Thank you kentaddick and SELR_addicks, that's more than I was expecting. I thought I'd dreamt it.
to be clear, my understanding is platini wouldnt face any charges of corruption for this. Sarkozy asked Platini to maybe find an investor for a french club/PSG. Platini found Qatar, Qatar said "you scratch ours, we'll scratch yours, give us the world cup and PSG can get investment". It's just FIFA politics, its happening all the time, doesn't involve money directly to the individual and is as dodgy and illegal as Richard Murray sending off Peter Varney to find investors for CAFC back in 09-10, although this time the varney character is the head of UEFA.
David Cameron ends up as collateral damage, and even SISS gets a mention.
Nobody does it better...
Superb from Hyde.
I am no Cameron hater, I quite like him actually, but she is quite right that he behaved like an arse when the press exposed the Qatar corruption before the vote.
Thank you kentaddick and SELR_addicks, that's more than I was expecting. I thought I'd dreamt it.
to be clear, my understanding is platini wouldnt face any charges of corruption for this. Sarkozy asked Platini to maybe find an investor for a french club/PSG. Platini found Qatar, Qatar said "you scratch ours, we'll scratch yours, give us the world cup and PSG can get investment". It's just FIFA politics, its happening all the time, doesn't involve money directly to the individual and is as dodgy and illegal as Richard Murray sending off Peter Varney to find investors for CAFC back in 09-10, although this time the varney character is the head of UEFA.
Hmmm. Two questions:
1. Did the French electorate vote for Sarkozy on a manifesto which included finding an investment for one, largely hated, French football club?
2. Does Platini's UEFA job description include a brief to find an investment for one, largely hated, French football club?
No brown envelopes may have passed, but both are guilty of abuse of position. That in itself is dodgy and possibly illegal in Platini's case. And let's face it, neither of those two are going to do it out of the goodness of their black little hearts, are they?
My son wrote to two women in his life asking them to marry him. One was Victoria Coren and the other was Marina Hyde. Wisely they didn't reply. Both superb highly intelligent writers with just the right amount of venom injection. Loved that article!
The thought that to dislodge a creature like Blatter it will take a conniving little serpent such as Platini I am afraid gives little hope for the future health of world football. Platini has struck at a moment that suits Platini, when the game's Great and Good are assembled to concentrate on what should be a showpiece, a celebration of football but instead will merely provide a captive audience ready for some more mucky politics. If WH Smith's have a Rio branch let's hope it is well stocked with stationery of a sepia tint.
I shook my son's hand at lunch-time today, as he leaves tomorrow for the latest episode of Carry On Up The Jungle. I read this afternoon that the pitch in Manaus is woefully sub-standard, and two stadium rehearsals have highlighted serious and potentially alarming deficiencies in match-day operations. This state of affairs, likely to be replicated in numerous of the other venues to some extent or other, is a combination of Brazil at its most Brazilian (as someone said, "Brazil is the country of the future - and always will be") - and the complacent, arrogant and supremely self-satisfied torpor of Fifa. I dread to think of what might happen but it will be a mighty relief when this God-forsaken tournament is concluded without a major disaster. There is a cocktail of misfortunes in the mix, there are vapours building, just waiting for a spark. All this has been on the watch of Sepp Blatter, whose name I guess is not short for Josef but more likely septic. He and his crew have poisoned the well from which this Beautiful Game should be drawing its sustenance. I truly hope that events are not overshadowed by tragedy (in the stadiums) or by farce (in the conspirators' hotel rooms). (In case all that sounds melodramatic, let me then offer a more mundane footnote: some of you may know of my interest in trams (groan!) - well, let me just say that of various light rail schemes planned to enhance the tournament and provide a substantial part of its legacy, not one single scheme will be completed, and very little even partially opened. Some schemes have not even begun. Compare and contrast with what happened in 2012, after some serious misgivings, especially about Ukraine, proved to be largely groundless.)
