The world is really going to hate us now
On the contrary, the world may very well applaud the US for having the nuts to go up against FIFA. If the US takes down Sepp Blatter, the RoW would probably just hand you the World Cup next time on a plate.
Not that any of this matters. Those arrested will just fall down and roll around holding their legs.
*caveat: I like the other football better. The one where the team has 53 players and only two are allowed to touch the ball with their feet.
ridski said:
the RoW would probably just hand you the World Cup next time on a plate.
Sadly, probably the only way the US would get it in our lifetimes.
We were in the running. We just did not pay enough. But now there is NO WAY FIFA will ever give the U.S. the time of day. I am sure the topic of the day in FIFA is how to not have any transactions in dollars or any money in the U.S. so as not to give the U.S. authorities any nexus for any authority over their actions.
It depends on how much pressure American sponsors like Coca Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Visa and McDonalds can put on them. And the World Cup in the USA was only 5 World Cups ago.
ridski said:
On the contrary, the world may very well applaud the US for having the nuts to go up against FIFA. If the US takes down Sepp Blatter, the RoW would probably just hand you the World Cup next time on a plate.
Not that any of this matters. Those arrested will just fall down and roll around holding their legs.
*caveat: I like the other football better. The one where the team has 53 players and only two are allowed to touch the ball with their feet.
As to the second part, I imagine that yes, they are shifting money around right now like the Brazilian back 4.
TylerDurden said:
ridski said:You are a real American!
On the contrary, the world may very well applaud the US for having the nuts to go up against FIFA. If the US takes down Sepp Blatter, the RoW would probably just hand you the World Cup next time on a plate.
Not that any of this matters. Those arrested will just fall down and roll around holding their legs.
*caveat: I like the other football better. The one where the team has 53 players and only two are allowed to touch the ball with their feet.
*emoticon*
Kenny Powers is my hero.
ramzzoinksus said:
We were in the running. We just did not pay enough. But now there is NO WAY FIFA will ever give the U.S. the time of day. I am sure the topic of the day in FIFA is how to not have any transactions in dollars or any money in the U.S. so as not to give the U.S. authorities any nexus for any authority over their actions.
I was referring to winning it, not hosting it as we did that not too many years ago.
ramzzoinksus said:
About winning it I couldn't care less.
Actually I'm quite surprised you might possibly care about anything in this story at all.
The majority of the football world is rejoicing with the action the US is taking on this. FIFA has been run by a corrupt group for years. Septic Bladder believes he can't be touched and I'm hoping this will spell his downfall.
He awarded it to Qatar based on bribes. Qatar was ranked 122nd in the world at the time. Their temperatures average over 120 degrees during the summer. Their human rights record is one of the worst in the world. In fact, at the current rate of worker deaths during the construction of the stadiums in Qatar, they will have achieved an average of 62 deaths for every WC played in Qatar. http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/may/20/slave-deaths-qatar-world-cup-2022-fifa
The world will celebrate the fall of King Septic and they will respect the US for leading the charge.
Seriously, if President Bush decided to go after Blatter instead of Saddam Hussein, we wouldn't be in half the mess we're in right now.
ridski said:
ramzzoinksus said:Actually I'm quite surprised you might possibly care about anything in this story at all.
About winning it I couldn't care less.
Any organization that makes the The International Olympic Committee look like a bunch of choir boys is inherently interesting. Just as the Supranos is interesting.
Shouldn't this discussion be under Sports rather than Politics?
Is this an issue in the Presidential campaign?
Switzerland is in the anti-Sepp mix, and word I heard this am was that the UK was considering a similar stance as the U.S.
ramzzoinksus said:
ridski said:Any organization that makes the The International Olympic Committee look like a bunch of choir boys is inherently interesting. Just as the Supranos is interesting.
ramzzoinksus said:Actually I'm quite surprised you might possibly care about anything in this story at all.
About winning it I couldn't care less.
