that's generating untold billions and channelling them to a very small number of people.

Blatter's diluting of that centralised power - whether for his own selfish wants or not - is a direct threat to the current hegemony - and they don't like it.

 

[Poag]

Came to thread for counter argument by Scouse.
Thread delivered.

 

[Job]

People in this country and many others are so mesmerised by football that they will literally spend their last quid to keep players in Ferraris, and the reason being is that it's one of the last working man's dreams to take something most people can have a go at and get their lucky break to join the millionaire's club .
The simpler the game, the more money is in it.
It's hardly a surprise that it's easy to corrupt, in Liverpool I would say 95% of the conversations amongst men are about football, they have nothing whatsoever to talk about.

 

[Gwadien]

If giving the power to small countries includes giving the world cup to Qatar, then fuck that.

 

[Scouse]

If giving the power to small countries includes giving the world cup to Qatar, then fuck that.

OK, leaving human rights issues, dodgy government issues etc. aside. Why shouldn't other countries - countries where football is maybe a minority sport - not get the world cup?

The world cup is a fantastic driver of football take-up.

In Europe we have the most developed football leagues on the planet. We've already got a better product than the world cup can possibly give us. Watching England in a national tournament is like watching paint dry. I'd pretty much say that for the whole world cup too - local and international football (via the Champion's League) is much more interesting.

 

[DaGaffer]

OK, leaving human rights issues, dodgy government issues etc. aside. Why shouldn't other countries - countries where football is maybe a minority sport - not get the world cup?

The world cup is a fantastic driver of football take-up.

In Europe we have the most developed football leagues on the planet. We've already got a better product than the world cup can possibly give us. Watching England in a national tournament is like watching paint dry. I'd pretty much say that for the whole world cup too - local and international football (via the Champion's League) is much more interesting.

Actually, there's very little evidence to support that. South Africa's stadia are barely used; massive white elephants, and the only other "minority sport" WC (USA 94) similarly didn't create a sustained interest in football; growth of "soccer" in the US has actually come from completely the opposite direction; grass-roots football.

As for whether the world cup is dull; let's put England to one side shall we? It kind of colours attitudes. The last World Cup had some terrific football, and so did Germany 2006. South Africa was utterly dire, but that to me goes back to that minority sport thing again; the best World Cups are held in nations with a football tradition.

 

[Scouse]

Whilst I don't disagree with much of the rest of your post (especially the best world cups being held in europe) - I do disagree with this:

growth of "soccer" in the US has actually come from completely the opposite direction; grass-roots football.

Grass roots football needs a spark - and that spark in many cases is the world cup - and it undoubtedly helps the game grow.

Of course, there's a time lag. But USA94 is a good point to bring up:

As part of the United States' bid to host the 1994 World Cup, U.S. Soccer pledged to create a professional outdoor league. Major League Soccer launched in 1996, which helped develop American players in a way that was not possible without a domestic league.

It's part of a mechanism of interest generation, participation, more interest, etc - and snowballing from there.

Btw - there's empty white-elephant stadia in South America too, you know...

 

[DaGaffer]

Whilst I don't disagree with much of the rest of your post (especially the best world cups being held in europe) - I do disagree with this:

Grass roots football needs a spark - and that spark in many cases is the world cup - and it undoubtedly helps the game grow.

Of course, there's a time lag. But USA94 is a good point to bring up:

It's part of a mechanism of interest generation, participation, more interest, etc - and snowballing from there.

Btw - there's empty white-elephant stadia in South America too, you know...

The MLS might not see out the decade the way it's audiences are dwindling.

As for white elephant stadia in Brazil, pure graft; in South Africa stadia needed to be built just to have somewhere to play, that wasn't necessary at all in Brazil, except old stadia didn't line any pockets

 

[Gwadien]

Whilst I don't disagree with much of the rest of your post (especially the best world cups being held in europe) - I do disagree with this:

Grass roots football needs a spark - and that spark in many cases is the world cup - and it undoubtedly helps the game grow.

Of course, there's a time lag. But USA94 is a good point to bring up:

It's part of a mechanism of interest generation, participation, more interest, etc - and snowballing from there.

Btw - there's empty white-elephant stadia in South America too, you know...

Brazil is a nation which absolutely adore football though.