The penultimate day of SB's tenure will be a day of Zurich shredders running red-hot. Ms Hyde is almost but not quite right - surely Blatter sees himself not as a mere head of state, but more like a monarch or a Pope who will die in office. The thought of what his successor will find must remind him of the Warden's fate in Shawshank - if only justice could be so sweet !! These buccaneers have treated themselves to a lifetime of long lunches at the game's expense - if they've declared reserves of a billion, what else lies pugged away in those financial institutions so conveniently round the corner. Russia 2018 was a clear sign that Fifa was there for the taking, and when Putin stayed in Moscow it was obvious that he didn't need to travel to exert last-minute pressure - the job was done and dusted. I said at the time ; Fifa ? Forget it, fixed already. And as for Qatar - no matter what niceties have been observed, and legalities strictly followed, the bidding process should be without the smallest taint. Our earnest crowd of FAers, Beckham and Prince William never stood a chance, did they ?
Elegant post, sir. I hope your son has a great trip, and I expect he will. That said,the son of a mate of mine was due to do the same. I'd been green with envy when I heard that he, at the age of 19, had secured a trip there as an analyst with Norwegian TV, all expenses paid, put up in the Rio Sofitel. (this goes back to when he won the NTV junior Mastermind, special subject Man U). However last I heard the whole trip is in doubt since they have discovered serious double booking. Now if even Norwegian TV can't secure their hotel rooms, what chance have ordinary fans got?
I am hoping Brazil don't win, so that their people seriously turn on their corrupt politicians and FIFA.
Thank you kentaddick and SELR_addicks, that's more than I was expecting. I thought I'd dreamt it.
to be clear, my understanding is platini wouldnt face any charges of corruption for this. Sarkozy asked Platini to maybe find an investor for a french club/PSG. Platini found Qatar, Qatar said "you scratch ours, we'll scratch yours, give us the world cup and PSG can get investment". It's just FIFA politics, its happening all the time, doesn't involve money directly to the individual and is as dodgy and illegal as Richard Murray sending off Peter Varney to find investors for CAFC back in 09-10, although this time the varney character is the head of UEFA.
Interesting definition of corruption.
The fundamental issue here is that the voting process for the award of the World Cup is profoundly flawed. The secret ballot, and hence complete lack of transparency about why votes were cast and by whom, inevitably leaves the process wide open to hard and soft inducements, side deals and simple favouritism. The result is that the entire process is corrupt.
Let's take our own bid for the 2018 World Cup as an example. We promised to play an international friendly in Thailand in order to secure the vote of that country's executive committee member. We were very open about this and then pulled out of the fixture when the vote "promised" wasn't delivered. That's corruption and, in principle, is no different to the cash bribes allegedly made by Bin Hammam. The objective was the same, to subvert the process, with the only difference being the form of the inducement. Why was Prince Andrew involved in our bid? Was the view taken that he was the best person to explain the technical merits of our "pitch", in the expectation that the bid process was objective and meritocratic? Hardly, the objective was to secure "undue influence", even it meant offering tea with his Mum!!
You are quite right, there is a great deal of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" in the bid process. Indeed, there are strong suggestions that the 2018 and 2022 bids were connected with side-deals brokered in a direct attempt to subvert an objective decision being made.
My own personal view is that this is completely unacceptable and that we need much more professional leadership at FIFA and radical reform. However, I do fear that we, along with the slimy Michel Platini (he was a wonderful player, but I really wish he'd go away as an administrator) and others, are guilty of double standards. Corruption is corruption. It's not always about money changing hands and it's never about the amount of money involved.
If common sense prevails, Blatter will slink into the darkness with his tail between his legs, Platini will not get the Presidency and, somehow, a new FIFA will emerge that is more professional and accountable. In the meantime, the competitions in Russia and Qatar ought to both go ahead, with the latter being moved to Nov/Dec in 2022, and the world of football saying "never again". Given how rare simple common sense is in footballing circles, I'm not holding my breath, but we can always hope. The stink this time is so repugnant it might just be the best thing that could have happened.
