Football/Soccer is EXTREMELY corrupt.

You know does anyone else share my veiw on this? it's not just football, it's pretty much every big sport out there, and i want to search for the truth, why is it so corrupt? How is it so corrupt, and how can it be stopped, so every little bit of help will mean a hell of a lot, tell me your knowlege of corruption in sports, examples etc...
and here is some of my research and some links to check out etc...

When i was younger i LOVED football and i mean Loved it, now i find it hard to watch knowing that the money used to make massivley expensive teams like chelsea is probably somewhere down the line involved in some form of mob dealings.
I don't find it hard because i dislike drugs or any sort of counter culture like that (i for one love a good smokey smoke at the end of a hard day when listening to some Jimi Hendrix) but i just feel in sports, the money should be generated from the sport then inected back into the sport directly from that income, none of these crazy rich Probably not even fans of the game Celebrities, business men, etc just getting some money and buying a club as simple as buying a lot in monopoly or something!
Recently i read that P Diddy wants to buy Crystal Palace...i mean COME ON!
(story in link 1) Link 1

Bar this there was the incident when Juventus where relagated from serie A for match fixing scandal (check link 2)
Link 2

As that story explains, i am glad to see there are certain punishments for stuff like this, as also in football corruption people where arrested in reports of money laundering (which is also terrible) and you should read the story in link 3 for this
link 3

So to sum up, i just believe that football has gotten so damn corrupt over the last few years, and i really can't help thinking that it does affect the whole system, i don't know as much about it with other sports so your information on these would really be usefull, all i know is when my parents where younger in the late 70s and 80s they got to enjoy moments like winning the champions league without the unwanted help of tyrants like this:

Sports are great and I think everyone has a sport for them!

Now just like many other things we have in this world that could be absolutely GREAT if it were done to benefit the whole of a group, pro sports events can generate some serious cash. Unfortunately the greedy see this as an opportunity to make themselves some money and not try to really grow the sport for everyone to enjoy.

I play roller hockey, and have played in the 3 top leagues in the US have seen the amount of money that is being invested that goes no where to help the sport grow. Its unfortunate to because I think if it were properly done a lot of kids would be interested in it as opposed to some of the more mainstream sports. Imagine if the amount of money that goes into video game development went into growing sports for kids.

[edit on 24-3-2010 by kyle43]

reply to post by kyle43


Yeahh the corparate fat cats that want a cut in every succesful thing in the whole world, it's a shame, but yeah i see where your coming from, and i know the money side is important i just thing it gets way over the top, especially when teams like chelsea fc, or manchester city in soccer, where always fairly average, and then suddenly a billionaire buys them an injects a massive sum of money into the club, and suddenly there a massive world wide team, it just seems like the wrong way to get to the top, and if there is a drop from the top, i hope it hurts, for these clubs! haa x

The more prize money attached to a sport, the more corrupt it becomes.

Just been watching Zeitgeist: Addendum recently....and this relates - anything to do with Money inherently becomes corrupt.


So sports where they have Zero prize money - I guess you can call those the only True sports....where Drug Cheats, Match fixing has no reason to occur.

reply to post by stephenwephentephen


Holy rant...

My bad...

[edit on 3/24/2010 by happygolucky]

The simple reason soccer is corrupt is because it is SUCH a lucrative business. The dark side to the World's Greatest Game is that so much of it revolves around corporations and sponsors.

Don't get me wrong, it really is a fantastic sport that can be played, watched and enjoyed virtually anywhere on Earth. I am a big fan of the sport and will be watching most of the games in the upcoming 2010 World Cup taking place in South Africa.

The thing is there is such an astronomical sum of money to be made from tournaments like the World Cup, Champions League, English Premier League, Spanish Leagues, Italian Leagues.

Like most things I guess you have to take the good with the bad though.

Why don't you support a Championship team or a Division 1 or 2 club. As others have stated, the big money at the top echelons of the game is the driving force for corruption. The lower echelons are less corrupt because their is less incentive to cheat.

While you may not see a Wayne Rooney or a Didier Drogba at a Division 1 match, you are also not going to see a bunch of overpaid prima donas. You are watching men give it their all for 90 minutes because they love the game.

Sometimes I wish I was a sports fan, so I could have something to talk about with normal every day sheeple.

I agree, anything involving a lot of money will have a lots of corruption.

The Glazers who own Man Utd have massive debts and expect a profit every season. Teams are best run by rich local businessmen who are willing to sometimes lose money because they are fans themselves. This also means a tight control of spending and not running the club into the ground.

