2022: Nasty case of Qatar

[ursus arctos]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

The full Blatter interview with TASS from which that is taken is worth reading in its entirety.

It rather reminds me of the fevered musings of kleptocratic dictators who see their time at the top coming to an end, or of Heart of Darkness.

It's really quite remarkable.

[blameless]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

And if something is wrong, you don’t go to a committee but to the boss.

You get the feeling old Sepp really misses the days of dealing with the Argentinian junta, the Soviet Politburo and Franco's Falangists.

[Incandenza]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

Would be interesting to read any comments from people involved with the US bid about this allegation. Blatter certainly makes it seem that the FBI investigation into FIFA started because the deal with the US went out the window.

[dalliance]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

As venal and corrupt as Blatter has been, at least he personally recognised that giving a World Cup to Qatar was plain ridiculous. Which puts him one rung up the ladder from Platini.

[G-Man]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

Oh, I think Blatter is more than just just a venal and vindictive cartoon character. I believe he sincerely thinks he did great things for football, and in some ways he did (and in others he didn't).

The difference between Blatter and the likes of Warner and Blazer is that to Blatter the windfalls of power and corruption were happy side-effects, not the primary or sole reason for his involvement.

It doesn't let him off the hook in any way, and the manner in which he preserved his power is in no way justifiable, but when he says that he thought Qatar was a bad idea, I actually believe him.

For all the scorn he merits for all the bad things her has done, and for all the glee with which I receive news of his travails, I see a glimmer of humanity in Blatter.

[dalliance]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

Yes, I'd agree with that. His priority is maintaining his powerbase and complex network of patronage, but I believe that in wanting a Russia - USA award combo he felt that the world would get a couple of decent World Cups out of them too. Which is probably true.

Most of the rest seem to care so little about the game itself that they didn't give the slightest toss as to what hellhole it ended up being staged in. I think there's a lot in his accusations against the French for swinging things Qatar's way.

taken the competition

[G-Man]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

I don't believe Sexwale is an option to succeed Blatter, but the notion that he might has exercised South Africa's leading cartoonist.

[Sean of the Shed]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

German police raid the DFB.

[ursus arctos]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

This is great.

I wonder if they were getting tips from Uli Hoeness (the raid is grounded in allegations of "serious tax evasion").

[anton pulisov]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

It's a shame all this shit about Volkswagen hacking their onboard computers and Germany buying the World Cup bidding process didn't come out during the Greek saga during the summer.

[Geoffrey de Ste. Croix]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

Yeah, I'm sure everyone is as flabbergasted as I am that German businesses and organisations are not the absolute model of sober probity demanded by the morally superior ordoliberalism. However I'm also sure that no-one in German government circles knew anything about these shenanigans and goings on.

[blameless]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

All of this would have happened while Gerhard Schröder was chancellor rather than Maggie Merkel though, no?

[Borracho]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

Merkel's number two once took a bung from an arms dealer, of course.

[Renart]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

Sepp Blatter likes to start the day just before 6am. He skips breakfast but drinks a cup of coffee and does a little dance to stay in shape. “Rhythm, rhythm of life is very important. Also in football, but everywhere,” he says.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

"hello mr Saunders, You may not know me but I'm in need of your advice."

[ursus arctos]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

President of the German FA resigns.

The president of the German Football Association (DFB) has resigned over a Fifa payment that has resulted in a tax evasion investigation.

Wolfgang Niersbach said he was taking "political responsibility" for a 6.7m euro (£4.9m) payment to Fifa.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

I think it's fairly safe at this stage to assume that Mr 97 breakfasts is going to be thrown out of sport over this Wada business. Is that going to cause any problems given that he's the head of the 2018 world cup?

[ursus arctos]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

I'm not aware of any mechanism for an individual to be "thrown out of sport".

Mutko is presumably persona non grata as far as athletics goes, but that ban doesn't automatically extend to other sports, and there are reasons to doubt that FIFA is in a position to act.

[Tactical Genius]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

One good thing about this entire episode is that some will have to confront the so call conventional wisdom that its the corrupt little Africans that are stopping a truely progressive European-centric candidate from cleaning up FIFA and the world game.

Platini discredited, the head of the English FA refusing to return a bribe he recieved (after claiming he did not know it's true worth) and now the Germans implicated in bribing officials to win the 2006 world cup (something everyone has known since the day of the dodgy vote).

I think the USA will be the next stop off point for the investigators as there must have been some money distributed around for them to think they were a shoe-in for World Cup 2022. If the FBI don't then their credibility should be called into doubt.

[Mr Beast]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

I don't think anyone has claimed that Europeans are above a bit of bribery and corruption. Look at the head of FIFA for a start.

[Satchmo Distel]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

Many Brits have obviously regarded yer continentals as corrupt ever since the start of competitive football, such as Brian Clough's experiences in away legs with Derby. UEFA's history in this regard is overshadowed by FIFA but it's worth recalling where the early Nations Cups were held and who won them.

Was Sir Stanley Rous incorruptible in his FIFA era? South Americans are still sore about 1966, of course.

[Tactical Genius]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

Mr Beast and Satchmo, I refer you to the first 20 pages on this thread.
Someone hilariously refered to Blazer as incompetant rather than corrupt.

As for Rous, he has a pretty stout defender on this board so be careful what you say about him.

As for 1966, I think everyone outside England is pretty sore about it.

The Africans and Asians were not happy about the Qualifying and withdrew en-mass (both confederations had to play off for one place, also throw South Africa and Isreal into the mix). The South Americans brought a strong contingent and have legitimate claims of being stitched up by dodgy refereeing. Portugal had the Semi-Final venue switched last minute meaning they had to travel down from Liverpool to Wembley.

[Mr Beast]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

You think Africans, Asians and South Americans were angry about 1966? You should have seen the Scots.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

Hi TG. shouldn't you be gloating about the super-eaglets over on the u-17 thread?

[Tactical Genius]

2022: Nasty case of Qatar

If you insist sir, i'll head over.