Thanks, Prague. I'm sure my son and his mates will have a splendid time - I think this will be the 6th or 7th WC for some of them (plus all the Euros in between) so they'll know how to make the most of the experience (unpredictable/lame England performances notwithstanding). Unfortunately, the fans are about the last thing this WC concerns. The extreme anger of much of the general populace and of certain sections such as Sao Paulo's equivalent of the RMT, could ignite and especially so if Brazil falter, because after all the only thing which will justify the whole sorry affair is for Brazil to win. Let's hope that sullenness prevails and all travellers return safely before any trouble begins.
THIS IS NOT A JOKE - Was watching Sky Sports News earlier and they showed Blatter's speech at the FIFA Congres... He actually said "Football isnt just a Global Sport anymore, one day we could be playing people from different planets and have a Universal World Cup"
That sadly proves that Blatter is just a crazy old man now and Football is gonna destroy itself (might not be a bad thing to happen and for it to re-start) because the people who run it are beginning to be like the Roman Emperors of old thinking that they're bloody gods or something!!
THIS IS NOT A JOKE - Was watching Sky Sports News earlier and they showed Blatter's speech at the FIFA Congres... He actually said "Football isnt just a Global Sport anymore, one day we could be playing people from different planets and have a Universal World Cup"
Watched it myself - incredulous, especially after seeing him dancing on stage with a big blonde bird. If he weren't so powerful and influential it might be funny but as things stand its not. He's clearly a deluded despot who should be kicked into touch. UEFA have made a stand against him but my gut feeling is that he'll be re-elected unless the principal sponsors have some legal contractual muscle within their agreements that they can exert or perhaps they can they persuade him to dance his way off towards the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel within a big fat wallet.
We laugh at this fool and mock him, but it isn't actually remotely funny. It's disgusting that this organisation is able to exist in the little bubble they've formed for themselves. The litany of corruption is horrendous - this arsehole shouldn't be removed from office - he should be chucked in prison.
It would be effective if every football supporter announced their intention to boycott the sponsors products notably coca cola. Other sponsors are Sony, Adidas and Visa.
The biggest issue of transparency is not the voting process for world cups, it's the nomination for president, as highlighted in the WSC article I recommended earlier.
In a secret ballot you supposedly don't know who voted for whom, unless of course no-one votes for you, then you know that the promises made were lies - hello Thailand.
The presidential vote is secret to, but not the nominator, and anyone could stand. So if you stick your head above the parapet to nominate another candidate, Blatter's wrath will be upon you. That is why the journalist Grant Wahl couldn't secure a nomination when he wanted to stand, even though one "World Cup winning" FAs officials told him they would have supported him had they not been afraid of being sent to the naughty step if they did so. Blatter, incidentally secured the nomination of the Somalian FA - the most corrupt country in the world according to Transparency International - surely an irony not lost on him...
Luckily this can never be repeated, as after Wahl tried to stand, they changed the rules so that five FAs now have to nominate a candidate and he or she has to have worked in a national federation at least two of the five years before the election.
Blatter may have lost the argument from our perspective, but he is well enough supported by the weaker federations and their votes add up to make him safe. He knows how to keep them on board by hook or by crook so is pretty secure. The problem is of course that there is a point where revolution will occur. It may be Qatar that creates the circumstances, but if he remains in charge, we could see Europe and America taking their ball away at some point. As the power house federations of the world game, this would be extremely damaging. The Premier League has shown us that this sort of move is not always for the good of football either.
We need a FIFA, but a less corrupt one. We need one that cares about the lesser nations, but looks to the future – not about inter planetary competitions as Blatter has been going on about, but using technology to better the game. We need a system that takes any risk of corruption out of bidding processes and one that applies basic moral standards as a starting point for any bid. We need being a member of a football federation to be hard work – not a gravy train. It is important that if Blatter does go, that he is replaced by somebody who can unite FIFA, but there is a risk that the opposite could occur. It is all pretty depressing, the more you think about it.
But boycotting Coca-Cola will change things. CC always pull out the stops if their nicey nicey image is threatened. It is more powerful than corrupt FIFA officials . Worth considering and no jobs whatever will be lost.
Comments
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jun/11/sepp-blatter-fifa-qatar
David Cameron ends up as collateral damage, and even SISS gets a mention.