Speaking of the Olympics, without the U.S. they'd be long gone by now. Not to say it's a similar situation financially, but the financial/influential power the U.S. wields is amazingly huge. If FIFA had any brains they'd be courting the U.S., not pissing us off, particularly given the huge upswing in popularity of late
The English are even the cartoonish villains in "United Passions," the $31 million film that FIFA produced to glorify itself, Blatter, and some of its sponsors. I haven't seen it and wouldn't want to give FIFA even the tiniest royalty, but I am fascinated by what seems to be its hilarious awfulness.
http://screamer.deadspin.com/heres-what-i-learned-watching-fifas-incredible-propagan-1643394469
When I saw the news about the arrests, I thought I was dreaming. For sure one of the best uses of US court overreach ever.
Looks like the Swiss are following suit, now let's see which other countries have the balls to show red cards to Blatter and his cronies.
Even UEFA, the European Federation, is getting into the mix (a bit late and a bit disingenuously):
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1786/fifa/2015/05/27/12151792/fifa-will-kill-football-uefa-calls-for-election-to-be
While recognizing that having much bigger priorities shouldn't force smaller ones to be ignored, I'm struggling to see why American prosecutors should tie up American courts on a tenuous (so it seems at least- the U.S. is claiming jurisdiction due to the alleged use of U.S. based banks) case with limited impact on American citizens from any of the alleged crimes- and limited probably overstates it.
Ready and willing to be swayed otherwise. I must say however that arguments with an ethos of "America should always fight wrong doing!" won't cut much ice without a compelling case made for why a soccer organization rises to a level of harm that other terrible organizations we ignore don't.
For a prosecutor of course it's a total trophy case.
Jackson_Fusion said:
While recognizing that having much bigger priorities shouldn't force smaller ones to be ignored, I'm struggling to see why American prosecutors should tie up American courts on a tenuous (so it seems at least- the U.S. is claiming jurisdiction due to the alleged use of U.S. based banks) case with limited impact on American citizens from any of the alleged crimes- and limited probably overstates it.
Ready and willing to be swayed otherwise. I must say however that arguments with an ethos of "America should always fight wrong doing!" won't cut much ice without a compelling case made for why a soccer organization rises to a level of harm that other terrible organizations we ignore don't.
For a prosecutor of course it's a total trophy case.
Though the indictment does not specifically address it, I think what moved this from garden-variety sports graft (though on a larger scale due to the sport's popularity) into something requiring action is the horrifying death toll associated with Qatar World Cup construction.
Seven years before the tournament, an estimated 1,200 workers have died so far. At this rate, 4,000 people will die by the time the stadiums are finished--a higher death toll than 9/11. They are all migrants from poor countries such as Bangladesh, who live in squalid conditions and whose passports are stripped, so they have no means of escape.
I'm not sure there's any way to stretch U.S. jurisdiction far enough to attack that problem directly, but I think the scale of the wrongdoing associated with the awarding of the 2022 Cup to Qatar sank to an unprecedented level.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/27/a-body-count-in-qatar-illustrates-the-consequences-of-fifa-corruption/
Also
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/24/qatar-denies-nepalese-world-cup-workers-leave-after-earthquakes
Why on earth would FIFA award the 2022 WC to Qatar where temps are going to reach 120 deg F during the event!!! I think we know the answer. New York lost to Qatar, London lost to Moscow, and South Africa paid their way through. One can safely assume that all sports bodies are corrupt to the extent that cynical fans give them a pass, but FIFA's "in your face" shenanigans take the cake.
And as if this is not enough, "Nepalese workers building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have been denied leave to attend funerals or visit relatives following the earthquakes in the Himalayan country that have killed more than 8,000 people, its government has revealed."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/24/qatar-denies-nepalese-world-cup-workers-leave-after-earthquakes?CMP=share_btn_fb
Steve Politi of the Star Ledger has a very good column on this, on the front of today's paper.
http://www.nj.com/redbulls/index.ssf/2015/05/tony_meola_on_fifa_arrests_its_amazing_it_took_thi.html#incart_river
And he has a terrific line, about how inexplicably the head of FIFA isn't indicted, just his underlings:
"To put that in a context we understand: This is like arresting Paulie Walnuts and Silvio Dante but leaving Tony Soprano in his office at the Bada Bing!"
Soccer is the one with the round ball and the big field where folks kick it around for a couple of hours and then one scores, right?
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For messing with FIFA. A game we mostly do not like unless our 8 year old is playing it.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102708853