Imagine how shit our away numbers will be if we're away to Jupiter on a wet Tuesday night.
Seb would still be there though...
Ooah would have a field day. How many exo-planets have they discovered in habitable zones around stars, bloody hundreds, imagine collating those away statistics!
Blatini ?? Platter ?? As Mr Daltrey says - Meet the New Boss, same as the Old Boss .... I think The Seppster should forget about head-of-state ideas - that's so current term - and maybe go for full-on Emperorship next time around. Perhaps some of the African folks he's cosy with might dust off a fetching number in purple, and if they can shop it through the crew who conferred the Japanese model with immortality, well, that's just the icing on the cake. Fifa's mighty sponsors, all-powerful in their own houses, just simply freeze in the Presence, and as for football's professional administrators, they can sing to their national media what sounds like The Hallelujah Chorus but to the All-Powerful One it might as well be The Birdie Song. Nobody who loves football is unaware of this, but there's a world of difference between being fooled and being cheated .... if those who can act but instead simply remain paralysed, then our game can consider itself truly tarnished and worth scarcely a crocodile tear.
Today I paid my last respects to a family member who recently passed away. Firstly we gathered on a glorious English summer's day deep in the Kentish countryside, somewhere I guess I had not set foot for a half-century, the quiet valley unchanged but for a thickening of the hedgerows and an impressive growth of the trees which on a mundane Thursday nonetheless gave us a resplendent display of their Sunday-best leaves, the handsome little church a 14th-Century jewel with a thousand-year-old yew in the churchyard, and all this scarcely 25 crow-flying miles from central London - well, the honours were duly done, and done proud. The last formalities of all took place at the Crem - to celebrate his 25 years of service to the nation as an engine technician on heavy bombers first was played The RAF March, followed - and this could be unique - by closing with the sound of an Avro Vulcan taking off .... fanciful to think of this as a modern Viking's farewell, perhaps, with the departing spirit taking to the air instead of to the grey waters. For this genial man, much-respected, the most caring of souls, many heartfelt tears were shed in earnest; I celebrate this modest, honourable and special person in an entirely inappropriate place, and for one reason only - that real tears belong only where they truly belong, and to me this evening I can tell you that football presently counts for pretty much the thick end of not very much at all. Goodnight - I'm done.
Has anyone else heard about the amazing situation of where all the 3 million world cup tickets this year (and for many years) get distributed from, and by whom? small gaff in south Manchesterby two Mexican brothers who are mates of Havelange. Blatter just gave them exclusive rights for the next decade. Unbelievable. And dont start me on Blatter's nephew who gets great chunks of World Cup TV rights to resell from his uncle. Or Warner's son who got 5000 tickets in 2006. Rotten to the core.
Meanwhile Hereford head out of business for the want of a few thousand.
Has anyone else heard about the amazing situation of where all the 3 million world cup tickets this year (and for many years) get distributed from, and by whom? small gaff in south Manchesterby two Mexican brothers who are mates of Havelange. Blatter just gave them exclusive rights for the next decade. Unbelievable. And dont start me on Blatter's nephew who gets great chunks of World Cup TV rights to resell from his uncle. Or Warner's son who got 5000 tickets in 2006. Rotten to the core.
Meanwhile Hereford head out of business for the want of a few thousand.
Is that story in the public domain? If not, and it has legs, it should be.
Has anyone else heard about the amazing situation of where all the 3 million world cup tickets this year (and for many years) get distributed from, and by whom? small gaff in south Manchesterby two Mexican brothers who are mates of Havelange. Blatter just gave them exclusive rights for the next decade. Unbelievable. And dont start me on Blatter's nephew who gets great chunks of World Cup TV rights to resell from his uncle. Or Warner's son who got 5000 tickets in 2006. Rotten to the core.
Meanwhile Hereford head out of business for the want of a few thousand.
Is that story in the public domain? If not, and it has legs, it should be.
Has anyone else heard about the amazing situation of where all the 3 million world cup tickets this year (and for many years) get distributed from, and by whom? small gaff in south Manchesterby two Mexican brothers who are mates of Havelange. Blatter just gave them exclusive rights for the next decade. Unbelievable. And dont start me on Blatter's nephew who gets great chunks of World Cup TV rights to resell from his uncle. Or Warner's son who got 5000 tickets in 2006. Rotten to the core.
