Breaking news on BBC that 6 FIFA executives have been arrested on corruption charges in Zurich this morning. Unbelievably Blater not among them.

Blater interviewed on Swiss TV this morning blaming US government and UEFA. Saying that they are running a hate campaign. He really is deluded.

Blater interviewed on Swiss TV this morning blaming US government and UEFA. Saying that they are running a hate campaign. He really is deluded.

 

Had to turn the radio off as I thought would end up breaking it. What a complete cunt he is.

Face palm moment:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32957357

 

IFA not willing to boycott.

The FBI only stepped in to fuck over Russia and their (blaringly obvious corrupt) bid and Qatar in the M.E.

 

But that's ok, if it brings Blatter and FIFA down with it then fine.

 

But Blatter's been re-elected, the mind truly does boggle.

I guess there always have been bad guys , interested only in their own grab for wealth and power , in key positions , in all societies. Only...there are far more of them today.

 

Of the Human Rights issue , let's not forget that our own Establishment and Arms Industry are involved in selling weapons to countries with equally poor Human Rights conditions as Quatar.

 

Anything for a buck , eh?

I guess there always have been bad guys , interested only in their own grab for wealth and power , in key positions , in all societies. Only...there are far more of them today.

 

Of the Human Rights issue , let's not forget that our own Establishment and Arms Industry are involved in selling weapons to countries with equally poor Human Rights conditions as Quatar.

 

Anything for a buck , eh?

 

Another reason why I would've loved a Yes vote.

Have you read or listened to this , Tyrant. I listened on Audible because my eyes get easily tired these days.

 

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-establishment/owen-jones/9781846147197

 

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/pictures/140xAny/7

/9/4/23794_book-review-the-establishment-owen-jones.jpg

Victory!!!!

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2015/jun/02/fifa-calls-press-conference-amid-latest-corruption-claims-live

 

The cunt is going! 

Victory!!!!

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2015/jun/02/fifa-calls-press-conference-amid-latest-corruption-claims-live

 

The cunt is going! 

 

That is some shift from his position on Saturday. Got to assume somebody now has got something on him from one of the ongoing investigations.

That is should shift from his position on Saturday. Got assume somebody now has got something on him from one of the ongoing investigations.

 

That's my exact thoughts, he's obviously fucked

Says he will stay till they have a new president, which could take 4 months.

I hope he has no say on who gets the job.

Says he will stay till they have a new president, which could take 4 months.

I hope he has no say on who gets the job.

 

You can just see him meddling and making sure the next incumbent is equally and corrupt. God I hope the FBI completely pulverise him.

He is the perfect candidate for a place on the Sevco board. Corrupt as fuck and walks away days after saying he doesn't do walking away.

SSN now reporting that Blater is being implicated in FBI/IRS investigation.

This whole pay off to stop legal action for the Henry handball disturbs me.

 

Not just that it apparently happened but also that the Irish FA backed down for a mere 5million euros.

 

 

 

 

I'd be interested to hear exactly what was done with the €5m once the FAI received it tbh be honest.

Sure i read Reports last night that it was a "loan" towards a stadium refurb. Was cleared last year I think. The interview was fairly damning and a massive embarrassment for the IFA.

Sure i read Reports last night that it was a "loan" towards a stadium refurb. Was cleared last year I think. The interview was fairly damning and a massive embarrassment for the IFA.

 

Fifa paid the Football Association of Ireland 5m euros (£3.6m) to stop legal action after France controversially beat Ireland in a World Cup play-off.

FAI chief executive John Delaney said he had believed they had a case against Fifa after French striker Thierry Henry's handball in the 2009 match.

Delaney said a "legitimate agreement" was made to drop the claim after Ireland missed the 2010 World Cup.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter is quitting with the organisation in crisis.

Delaney's comments come after a turbulent nine days for football's world governing body amid claims of "systemic and deep-rooted" corruption.

Fifa is facing two criminal investigations by both the US for widespread bribery allegations and Swiss authorities over the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding processes.

The Republic of Ireland were 16 minutes away from a penalty shootout for a place in the 2010 finals in South Africa when Henry handled in the build-up to William Gallas's extra-time equaliser in the second leg of the play-off in Paris.

The 2-1 aggregate win sent France to the tournament, where they were knocked out of the group stages amid a player strike.

France v Ireland

Ireland defender Richard Dunne said he felt "cheated" at the time of the handball

A Fifa spokesman confirmed it had "entered into an agreement with FAI in order to put an end to any claims" against it.

But the organisation said the payment was a $5m (£3.26m) loan and was granted for "the construction of a stadium in Ireland".

The spokesman added that the FAI was to repay the money if Ireland qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which they failed to do. Fifa wrote off the loan on 31 December 2014.

On Thursday, the FAI said the settlement was made without any conditions and was reached "following strong legal advice", with the money going towards the new Aviva Stadium - opened in May 2010 after the old Landsdowne Road ground was redeveloped.

In a statement, the FAI said: "This is fully reflected in our financial statements, which are audited independently. The FAI accepted Fifa's settlement offer to avoid a long, costly and protracted legal case.

"The settlement has at no time influenced the FAI's criticism of Fifa, as demonstrated by our consistent criticisms of Sepp Blatter."

Ireland v France in 2009

The Republic of Ireland's narrow defeat in the 2009 play-off is the closest they have come to qualifying for a World Cup since 2002

Delaney said he and Blatter "came to an agreement" after the Fifa president publicly dismissed the country's appeal to be made a "33rd team" at the tournament.

