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FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

nytimes.com

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Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#61

Post by jsprogrammer »

lmm wrote: post #56
austenallred wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Specifically soccer-related infrastructure, i.e. stadiums. The United States could host four World Cups simultaneously without having to build any more stadiums. Qatar has to build almost everything from scratch.

If they're willing and able to build it, on time for the cup, that doesn't seem to inherently present a problem (notwithstanding issues about labour conditions etc., I'm talking specifically just about the "no infrastructure" point).

They are willing to build it using essentially slave labor. They may be able to build it before all the workers die.

Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#62

Post by scrollaway »

qzervaas wrote: post #46

I had to look up the definition of "genuflect": "Lower one's body briefly by bending one knee to the ground, typically in worship or as a sign of respect."

Literally, flexing (-flect) your genu (latin for knee, "genou" in French).

So, to kneel.

Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#63

Post by rjaco31 »

david927 wrote: post #31
tragomaskhalos wrote: post #29

Not in time to prevent the nonsense of the Qatar world cup (nor to save the lives of the migrant workers being sacrificed to consummate that nonsense)

What makes you say that? I think this actually puts a large cloud over the Qatar world cup.

It won't change anything for the Nepalese workers down there though.

Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#64

Post by ilamont »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #27

In case one wonders why the United States is enforcing this: "U.S. investigators got help from Chuck Blazer, the longtime general secretary of the confederation, the New York Daily News reported in November. Blazer wore a hidden recording device in a keychain to meetings with soccer officials at the London Olympics and elsewhere, the paper said. The IRS had leverage over Blazer: He hadn’t paid taxes on millions of in…

I just read the NYDN report. Surely some FIFA officials (and their counsel) knew something like this was coming.

The report also mentions Blazer is gravely ill with colon cancer. Does anyone know how the prospect of one of the star witnesses being unable to testify would impact the prosecution's raid/trial timeline?

Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#65

Post by iwwr »

petepete wrote: post #32
austenallred wrote: post #22

It seems like the DOJ is doing the same thing they would do against a gang; get a few lower-level people to take a plea deal and hand over the kingpin. There's no way Blatter gets through this unscathed. It will be interesting to see if the World Cup will be moved now; it never made sense to have it in Qatar in the first place (no infrastructure, incredibly hot during the summer, hundreds of migrant workers dying and…

It'll be the top post ever in /r/soccer in no time, it's already fourth and was only submitted four hours ago. I truly hope that Blatter is ousted, the Qatar decision is reversed and given to a nation that with a less-appalling human rights record and some actual interest in football. I can't name a single Qatari club or player and know nothing of their league (other than Gabriel Batistuta played there for a year at…

Apparently, hosting a World Cup has become a net negative to a country. The costs (significant and increasing) go to the government and the profits go to FIFA and the sponsors.

Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#66

Post by ptaipale »

splittist wrote: post #53

These are "FIFA Officials" in the same way that the representatives countries send to the UN are "UN Officials", or US Congressfolk are "US Officials". They aren't people who actually do the work at FIFA. $150 million over 20 years for sports rights in Latin America seems to indicate pretty slim margins. I wonder what the deal was with bribes and kickbacks over the selection of the host country for the 2010 World Cup…

I don't quite understand how money laundering and fraud are "made up crimes". IMO they are very real crimes. If the convictions are wrong (i.e. not based on evidence), then say so, but claiming that crimes are "made up" is weasel language.

Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#67

Post by stefantalpalaru »

sschueller wrote: post #17
iaw wrote: post #2

Wow. I'm impressed and somewhat surprised that the U.S. would be the entity to enforce this given the relative lack of presence FIFA has in the U.S. Maybe it's because the U.S. lost the world cup (as in hosting privileges)?

I'm disgusted that the Swiss let this thing go on for so long and still give FIFA non-profit status.

What would the Swiss do without the shady business brought by corrupt foreigners? The extremely high standard of living is directly related to money laundering and "asset protection" schemes.

Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#68

Post by kijin »

thrillgore wrote: post #57

My understanding is that FIFA can ban countries from the organization for whatever reasons it sees fit. This probably cost the US any future world cups for the foreseeable future.

Why do you think the US cares?

For FIFA, the US is the single largest source of television audience and therefore advertising revenue.

For the US, on the other hand, soccer is just one of many sports. In fact, the US is one of very few countries where soccer is not the sport.

Americans are nowhere near as desperate for soccer as FIFA is desperate for American money.

Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#69

Post by motoboi »

austenallred wrote: post #41
Cyph0n wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what sense does Qatar have "no infrastructure"?

Specifically soccer-related infrastructure, i.e. stadiums. The United States could host four World Cups simultaneously without having to build any more stadiums. Qatar has to build almost everything from scratch.

You should remember that Brazil built (or rebuilt from scratch) all stadiums used on the world cup.

Qatar would build them on less time and less money, I suppose.

Re: FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Face Extradition to U.S

#70

Post by akfanta »

austenallred wrote: post #41
Cyph0n wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what sense does Qatar have "no infrastructure"?

Specifically soccer-related infrastructure, i.e. stadiums. The United States could host four World Cups simultaneously without having to build any more stadiums. Qatar has to build almost everything from scratch.

> Specifically soccer-related infrastructure

Do you have any sources for the claim? As far as I know, football is quite popular in middle east. Football clubs in that area have consistently been strong contenders in the AFC champions league. This means they have a healthy and competitive domestic league. Claiming they don't have soccer-related infrastructure is pretty ridiculous.

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