It seems too many owners have been running clubs into the ground, like west ham, portsmouth, cardiff etc, and it can take a decade for them to recover. It hurts the fans the most, but the owners & sometimes the manager usually leave with a nice payoff. If they cared about the club, this would be a rarity. Instead, it's become normal for several clubs a year to go into adminstration because of debts.

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint

Why don't you support a Championship team or a Division 1 or 2 club.

I'm a big believer that people should support their local team from their hometown, or where they've lived for most of their lives. What if somebodys local team is a prem team? Real supporters can never really change their team, otherwise they were never a true supporter of that team to begin with.

As others have stated, the big money at the top echelons of the game is the driving force for corruption. The lower echelons are less corrupt because their is less incentive to cheat.

Incentives are all relative. A league 1 side achieving promotion to the championship is as big for some clubs as chelsea winning the premiership. Pride is an important factor as well as money.

An inflation of prices in the prem is causing lower league prices to inflate gradually. Corruption will be less, but it's still there. Luton town, once a championship side, now non-league because of stupid owners. Cardiff could go into administration if they don't find investment soon, and that would be another season in the championship for them. Some championship clubs have overspent and need the TV money in the prem to survive, so they need promotion within a certain timeframe, otherwise may get into financial difficulties. It's become a normal part of football, it being a business even at champ, lg1 levels. I wonder if the rich owners of QPR will give it much more than another 2-3 years to get promotion before selling up and leaving high debts.

While you may not see a Wayne Rooney or a Didier Drogba at a Division 1 match, you are also not going to see a bunch of overpaid prima donas. You are watching men give it their all for 90 minutes because they love the game.

Sometimes, but other times you're seeing a pile of poo that are too useless or lazy to score a tap in. But none of that matters because you stick with your team thru' thick and thin. I'm sure every fan wants a Rooney or Drogba in their team at whatever level your team is.

There are lazy prem players, but there's more lazy players in the lower leagues, just that in the lower lgs often don't have the skill to make up for it. Sometimes players do have the ability, but not having the determination to put the effort in is why they're in the lower leagues.

Players in the championship could be considered overpaid - 15k a week is more than some people earn in a year. Prem players are definitely overpaid (100+ k a week!), but you have to admit players like Rooney run their socks off 100% of the time. It's still better to see players on 500 quid a week giving that same level of effort in, but if they're lazy they shouldn't blame anyone but themselves for why they're not higher earners.

[edit on 25-3-2010 by john124]

I am both pleased and surprised to see a topic like this popping up on ATS

Until recently football was the main source for my income. Writing about it , articles in newspapers , online editions , websites and so on, analyzing it and betting on it

This happened for several years , but nowadays football is more corrupt than ever.

Everything goes from the bottom to the top , reaching Uefa and Fifa

Just like other members pointed out where there's money there will also be unfair practices

In the recent history ( 2000 and up ) there were many scandals that occurred over the world about games being rigged

Big teams were relegated in Italy ( the bosses met in a church to discuss the details and maybe the final look of the championship), people were killed in Belgium , referees incarcerated in Germany and other parts of the world.

Even the draws for Uefa Champions League , maybe the most important competition after the World Cup and European Championship appeared online with a couple of hours before it actually took place.

Uefa commented : A laughable coincidence ....

One can help think that the entire structure of european and football football is just like the mafia's with Uefa and Fifa being at the top of everything , and getting a cut from everything

When fixed games occur without permission from the top the those teams are punished for the sake of the public , who is mocked every day.

Fans over the world consider a certain team as part of their family , they travel with the team , they spent half their wages on clubs items, only to be mocked and ridiculed by fixed games.

Recently Uefa launched an investigation that look to be in course forever , but the man in charge of the investigation is very suspicious , at least in my eyes. In the late '90 he was apart of a bookmaker that ran away with people's money, and also he is in the board of a belgium club that was involved in fixed games.

This investigation will only help corruption grow , and will be a possibility for those with enough money and connections to avoid prosecution.

Bookmakers nowadays sponsor many teams. Bwin for example sponsor some of the biggest teams in the world. Not only Bwin , but name a bookmaker and i will probably show you a picture with their name on a football t-shirt.
Things got so far , that not only teams are sponsored , but entire leagues , see the example of the portuguese league a couple of seasons ago ,
named Bwin - liga.
Nobody has any proofs of something dirty going on , but this way it's much easier to reach a player or two or three that can influence the outcome of a game and also when sponsoring an entire league you can influence which referees will go to a certain game.