Meanwhile Hereford head out of business for the want of a few thousand.
Is that story in the public domain? If not, and it has legs, it should be.
Jack Warner's tickets for 2006 were in Andrew Jennings' book, I believe. Have a feeling the TV rights were too. Not sure about the Mexicans
A piece on the Mexican brothers and Uncle Sepp (as per Arthur's post) appears on page 5 of this month's 'Private Eye.' The brothers, apparently friends of the corrupt former FIFA President Joao Havelange, are also said to look after a huge chunk of World Cup corporate hospitality and were also given an interest free loan by Sepp and his chums to help them provide accommodation services in Brazil.
We should probably try and stop reading about him and his shabby organisation - it's not good for the collective morale or blood pressure.
Has anyone else heard about the amazing situation of where all the 3 million world cup tickets this year (and for many years) get distributed from, and by whom? small gaff in south Manchesterby two Mexican brothers who are mates of Havelange. Blatter just gave them exclusive rights for the next decade. Unbelievable. And dont start me on Blatter's nephew who gets great chunks of World Cup TV rights to resell from his uncle. Or Warner's son who got 5000 tickets in 2006. Rotten to the core.
Meanwhile Hereford head out of business for the want of a few thousand.
Is that story in the public domain? If not, and it has legs, it should be.
Jack Warner's tickets for 2006 were in Andrew Jennings' book, I believe. Have a feeling the TV rights were too. Not sure about the Mexicans
It feels like Warner has been banned and then allowed back in the fold about eight times over the years for his dirty dealings...
Warner is an absolute disgrace. He makes even Blatter look passable. Anyone interested in this should read 'Foul' by Andrew Jenkins. He's a bit eccentric and his writing style is pretty odd - but the amount of corruption and how far back it goes is stunning. It will leave you open mouthed in places - particularly where Warner is concerned.
STRANGE but true: every one of the World Cup’s 3m tickets comes via a modest two-storey office building on a business park in Cheadle Royal, south Manchester – some through the front door, others through the back door and into the black market. The proprietors, Mexican brothers Jaime and Enrique Byrom, chums of disgraced bribe-taker and former Fifa president Joao Havelange, who have enjoyed exclusive World Cup ticket concessions for many years, are now guaranteed them for another decade under their latest deal with Sepp Blatter and his scrupulously honest executive committee. Whether the tournament is staged in Qatar, North America or Australia, the boys in Cheadle are certain winners.
Black market Over the years the Byrom brothers have done some excellent business with the stupendously corrupt former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner from Trinidad. In 2006 they agreed to let him have more than 5,000 tickets to be resold into the rackets. They were caught by auditor Ernst & Young; but Fifa’s leaders cleared Warner, told his son and business partner Daryan (now a co-operating witness with the FBI) not to do it again, and tickled the Byrom wrists.
Unabashed by the 2006 scandal, four years later the brothers again agreed to supply Warner with tickets for him to resell into the black market. Blatter could not claim ignorance, since email correspondence with Warner was copied to Fifa and a company called Infront – a sports marketing outfit run by Blatter’s nephew Philippe, who gets big chunks of World Cup TV rights to resell. These are awarded by uncle Sepp and his Fifa colleagues.
A loan from Uncle Sepp Meanwhile, the Byroms have granted Infront a 5 percent stake in their subsidiary company Match, which has 450,000 tickets to resell to corporate hospitality clients in VIP boxes. These include 32,000 for Brazil games and another 12,000 for the final.
Not much World Cup business eludes the brothers: Blatter also gives them the business of supplying accommodation to fans. Having lost $50m in South Africa in 2010 as fans stayed home, they have to make big profits in Brazil. Here again Uncle Sepp is helping.
Two years ago Blatter Snr gave the company jointly owned by the Byroms and his nephew a loan of £6,210,128 from Fifa “to fund the obligation for Match Services AG to provide accommodation services for the 2014 Fifa World Cup Brazil”. Better still, the loan is interest-free! Oddly, however, this sweetheart deal has still not been reported in Fifa’s accounts
Agreed what I don't understand is why the German FA, Scandanavians and others don't rise up and vote against these people in the executive committee and their nepotistic corruption. Presumably their vote is nullified by the swathes of corrupt FA's and their votes around the world
Agreed what I don't understand is why the German FA, Scandanavians and others don't rise up and vote against these people in the executive committee and their nepotistic corruption. Presumably their vote is nullified by the swathes of corrupt FA's and their votes around the world
That is exactly what people are saying. Blatter goes around Africa, doling out money to these otherwise potless FAs (and I expect they pocket most of it), and they all gratefully vote for him. It's one FA one vote, unfortunately.