Nobody does it better...
I am no Cameron hater, I quite like him actually, but she is quite right that he behaved like an arse when the press exposed the Qatar corruption before the vote.
1. Did the French electorate vote for Sarkozy on a manifesto which included finding an investment for one, largely hated, French football club?
2. Does Platini's UEFA job description include a brief to find an investment for one, largely hated, French football club?
No brown envelopes may have passed, but both are guilty of abuse of position. That in itself is dodgy and possibly illegal in Platini's case. And let's face it, neither of those two are going to do it out of the goodness of their black little hearts, are they?
The thought that to dislodge a creature like Blatter it will take a conniving little serpent such as Platini I am afraid gives little hope for the future health of world football. Platini has struck at a moment that suits Platini, when the game's Great and Good are assembled to concentrate on what should be a showpiece, a celebration of football but instead will merely provide a captive audience ready for some more mucky politics. If WH Smith's have a Rio branch let's hope it is well stocked with stationery of a sepia tint.
I shook my son's hand at lunch-time today, as he leaves tomorrow for the latest episode of Carry On Up The Jungle. I read this afternoon that the pitch in Manaus is woefully sub-standard, and two stadium rehearsals have highlighted serious and potentially alarming deficiencies in match-day operations. This state of affairs, likely to be replicated in numerous of the other venues to some extent or other, is a combination of Brazil at its most Brazilian (as someone said, "Brazil is the country of the future - and always will be") - and the complacent, arrogant and supremely self-satisfied torpor of Fifa. I dread to think of what might happen but it will be a mighty relief when this God-forsaken tournament is concluded without a major disaster. There is a cocktail of misfortunes in the mix, there are vapours building, just waiting for a spark. All this has been on the watch of Sepp Blatter, whose name I guess is not short for Josef but more likely septic. He and his crew have poisoned the well from which this Beautiful Game should be drawing its sustenance. I truly hope that events are not overshadowed by tragedy (in the stadiums) or by farce (in the conspirators' hotel rooms). (In case all that sounds melodramatic, let me then offer a more mundane footnote: some of you may know of my interest in trams (groan!) - well, let me just say that of various light rail schemes planned to enhance the tournament and provide a substantial part of its legacy, not one single scheme will be completed, and very little even partially opened. Some schemes have not even begun. Compare and contrast with what happened in 2012, after some serious misgivings, especially about Ukraine, proved to be largely groundless.)
The penultimate day of SB's tenure will be a day of Zurich shredders running red-hot. Ms Hyde is almost but not quite right - surely Blatter sees himself not as a mere head of state, but more like a monarch or a Pope who will die in office. The thought of what his successor will find must remind him of the Warden's fate in Shawshank - if only justice could be so sweet !! These buccaneers have treated themselves to a lifetime of long lunches at the game's expense - if they've declared reserves of a billion, what else lies pugged away in those financial institutions so conveniently round the corner. Russia 2018 was a clear sign that Fifa was there for the taking, and when Putin stayed in Moscow it was obvious that he didn't need to travel to exert last-minute pressure - the job was done and dusted. I said at the time ;
Fifa ? Forget it, fixed already. And as for Qatar - no matter what niceties have been observed, and legalities strictly followed, the bidding process should be without the smallest taint. Our earnest crowd of FAers, Beckham and Prince William never stood a chance, did they ?
Oh well, it's only a silly old game.
Elegant post, sir. I hope your son has a great trip, and I expect he will. That said,the son of a mate of mine was due to do the same. I'd been green with envy when I heard that he, at the age of 19, had secured a trip there as an analyst with Norwegian TV, all expenses paid, put up in the Rio Sofitel. (this goes back to when he won the NTV junior Mastermind, special subject Man U). However last I heard the whole trip is in doubt since they have discovered serious double booking. Now if even Norwegian TV can't secure their hotel rooms, what chance have ordinary fans got?
I am hoping Brazil don't win, so that their people seriously turn on their corrupt politicians and FIFA.
