US DoJ brings charges against FIFA

[Kingmaker]

I guess John Oliver will be drinking that bottle of Bud Lime.

[Simon_Jester]

I would argue that cultural diversity and globalization are not mutually exclusive, but that's rather off-topic.

Well, it's why I opposed "diversity" to "uniformity" and "nation-states" to "globalization."

[The Romulan Republic]

Fair enough, though it was a bit unclear.

But personally, I also think there's merit to having fewer nations and a more united world, though for this very reason I would not want their to be only one nation. Their should always be alternatives, different points of view.

[Simon_Jester]

Where's the limiting point? When does reducing the total number of jurisdictions stop being a good thing, and start being a bad thing?

[Pelranius]

I guess John Oliver will be drinking that bottle of Bud Lime.

Does he have to do it at the same time he eats every item on the McDonald's dollar menu?

I hope Blatter's successor won't be nearly as bad, though it's unlikely anyone would repeat Blatter's 17 year tenure in the foreseeable future.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

To be blunt. The entire game of football is rather riddled with under the table dealing that it is simply impossible to stamp out corruption entirely.

[Rogue 9]

I guess John Oliver will be drinking that bottle of Bud Lime.

Only if it comes out that Budweiser threatening to pull its sponsorship was a contributing factor. He didn't agree to give them free sponsorship if they didn't do anything.

[Thanas]

I guess John Oliver will be drinking that bottle of Bud Lime.

Does he have to do it at the same time he eats every item on the McDonald's dollar menu?

I hope Blatter's successor won't be nearly as bad, though it's unlikely anyone would repeat Blatter's 17 year tenure in the foreseeable future.

If it is the Jordanian prince, he is just as bad as Blatter and was caught handing out sacks of cash. If it is Platini (corrupt as Blatter too) then you will know that this is all because Europe got pissy about playing in Qatar.

[Vaporous]

When I first heard about this, I shrugged and went on my way. Then I found out it was a RICO case, and I started paying attention. An awful lot of people are going to go to prison for a very long time.

[KroLazuxy_87]

Indicted Former FIFA Official Warner Says He Won't Protect Secrets

JUNE 04, 2015 | 11:11am ET | Bill Chappell

Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner discussed records he has amassed about financial dealings in the embattled organization Wednesday.

In a televised address titled "The Gloves Are Off," former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner says he told his lawyers to contact law enforcement, and that he has proof FIFA and its leader, Sepp Blatter, influenced Trinidad and Tobago's election in 2010.

Warner, who posted bail after being arrested over U.S. bribery charges last week, said he has deep knowledge about financial practices of soccer's world body, which faces a widening corruption scandal. On Wednesday, Interpol placed his name on its "red notice" list.

"I will no longer keep secrets for them who now seek to actively destroy the country in which I live," Warner said, adding that the international image of his native Trinidad is under attack.

He said he has collected information based on his own financial dealings with FIFA, as well as "my knowledge of financial transactions at FIFA — including, but not limited to, its president, Mr. Sepp Blatter."

For the length of the nearly eight-minute video, piano music that might best be described as portentous played in the background.

[See original article for embedded video]

The speech came on the same day that previously sealed testimony from former FIFA executive Chuck Blazer was released, in which Blazer describes how bribes influenced the World Cup host nation selection process and the awarding of broadcast rights, among other matters.

Warner said he has turned over an "avalanche" of documents and records and that he has told his lawyers to contact law enforcement agencies in Trinidad and beyond.

The New York Times reports: "Mr. Warner's sons, Daryan and Daryll, are also cooperating with the authorities, having secretly pleaded guilty in 2013 after they tried to deposit more than $600,000 in nearly two dozen United States bank accounts in an attempt to avoid detection."

At a public rally last night, Warner said, "Not even death will stop the avalanche that is coming," according to Trinidad's TV 6. "The die is cast. There can be no turning back. Let the chips fall where they fall."

Warner also claimed to know why Blatter decided to resign Tuesday, just days after he was elected to a fifth term.

"Blatter knows why he fell. And if anyone else knows, I do," Warner is quoted as saying by TV 6.

"I reasonably and surely fear for my life," Warner said. "I have, as promised, compiled a comprehensive and detailed series of documents, including checks and corroborated statements, and have placed them in different and respected hands."