And then the trouble is that even in "clean" countries, their football may be among the murkiest businesses there. Look at Hoeness and now Beckenbauer...
Agreed what I don't understand is why the German FA, Scandanavians and others don't rise up and vote against these people in the executive committee and their nepotistic corruption. Presumably their vote is nullified by the swathes of corrupt FA's and their votes around the world
That is exactly what people are saying. Blatter goes around Africa, doling out money to these otherwise potless FAs (and I expect they pocket most of it), and they all gratefully vote for him. It's one FA one vote, unfortunately.
And then the trouble is that even in "clean" countries, their football may be among the murkiest businesses there. Look at Hoeness and now Beckenbauer...
this is exactly what has happened, Blatter pays off the African and Asian football associations
The FA, the same as the quivalent bodies in Spain, Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands etc. may only have one vote but we all know that they could bring the whole thing tumbling down if required. The World Cup without the European teams will do little to help FIFA boost their $1bn emergency reserves fund. That should be the threat from these countries if they do not see evidence of FIFA dramatically cleaning up its act.
Oh how I wish they would or could. We all know that money corrupts in life and sport particularly. If the larger world FA's withdrew from FIFA into some other organised accountable federation, I would like to think that would wipe the smile off the smug puss of both Blatter and hopefully Platini. We live ever in hope rather than expectation.
But that new federation will be ruled by self interest. It is a disgusting trait of the 21st century world. The best bet is for FIFA to appoint a president who wished to give the game back to the fans. I won't hold my breath.
The FA, the same as the quivalent bodies in Spain, Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands etc. may only have one vote but we all know that they could bring the whole thing tumbling down if required. The World Cup without the European teams will do little to help FIFA boost their $1bn emergency reserves fund. That should be the threat from these countries if they do not see evidence of FIFA dramatically cleaning up its act.
in that event then it would become a game of stalemate, fifa will sit on this "rainy day" fund whilst UEFA make their money themselves.
Fifa has provisionally banned World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer from all footballing activities for 90 days for not cooperating with the enquiry into the 2022 bid.
"Franz Beckenbauer had been asked by Fifa's ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia to meet him and help answer some of the lawyer's questions. The BBC understands Beckenbauer twice refused to meet Garcia because he felt Garcia had no power to make him comply - as Beckenbauer was no longer actively involved in football.
"Beckenbauer is on the Fifa committee looking into the future of the game and is honorary president and global ambassador at Bayern Munich. Fifa executives, including vice-president Jim Boyce, had called for those who refused to co-operate with the investigation to be 'named and shamed'."
Fifa has provisionally banned World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer from all footballing activities for 90 days for not cooperating with the enquiry into the 2022 bid.
What is that all about ?
Smokescreen, I reckon.
After that Croatia game I have finally succumbed to the dark world of conspiracy theories....
Comments
Blatini ?? Platter ?? As Mr Daltrey says - Meet the New Boss, same as the Old Boss .... I think The Seppster should forget about head-of-state ideas - that's so current term - and maybe go for full-on Emperorship next time around. Perhaps some of the African folks he's cosy with might dust off a fetching number in purple, and if they can shop it through the crew who conferred the Japanese model with immortality, well, that's just the icing on the cake. Fifa's mighty sponsors, all-powerful in their own houses, just simply freeze in the Presence, and as for football's professional administrators, they can sing to their national media what sounds like The Hallelujah Chorus but to the All-Powerful One it might as well be The Birdie Song. Nobody who loves football is unaware of this, but there's a world of difference between being fooled and being cheated .... if those who can act but instead simply remain paralysed, then our game can consider itself truly tarnished and worth scarcely a crocodile tear.