We saw punishments only in western european countries, but most of you can't even imagine what's going on in southern and eastern europe . It's a mess .
From an entire round i don't know even if 1 game is played on fair terms.
There were a lot of reports over the years , when foreign player from eastern leagues , admitted of being asked of fixing games, no measures were taken and the statements of the teams involved : he doesn't speak the language that good and he was miss understood... If that's not mockery tell me what is than...

Every team in the world is important because there are many emotions surrounding a football team, fans matter even if they are in hundreds or tens of thousands.

It is useless for one people to try to make a change or to get involved for making things better , but imagine what will happen if for a week or two , everyone will stop watching football, sort of a strike as we all know that is the "new look" nowadays.

Important losses and at least for 2 months maybe we will have clean football all over again, as people are people, many are able to sell their families and soul for money , and eventually they will return to their old practices.

But how can we make tens of millions of people worldwide to stop watching football for1week?

This is one of the main reasons i cant really take football seriously anymore. The richer the owner of the club, the more money they inject and pay salaries that are just bizzare. Its not worth watching man u play a team like portmouth because you know they'll be no competition - Not because man u are in form, but because you know they have the best players around, even sitting on the bench waiting to be used.

As someone said earlier, you should support your local team and i can tell you i agree completely. As a leeds fan i've supported the club through the good times, the bad times and the WTF times.
But the best football occurs when its players that want to play for a club, not for the money. There is nothing more fans like to see then players who will dog fight against rivals because it matters to the fans.


And plus, the prices to watch football these days is ridiculious. Its used to be a working man's sport but i guess horse racing got boring for the rich and now they've come to ruin our fun.
Great thread.

Originally posted by downtown436
Sometimes I wish I was a sports fan, so I could have something to talk about with normal every day sheeple.

Short but to the point and I am in total agreement except for the bit about wishing to be able to enjoy something I do not and never will enjoy. I will never be a sports fan even though I am physically fitter than most young men I see around me.

The only sports I have any interest in are the sports I actually take the time to enjoy myself and that do not require me to open my wallet and let it be fleeced by the beasts going by the name of overpriced and overrated. I have never had any interest in being a subscriber to watching others sweat over any sport on some big screen while strangers around me scream and punch the air while ramming copious amounts of inebriation down their throats. I tried it several times when I was much younger and even then though I played their game and drank with them I found it to be a strange waste of my time and I felt the only thing I had gained from it was – nothing!

I have always had a zero interest in caring if such highly entrenched and highly publicised sports do well or not because as far as I am concerned sports infrastructures and the media machine that circle them are there for trivial reasons that have much more to do with distracting us and keeping our minds and eyes off the ball that really matters like politics, world events and our liberties.

We as a species seem to be so easily diverted and blinded by dim things and being so easily diverted we are also willing to be bled dry of hard earned funds just so we can for instance watch a bunch of overpaid and arrogant young men boot a leather ball up and down a length of green.

I recall the news on a TV screen as Haiti was destroyed by the earthquake and directly after the breaking news story came, “and now for the sport” (cut to a bunch of overpaid and arrogant young men booting a leather ball up and down a length of green)

Burn it!

Football was great in early 90's, 80's 70's and so on. Then, the rich saw how lucrative it was, I remember really enjoy watching football, eating pies, on the stands. I don't even like sitting i love standing watching the games. now all the true supporters are at the lower level of the leagues and i prefer to watch a good northern league team.

Originally posted by SearchLightsInc
This is one of the main reasons i cant really take football seriously anymore. The richer the owner of the club, the more money they inject and pay salaries that are just bizzare. Its not worth watching man u play a team like portmouth because you know they'll be no competition - Not because man u are in form, but because you know they have the best players around, even sitting on the bench waiting to be used.

As someone said earlier, you should support your local team and i can tell you i agree completely. As a leeds fan i've supported the club through the good times, the bad times and the WTF times.
But the best football occurs when its players that want to play for a club, not for the money. There is nothing more fans like to see then players who will dog fight against rivals because it matters to the fans.


And plus, the prices to watch football these days is ridiculious. Its used to be a working man's sport but i guess horse racing got boring for the rich and now they've come to ruin our fun.
Great thread.

I am a leeds uunited fan and i would hate to see leeds taken over by some rich scheming twat.
I agree with what your saying, it's been run over and yah the prices for football tickets and season ticket was reasonable, and it was a working mans game now, its not, its middle class.

reply to post by stephenwephentephen


S & F. I like this alot.

