Sepp Blatter to quit as Fifa president

originally posted by: ManFromEurope
a reply to: JadeStar

Hi JadeStar,

Great info there, didn't know a lot of it (call it ignorance, as we in Europe are constantly told to be the biggest soccerfans all over the world, yes, thank you MSM)!

Yeah, don't trust your MSM when it comes to them talking about us Americans. I don't trust ours when they talk about Europeans. There's a lot of mythbusting going on right now with regards to football in the States. The last world cup opened a lot of eyes in Europe and around the world with regards to the support of the US national team. I remember reading articles from England and elsewhere which proclaimed 2014 as "The Year the Yanks Discovered Football".

In reality it was the other way around. 2014 was they year the world discovered our football support because we were there in 2002 when the US narrowly lost to Germany in the Quarterfinal of Korea-Japan. We were there again in even greater numbers in 2006 when the US was the only team in the tournmanet to get any result over an awesome Italy and South Africa speaks for itself as Americans were only outnumbered by England supporters in South Africa and the US National Team bus had throngs of US supporters all long the route.

Former manager Bob Bradley at that time, stated in South Africa that he was in tears from the support when the U.S. bus drove up to the stadium with U.S. fans greeting them before the Algeria game in Pretoria.



Its kind of patriotism, at least the most patriotic thing we feel over here

I understand it. Ironically, that's why the sport has grown in our country, the World Cup has become a good, peaceful time to wave the flag and chant USA. There are people who may not even care for the sport itself who join in every 4 years but end up watching the US team and it's "never say die attitude and spirt" and become slowly converted to becoming football fans.

And yes, we call it football AND soccer (to debunk another myth). It just depends on the person and context. If I talk with a European or someone who is already a fan of the sport I call it football as do many my age. If I talk to an older American or someone who isn't a fan I call it soccer just so they know I'm not talking about the NFL lol.

And yes, your point of "sports ain't the thing for ATS" might be point blanc, but the FIFA should really be in ATS's alley, I think.

I agree.

Those of us who have been fans of the sport over here knew a lot about Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer being dirty and so for us this isn't a huge shock. What might be shocking for some is if our federation president Sunil Gulati somehow is involved. He's been fairly quiet through all of this even though he has close ties to Chuck Blazer and CONCACAF.

I'd be shocked if he didn't have something to hide.

Americans love a good scandal so you can bet we're following this and the idea that some Caribbean governments might have been involved in this (As Jack Warner hinted) means this goes beyond football and could bring down some officials and heads of state even.

a reply to: JadeStar

the investigation after all ORIGINATED IN THE USA.

It didn't.

BBC Journalists have been investigating FIFA corruption since 2006

news.bbc.co.uk...

And Jack Warner and other cronies at FIFA have been under investigation by other British Journalists since 2010.

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: JadeStar

the investigation after all ORIGINATED IN THE USA.

It didn't.

BBC Journalists have been investigating FIFA corruption since 2006

news.bbc.co.uk...

And bloggers on Big Soccer (an American site) were investigating Jack Warner and CONCACAF as early as 2004, which makes sense since he's in our back yard and Jeffrey Webb lives in the US in Atlanta.

And Jack Warner and other cronies at FIFA have been under investigation by other British Journalists since 2010.

And what came of those investigations?

Journalists are one thing but Scotland Yard or MI-5 didn't get involved did they?

a reply to: JadeStar

And bloggers on Big Soccer (an American site) were investigating Jack Warner and CONCACAF as early as 2004

Please supply a link to show this is in fact true. At the moment that is just here say.

Scotland Yard or MI-5 didn't get involved did they?

FIFA had broken no laws in The U.K. therefore The Yard and MI5 had no jurisdiction to become involved.

The reason The FBI have become involved is because the money from these " dirty deals " was being laundered through U.S. Banks.

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: JadeStar

And bloggers on Big Soccer (an American site) were investigating Jack Warner and CONCACAF as early as 2004

Please supply a link to show this is in fact true. At the moment that is just here say.

Try this and note the 2005 date: Something rotten in the football state of Antigua 09.11.2005
By Play the Game

Excerpt:

He spoke, often humorously, of two CONCACAF officials, Trinidadian Jack Warner and Antiguan Paul 'Chet' Greene, who simply had much more than a fist in the till, resulting in most of FIFA's cash grants never being used for the purpose they were meant for.

FIFA vice-president Warner's trump card was his control of the 35 CONCACAF votes, which Sepp Blatter had found handy. Greene was his flamboyant minion endowed with just the sort of fair-is-foul-and-foul-is-fair cynicism that underpinned the gobbling up of 400,000 US dollars FIFA had given Antigua for the construction of its football headquarters.

Even before that was this post on a message board detailing people ridiculing Jack Warner and making allegations of corruption against him, from Jack Warner's own country in 2004:

MANDELA'S SALUTE TO TT

We should not have to remind the presenters that it is simply not on to ridicule your host, particularly in the presence of as great an honoured guest as Nelson Mandela. It is clear that Mandela respects what Warner is doing for football, and he hopes would do for South Africa's 2010 World Cup bid. In the process the presenters may have done more hurt to their own image and that of Trinidad and Tobago rather than Nelson Mandela's image of Jack Warner.

It makes logical sense that those geographically closest to him and Chuck Blazer would know the dirty laundry before BBC Panorama.

I like the BBC, I love Eastenders, I love Dr. Who. I love the way they report news but trust me they were not first to find the corruption or expose it. They were just the biggest organization at the time to do so when the Panorama exposé ran in 2006.

S epp Blatter claims Germany and France intervened over World Cup decisions

Fifa president says former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German counterpart Christian Wulff 'applied political pressure' to selection process

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said in a Sunday newspaper interview that French and German presidents applied political pressure before the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were awarded to Russia and Qatar, respectively.

Mr Blatter told Welt am Sonntag that "there were two political interventions" from former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German counterpart Christian Wulff before the hosts were announced on Dec. 2, 2010.

"Messrs Sarkozy and Wulff tried to influence their voting representatives. That's why we now have a World Cup in Qatar. Those who decided it should take responsibility for it," said Mr Blatter, who said he was tired of taking the blame for something he had no control over.

"I act on the leadership principal. If a majority of the executive committee wants a World Cup in Qatar then I have to accept that," Mr Blatter said.

He suggested that the German football federation (DFB) received a recommendation from Mr Wulff "to vote for Qatar out of economic interests."

Former DFB president Theo Zwanziger wrote in his book that Mr Wulff had asked about Qatar's chances but he denied it had had any influence. Franz Beckenbauer, an executive committee member at the time, has never indicated which country he voted for.

Mr Blatter accepted no responsibly for the plight of migrant laborers building stadiums in Qatar amid reports of human rights abuses.

"Look at the German companies!" he said before naming railway and construction firms. "Deutsche Bahn, Hochtief and many more had projects in Qatar even before the World Cup was awarded."

Mr Blatter was instead concentrating on saving Fifa, which has been rocked by a widening American corruption probe that alleges bribery and racketeering worth more than $150 million involving high-ranking Fifa officials over a 24-year span.