The fundamental issue here is that the voting process for the award of the World Cup is profoundly flawed. The secret ballot, and hence complete lack of transparency about why votes were cast and by whom, inevitably leaves the process wide open to hard and soft inducements, side deals and simple favouritism. The result is that the entire process is corrupt.
Let's take our own bid for the 2018 World Cup as an example. We promised to play an international friendly in Thailand in order to secure the vote of that country's executive committee member. We were very open about this and then pulled out of the fixture when the vote "promised" wasn't delivered. That's corruption and, in principle, is no different to the cash bribes allegedly made by Bin Hammam. The objective was the same, to subvert the process, with the only difference being the form of the inducement. Why was Prince Andrew involved in our bid? Was the view taken that he was the best person to explain the technical merits of our "pitch", in the expectation that the bid process was objective and meritocratic? Hardly, the objective was to secure "undue influence", even it meant offering tea with his Mum!!
You are quite right, there is a great deal of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" in the bid process. Indeed, there are strong suggestions that the 2018 and 2022 bids were connected with side-deals brokered in a direct attempt to subvert an objective decision being made.
My own personal view is that this is completely unacceptable and that we need much more professional leadership at FIFA and radical reform. However, I do fear that we, along with the slimy Michel Platini (he was a wonderful player, but I really wish he'd go away as an administrator) and others, are guilty of double standards. Corruption is corruption. It's not always about money changing hands and it's never about the amount of money involved.
If common sense prevails, Blatter will slink into the darkness with his tail between his legs, Platini will not get the Presidency and, somehow, a new FIFA will emerge that is more professional and accountable. In the meantime, the competitions in Russia and Qatar ought to both go ahead, with the latter being moved to Nov/Dec in 2022, and the world of football saying "never again". Given how rare simple common sense is in footballing circles, I'm not holding my breath, but we can always hope. The stink this time is so repugnant it might just be the best thing that could have happened.
Thanks, Prague. I'm sure my son and his mates will have a splendid time - I think this will be the 6th or 7th WC for some of them (plus all the Euros in between) so they'll know how to make the most of the experience (unpredictable/lame England performances notwithstanding). Unfortunately, the fans are about the last thing this WC concerns. The extreme anger of much of the general populace and of certain sections such as Sao Paulo's equivalent of the RMT, could ignite and especially so if Brazil falter, because after all the only thing which will justify the whole sorry affair is for Brazil to win. Let's hope that sullenness prevails and all travellers return safely before any trouble begins.
Just tired and shagged out after a long-term in office.
I've got a Platini.
Can it squawk?
That sadly proves that Blatter is just a crazy old man now and Football is gonna destroy itself (might not be a bad thing to happen and for it to re-start) because the people who run it are beginning to be like the Roman Emperors of old thinking that they're bloody gods or something!!
This man had totally become the parody of himself
In a secret ballot you supposedly don't know who voted for whom, unless of course no-one votes for you, then you know that the promises made were lies - hello Thailand.
The presidential vote is secret to, but not the nominator, and anyone could stand. So if you stick your head above the parapet to nominate another candidate, Blatter's wrath will be upon you. That is why the journalist Grant Wahl couldn't secure a nomination when he wanted to stand, even though one "World Cup winning" FAs officials told him they would have supported him had they not been afraid of being sent to the naughty step if they did so. Blatter, incidentally secured the nomination of the Somalian FA - the most corrupt country in the world according to Transparency International - surely an irony not lost on him...
Luckily this can never be repeated, as after Wahl tried to stand, they changed the rules so that five FAs now have to nominate a candidate and he or she has to have worked in a national federation at least two of the five years before the election.
What a sad joke.
We need a FIFA, but a less corrupt one. We need one that cares about the lesser nations, but looks to the future – not about inter planetary competitions as Blatter has been going on about, but using technology to better the game. We need a system that takes any risk of corruption out of bidding processes and one that applies basic moral standards as a starting point for any bid. We need being a member of a football federation to be hard work – not a gravy train. It is important that if Blatter does go, that he is replaced by somebody who can unite FIFA, but there is a risk that the opposite could occur. It is all pretty depressing, the more you think about it.