Today I paid my last respects to a family member who recently passed away. Firstly we gathered on a glorious English summer's day deep in the Kentish countryside, somewhere I guess I had not set foot for a half-century, the quiet valley unchanged but for a thickening of the hedgerows and an impressive growth of the trees which on a mundane Thursday nonetheless gave us a resplendent display of their Sunday-best leaves, the handsome little church a 14th-Century jewel with a thousand-year-old yew in the churchyard, and all this scarcely 25 crow-flying miles from central London - well, the honours were duly done, and done proud. The last formalities of all took place at the Crem - to celebrate his 25 years of service to the nation as an engine technician on heavy bombers first was played The RAF March, followed - and this could be unique - by closing with the sound of an Avro Vulcan taking off .... fanciful to think of this as a modern Viking's farewell, perhaps, with the departing spirit taking to the air instead of to the grey waters. For this genial man, much-respected, the most caring of souls, many heartfelt tears were shed in earnest; I celebrate this modest, honourable and special person in an entirely inappropriate place, and for one reason only - that real tears belong only where they truly belong, and to me this evening I can tell you that football presently counts for pretty much the thick end of not very much at all. Goodnight - I'm done.
A heartfelt tribute to the man who was obviously well loved & respected.
I salute you.
small gaff in south Manchesterby two Mexican brothers who are mates of Havelange. Blatter just gave them exclusive rights for the next decade.
Unbelievable.
And dont start me on Blatter's nephew who gets great chunks of World Cup TV rights to resell from his uncle.
Or Warner's son who got 5000 tickets in 2006.
Rotten to the core.
Meanwhile Hereford head out of business for the want of a few thousand.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27786442
Popular in Brazil!
We should probably try and stop reading about him and his shabby organisation - it's not good for the collective morale or blood pressure.
The proprietors, Mexican brothers Jaime and Enrique Byrom, chums of disgraced bribe-taker and former Fifa president Joao Havelange, who have enjoyed exclusive World Cup ticket concessions for many years, are now guaranteed them for another decade under their latest deal with Sepp Blatter and his scrupulously honest executive committee. Whether the tournament is staged in Qatar, North America or Australia, the boys in Cheadle are certain winners.
Black market
Over the years the Byrom brothers have done some excellent business with the stupendously corrupt former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner from Trinidad. In 2006 they agreed to let him have more than 5,000 tickets to be resold into the rackets. They were caught by auditor Ernst & Young; but Fifa’s leaders cleared Warner, told his son and business partner Daryan (now a co-operating witness with the FBI) not to do it again, and tickled the Byrom wrists.
Unabashed by the 2006 scandal, four years later the brothers again agreed to supply Warner with tickets for him to resell into the black market. Blatter could not claim ignorance, since email correspondence with Warner was copied to Fifa and a company called Infront – a sports marketing outfit run by Blatter’s nephew Philippe, who gets big chunks of World Cup TV rights to resell. These are awarded by uncle Sepp and his Fifa colleagues.
A loan from Uncle Sepp
Meanwhile, the Byroms have granted Infront a 5 percent stake in their subsidiary company Match, which has 450,000 tickets to resell to corporate hospitality clients in VIP boxes. These include 32,000 for Brazil games and another 12,000 for the final.
Not much World Cup business eludes the brothers: Blatter also gives them the business of supplying accommodation to fans. Having lost $50m in South Africa in 2010 as fans stayed home, they have to make big profits in Brazil. Here again Uncle Sepp is helping.
Two years ago Blatter Snr gave the company jointly owned by the Byroms and his nephew a loan of £6,210,128 from Fifa “to fund the obligation for Match Services AG to provide accommodation services for the 2014 Fifa World Cup Brazil”. Better still, the loan is interest-free! Oddly, however, this sweetheart deal has still not been reported in Fifa’s accounts
Didnt realise the Eye had finally joined the digital age
Ouch, that front cover...
The trouble is, who can put a stop to this FIFA corruption?
Presumably their vote is nullified by the swathes of corrupt FA's and their votes around the world
And then the trouble is that even in "clean" countries, their football may be among the murkiest businesses there. Look at Hoeness and now Beckenbauer...
What is that all about ?
"Beckenbauer is on the Fifa committee looking into the future of the game and is honorary president and global ambassador at Bayern Munich. Fifa executives, including vice-president Jim Boyce, had called for those who refused to co-operate with the investigation to be 'named and shamed'."
After that Croatia game I have finally succumbed to the dark world of conspiracy theories....