Qatar is a money pit, the working classes there are economic tourists (even though they get fuck all.)

Frankly, @Scouse your argument is bullshit, Blatter didn't do the things he did to 'Viva la revolution' and give the power to the small nations, he nicely selected the small nations that have the money and questionable ethics to get free votes.

If he wanted to give power to small nations, why isn't the world cup in Macedonia?

 

[Raven]

Don't they hold wedding fayres and shit in half of Brazil's stadia built for the world cup? If/when they do play football in them its to a couple of hundred.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/03/10/a-350...ium-is-now-being-used-as-a-bus-depot-5095876/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32073525

Yeah, really worth the 100s of millions of dollars of investment. Good thing they didn't use the money to help the millions living in poverty.

 

[Scouse]

As for white elephant stadia in Brazil, pure graft; in South Africa stadia needed to be built just to have somewhere to play, that wasn't necessary at all in Brazil, except old stadia didn't line any pockets

So, what you're saying is that corruption is endemic?

Whilst I don't doubt FIFA's corrupt - so are UEFA, the FA, yadda yadda yadda. Gunning for Blatter is just a way for the old guard to keep a tighter grip on the game...

Frankly, @Scouse your argument is bullshit, Blatter didn't do the things he did to 'Viva la revolution' and give the power to the small nations, he nicely selected the small nations that have the money and questionable ethics to get free votes.

I'm not saying that he's doing it for anythiing other than personal power. I *am* saying that, regardless of reason, the old guard is taking a kicking. And dilution of power is a good thing in the end...

 

[DaGaffer]

So, what you're saying is that corruption is endemic?

Whilst I don't doubt FIFA's corrupt - so are UEFA, the FA, yadda yadda yadda. Gunning for Blatter is just a way for the old guard to keep a tighter grip on the game...

I'm not saying that he's doing it for anythiing other than personal power. I *am* saying that, regardless of reason, the old guard is taking a kicking. And dilution of power is a good thing in the end...

No, I'm saying corruption in CONMEBOL was endemic until, hopefully, about 24 hours ago. Brazil got the World Cup because of the amount of money it could make FIFA and Blatter's Brazilian fellow travellers, not because of Brazil's football heritage. The reason why Blatter doesn't want World Cups in Europe is simply because there are fewer opportunities for such epic levels of backhanders because most countries already have decent existing infrastructure, except...you guessed it, Russia. Its a good example of the FA's extraordinary naivite that they sold the English bid on the quality of the infrastructure, which just meant to FIFA, less troughs to stick our noses in.

NB. While I'm sure there are backhanders at UEFA and even the FA, there are also counterweights in place to ensure FIFA can't just come in and build a stadium in the middle of nowhere, public enquiries and an uncompliant press for a start.

 

[Scouse]

Don't disagree with anything in particular there @DaGaffer.

 

[DaGaffer]

Brazil is a nation which absolutely adore football though.

Qatar is a money pit, the working classes there are economic tourists (even though they get fuck all.)

Frankly, @Scouse your argument is bullshit, Blatter didn't do the things he did to 'Viva la revolution' and give the power to the small nations, he nicely selected the small nations that have the money and questionable ethics to get free votes.

If he wanted to give power to small nations, why isn't the world cup in Macedonia?

Here's the real price of the Qatar World Cup

 

[Embattle]

Fifa is just a disgusting organisation, it fails on so many levels and is ruining football.

 

[Gwadien]

I do find it interesting that it took the Americans to kick all this off.

 

[Job]

 

[CorNokZ]

If he is reelected tomorrow, hell will break loose

 

[Ch3tan]

He'll get re elected, he still has the majority of the confederations on his side. Shame though, almost as corrupt as the fia.

 

[ECA]

Hopefully UEFA just leave and form a new org.

 

[CorNokZ]

The UEFA World Cup of Europe of the World..

I like it

 

[Ch3tan]

Hopefully UEFA just leave and form a new org.

It's all talk, I think they know they have to put up with sepp for another few years. They could make those years very uncomfortable for him though.

 

[Calaen]

Can someone explain to me how Africa gets 50 odd votes, yet central america only gets 30 odd?

 

[DaGaffer]

Can someone explain to me how Africa gets 50 odd votes, yet central america only gets 30 odd?

Because Africa has more countries and more people?