"We felt we had a legal case against Fifa because of how the World Cup play-off hadn't worked out for us with the Henry handball," he said in a radio interview with Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ.

"Also the way Blatter behaved, if you remember on stage, having a snigger and having a laugh at us.

"I told him how I felt about him, there were some expletives used. We came to an agreement.

"It's a very good agreement for the FAI and a very legitimate agreement for the FAI," he said.

 

The BBC article on the matter seems to say it was written off...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33041467

 

Personally cant see the Russian one being cancelled unless there are some very big balls in the new FIFA regime.

I believe the last time a country lost the award was when Columbia had to pull out in 1983 and the Mexicans stepped in.

 

However if both awards were cancelled the question is who would get them instead?

 

2018

 

A joint Spain/Portugal bid came second for 2018 followed by a joint Netherlands/ Belgium bid however I seem to recall joint bids now being out of favour. England didnt get past the first round of bids

 

Dutch/ Belgian Bid - Neither country has an 80,000 capacity stadium at the moment and the world cup requires at least 12 stadiums with a minimum capacity of 40,000. The dutch and belgians combined only have 4 at the moment

Spain/ Portugal - Stadiums are there but is the infrastructure? Spanish econonomy still in the shit too(as far as I'm aware) so could they really afford to host 2/3 of the tournament.

 

That leaves England. Problem with that one is 6 of the proposed venues need to either be built or rennovated. Plus 3 of the stadia are in London and 2 are in Manchester.

 

I'd say the French or Germans would be a better bet to step in.

 

2022

This is a bit more open i'd say but I reckon the Yanks would get it. However personally I'd like to see it given to the Australians even though like England they were dumped after the first round.

 

Pretty Sure the Japanese and South Koreans could get their act together very quick if needed.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33041467

 

Personally cant see the Russian one being cancelled unless there are some very big balls in the new FIFA regime.

I believe the last time a country lost the award was when Columbia had to pull out in 1983 and the Mexicans stepped in.

 

However if both awards were cancelled the question is who would get them instead?

 

2018

 

A joint Spain/Portugal bid came second for 2018 followed by a joint Netherlands/ Belgium bid however I seem to recall joint bids now being out of favour. England didnt get past the first round of bids

 

Dutch/ Belgian Bid - Neither country has an 80,000 capacity stadium at the moment and the world cup requires at least 12 stadiums with a minimum capacity of 40,000. The dutch and belgians combined only have 4 at the moment

Spain/ Portugal - Stadiums are there but is the infrastructure? Spanish econonomy still in the shit too(as far as I'm aware) so could they really afford to host 2/3 of the tournament.

 

That leaves England. Problem with that one is 6 of the proposed venues need to either be built or rennovated. Plus 3 of the stadia are in London and 2 are in Manchester.

 

I'd say the French or Germans would be a better bet to step in.

 

2022

This is a bit more open i'd say but I reckon the Yanks would get it. However personally I'd like to see it given to the Australians even though like England they were dumped after the first round.

 

Pretty Sure the Japanese and South Koreans could get their act together very quick if needed.

 

If 2018 were to put somewhere else it surely cant be France given will be hosting the euro's in 2016.  Germany had the world cup in 2006 so that would put a lot of noises out of joint as well.  For a nation that's not had it in a while and is capable of stepping in at short notice the first country that springs to mind is Italy.  Not hosted a tournament since 1990 and they have plenty top drawer stadia to boot.  That's not to say they would be inclined to bid considering the nations recent financial difficulties but if they were Italy would be my preference. 

 

Australia could be really interesting but it would be well expensive to get there from virtually everywhere. 

 

My only comment about the italians is I dont think they actually have that many stadiums that already meet the requirements?

 

Whilst the English, Germans etc have been throwing up new stadiums left right and centre for the last 2 decades the italians just haven't.

Only Juventus & Roma have (or are building) new stadiums which would meet the world cup criteria.

 

Would they be able to get 12 stadiums up to scratch along with all of the infrastructure within 3 years?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italy being a fairly major european country where football is the no 1 sport I would think the infastructure is already in place to host big tournaments. 

 

Stadia wise

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_football_stadiums_in_Italy

 

They have quite a few 40k + size stadiums but how many of them meet all fifa's other criteria I don't know.  It could be a case of only a few having to be modified and, if so, they wouldn't have to worry about building any stadia.  In that case 3 years could be plenty of time. 

Of course there are a lot of if's there but having the 80k San Siro already would be a big asset in the event that they decided to bid. 

Italy being a fairly major european country where football is the no 1 sport I would think the infastructure is already in place to host big tournaments. 

 

 

The only major sporting event they have hosted this century is the winter Olympics. Before that it was the world cup (Started exactly 25 years ago today actually)

 

But then again the closest I have been to Italy is Monaco so I have very little knowledge of the country>

 

The reason I put forward France and Germany is they have both hosted the world cup in the last 20 years and one of them is hosting a major football tournament next year so both should be more than ready to step in at the last second.

if Russia are indeed to lose it I can see it being a long drawn out process of appeals and legal action even if there is evidence to support corruption and they will need a host nation who can step in with less than 2 years notice.

 

 

All fair points Tom, given they didn't even bid in tnt first place it's probablya non starter anyway

I wouldn't have a problem with England hosting it. I don't really care who hosts it. I'd just like it to be a country that either has the infrastructure in place or can afford the upgrades required. The less building contracts being handed out for new stadia purposes (South Africa and Brazil) the less chance of kick backs changing hands as a result.