Saying that he cannot retract those records, Warner noted that "there can be no turning back."

Warner is a political leader in Trinidad, and a large part of his speech focused on the country's political scene.

"I apologize to the people of Trinidad and Tobago for not disclosing my knowledge of these matters before," he said.

Warner has made headlines not only for his role in FIFA's scandal but for his citation of an article by The Onion as part of his defense. He played it safe this time around, quoting Gandhi as saying, "All through history, there have been tyrants, but in the end, they all fall."

[Pelranius]

Well, that's a step up from Warner citing a The Onion article.

It would be really something if he brought down Platini, but that's probably too much of a wishlist.

[Gaidin]

Is it just me or is turning into a prisoner's dilemma appropriate for a comedy film.

[Sea Skimmer]

When I first heard about this, I shrugged and went on my way. Then I found out it was a RICO case, and I started paying attention. An awful lot of people are going to go to prison for a very long time.

I wouldn't get too excited. The standard of proof for a RICO case is high and the room for lawyers massive, after all generally the entire point of the criminal RICO cases is that the prosecution is actually short on hard evidence against specific people.

[Simon_Jester]

This Warner guy is awesome. All corrupt politicians should be like him.

Specifically, they should be frantically spraying out hilariously dramatic and hopefully true accusations against corrupt peers in an attempt to escape prosecution.

[Murazor]

Some of the ongoing shenanigans are impressive in their scope, such as the claim that Germany selling weapons to Saudi Arabia was done to get the World Cup, but the most baffling thing about this whole show is still the claim about FIFA Paraguay HQ being granted extraterritoriality status in the level of embassies.

Cyberpunk seems just around the corner sometimes, doesn't it?

[Thanas]

Yeah I'll wait to see proof of those.

[KroLazuxy_87]

John Oliver staying true to his word:

https://youtu.be/fXyWCQeLxrc

[edaw1982]

I wonder if, when this is all shaken up, the players will stop vying for Best Actor awards and focus on playing the bloody game.

[blowfish]

Asian/African football associations hilariously corrupt, ask Blatter to stay on.

[Irbis]

I wonder, is Blatter starting to crack and point finger at his cronies? Or do you ask for specific country's chances by accident?

Sepp Blatter: France and Germany wanted Quatar

The German football body was told to vote for Qatar for ‘economic reasons’, Fifa president tells a newspaper, adding that he is ‘tired of taking the blame’

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has said that France and Germany applied political pressure before the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were awarded to Russia and Qatar, respectively.

Blatter told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that “there were two political interventions” from former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his German counterpart Christian Wulff before the hosts were announced on 2 December 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 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,” Blatter said.

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

Former DFB president Theo Zwanziger wrote in his book that 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.

In further controversial comments, Blatter accepted no responsibility for the plight of migrant labourers 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.”

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.

“I’m there now to fight. Not for myself but for Fifa,” said Blatter, who added he was on the right path and had no doubts. “Self-doubt is a leader’s greatest enemy.”

Blatter said in June that he would stand down as pressure built from the American case and a separate Swiss federal investigation focused on possible money laundering linked to the awarding of the World Cups to Russia and Qatar.

But he remains defiant despite the scandal engulfing world soccer’s governing body.

“Is Fifa responsible from the top down for everything in football, what happens in some village somewhere around the world?” asked Blatter, also a target of the American investigation.

“Everyone has fears, for example of death, but with regard to my work at Fifa I have no fear. I’ve nothing to be afraid of,” said Blatter.

“I’m afraid that they want to wreck Fifa, a work that I helped create,” the 79-year-old said.

Blatter said he accepts criticism but “what hurts are hateful tirades. They come from envy”.

Blatter cannot be extradited from his native Switzerland to the US without his consent but he risks arrest in many countries. He will not travel to Canada for the Women’s World Cup final in Vancouver on Sunday.

“Until everything is clarified I won’t take any travel risks,” Blatter said.

[Thanas]

Of course, Blatter will always find some idiots who believe his words and propagate them as truth.

I am even more disappointed that those idiots can't even be bothered to check for real scandals, like what for example likely happened to get the World cup to Germany.