The question i always ask my friends is, if corruption is seen in almost every other sport such as Tennis, Baseball, Athletics, Cycling, F1, Cricket why WOULDN'T it be rife in the world's richest and most popular sport?

The Premier League displays its corruption quite openly. This saga with Portsmouth right now is a case in point. Allowing them to break the rules in selling players outside the transfre window to avoid the embarrasment of having a Premier League team cease to exist.

Where were they when Portsmouth were making all these dodgey deals with African players, paying players 80,000 a week? (Their stadium holds 19,000 people:puz. Where was the fit and proper persons test on their 4 OWNERS they have had this year, one of which was never even seen?!

Another example is when West Ham clearly broke the rules in the signing of Tevez and Mascherano and were only fined when by the League handbook they should have been deducted points which would have seen them relegated and Sheff Utd staying up. But the F.A and Prem League are full of West Ham cronies, which led to a fine being imposed over a year later instead.

I get the feeling the press, government know all of this but are sitting on it as not to damage a game that employs so many people in the country and is of such a boost to the economy.

It is everywhere in the game and once one big scandel (and it will) comes out about a ref taking a bung or a player throwing a match or real evidence of a club operating in an illegal manner it will all come flooding out.

reply to post by stephenwephentephen


Ha HAA, YEAH. But then again, with the amount of dept most clubs are in these days, if they throw one match, they can make a load. Hence, Juventus.

Also, on a MUCH deeper level and skimming the realms of Conspirecy, there's the idea that Brazil threw the last World Cup and that the EU needed a European team to win the World Cup to strengthen the Euro.
I havnt got any links, but from what I remmember, the case was made by the way some of the Brazilians reacted, whilst also getting new cars, money, e.t.c. at the end of the Cup.

Anyway, links to the current topic.

fourfourtwo.com...

The financial gain from match fixing for those in the know can be tremendous.

fourfourtwo.com...

fourfourtwo.com...

fourfourtwo.com...

Match fixing is also rife in non league football in the uk when there are a swarm of Bets in a certain area and then the bookmakers raise awareness.

www.betastic.co.uk...

news.bbc.co.uk...


But then again, its not only Football thats under scruitiny, doing a basic search will help you find headlines in more sports, from Snooker to Cricket to Hockey. -->

www.skysports.com...

e.t.c.

In my oppinion, match fixing is ugly and should be dealt with in the most convinient manner, not just a fine, but also jail time for all involved, even if its an entire football team. This organised crime is ruining the beautiful game.

Originally posted by downtown436
Sometimes I wish I was a sports fan, so I could have something to talk about with normal every day sheeple.

How does being a fan of a sport make one a "sheeple"? Now don't get me wrong I know A LOT of people out there who seem to like sports just because it is the cool thing to do and feel the need to fit in, but honestly I like having professionals to look up to because I still do want to be the best I can be. Pro athletes can be just as inspirational as music, nature, or what have you. I love being able to talk with people about my favorite teams and I love how passionate people can be. Who are we to say that ones passions aren't important? The way I see it we are all sheep with different shepherds.

I am talking with a slight bias, I only watch NHL regularly, because I play hockey. Playing a sport and having some passion for it in the form of pro teams can only help younger athletes I think. I'm wondering if the "anti-sport" people have ever gotten to a competitive level at a sport to truly understand it.

as I am concerned sports infrastructures and the media machine that circle them are there for trivial reasons that have much more to do with distracting us and keeping our minds and eyes off the ball that really matters like politics, world events and our liberties.

Of course they are trying to keep us asleep and in the dark, but so is your car company, your electric company, your water company, your job, ect ect. Some times its better to just leave the world of politics and world events and enjoy an activity instead of all the suffering in the world.



[edit on 25-3-2010 by kyle43]

I couldn't care less about the big clubs.. They are millions in debt and it serves them right.. They have fleeced the real fans in favour of the shrimp cocktail brigade corporates and now they are paying the price...

My team is ok... That is all that matters to me...

What do you fellows think about the American system of salary caps?

In US sports leagues like the NFL and NBA a salary cap exists. The salary cap limits the amount each club can spend on players' salaries. It prevents a small number of teams like Man U. and Chelsea from buying all the talent.

The drawback to salary caps is that it does break up good teams people enjoy watching. Parity is also boring. It is often more enjoyable to watch a league dominated by a small number of very good teams than to watch a league full of mediocrity.