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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

#231

Post by addicted44 »

KeytarHero wrote: post #230
jetti wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it just wasn't just stadiums, but stadiums that could provide enough cooling so that the game could actually be played during a Qatari summer.

Except they're holding it in the winter

After lying that they would hold it in the summer by having air conditioned stadiums during their bid.

None of the major professional leagues are happy about this. If the world cup remains in Qatar it's going to be a fiasco.

http://www.businessinsider.com/qatar-world-cup-disaster-2015...

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

#232

Post by curun1r »

koyote wrote: post #55
jgreen10 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

National football fans are not like club football fans. There is very little hooliganism in international football, nor would anyone have any energy for it in the searing heat.

I would disagree, it might have been a while but there was quite a bit of hooliganism during the WC98 in France: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/16/sports/world-cup-98-fans-s...

I took a train from Nice to Paris right after this happened and two English "fans" shared the compartment I was sitting in. It was one of the most frightening experiences I've ever had traveling. All they could talk about was recounting their "exploits" in the events described in your linked article. One even bragged that he "got a Tunisian so good he might not pull through."

The lack of humanity they displayed was an eye opener for me and helped me come to the realization that Soccer/Football has become the proxy for war in Europe. While that is, all things considered, an excellent development (I'll take hooliganism over world wars), it's also scary that people seem to have a deep-seeded, tribal need to fight and, when we do, we seem to lose all compassion for the opposition. Events like the World Cup seem to play on this need rather than trying to quash it.

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

#233

Post by __z »

SEJeff wrote: post #88
aikah wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

/s/hundreds/thousands working under the kalafa , the euphemism for slavery in middle east. Slavery exists everywhere(yes even in Europe and US) but it's generally not something organized at the state level, it is usually illegal.

Where does slavery exist in the US? You know we had a war about that an all... It didn't end up super well for the slavers.

Here's just one article I found real quick that cites many examples.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/world/americas/03iht-slave...

The term mostly used nowadays to describe the selling of people is "human-trafficking" even though human trafficking is a little bit broader category. Its common for organized crime to deal in human trafficking.

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

#234

Post by molmalo »

martijn_himself wrote: post #85
ondiekijunior wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if hey left, with 200 member countries it wouldnt amount to much of anything. UEFA(Europe's Governing Body) may oppose Blatter, but this guy is a better politician than most politician and the fact that Football is next to religion means he can afford to be as opaque as he can get away with, because how the federations are structured from the grassroots allow for very little oversight.

If a major football country like Germany or Spain left FIFA the FIFA World Cup would lose one of its strongest competitors and it wouldn't be a World Cup- FIFA would fall apart like a house of cards. Blatter would have to step down because of popular pressure on him (my humble opinion). The chance of a national association 'seceding' from FIFA is very, very unlikely though. I agree with your assesment of Blatter's sh…

Spain is strong as a Club League, not so much as a National Team. Germany is important to the World Cup, but it's not enough... Remember that in every World Cup, some "important" countries are left out in the Qualifiers.

To really hit the tournament, you would need the support from several historical and relevant members in each Association. As an example: USA, Mexico in Concacaf; Argentina and Brasil in Conmebol; Italy, Germany, France and England, Spain (mainly for their leagues) in UEFA.

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

#235

Post by pimlottc »

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…

> It'll be the top post ever in /r/soccer in no time, it's already fourth and was only submitted four hours ago.

It's within 200 now, though the many follow-up stories have diffused the voting somewhat.

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

#236

Post by mark-r »

msellout wrote: post #183
Ntrails wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint - the infrastructure stays around. The stadiums get used and re-used, transport improvements benefit locals in perpetuity, tourism/trade brings in money to the economy, not to mention there are general "morale" reasons to host. These are not profit making events to host, or at least they ought not to be. The benefits are varied and certainly not trivially reducible to profit/loss on the event itself.

Stadiums and kind of businesses that appear nearby take up valuable space that could be used for higher-value economic activities. There was a rush of US mayors sponsoring stadiums in the 1990s. Almost all of those turned out to be net negative, compared with the opportunity cost.

It hasn't stopped here in Minneapolis, the Vikings stadium doesn't open until next year.

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

#237

Post by __z »

supergirl wrote: post #204
austenallred wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pointing out what allegations exist is not slander. Especially when specifically defining them as allegations.

Pointing out something is not slander, of course. But, what's the difference between slander and allegations? They both entail the same action: saying something bad without proving, no? Only in the end we will know.

>what's the difference between slander and allegations?

Slander:

Bob Jones murdered his wife.

Allegation:

Bob Jones is accused of murdering his wife.

Bob Jones allegedly murdered his wife.

Bob Jones has been charged with the murder of his wife.

Bob Jones was arrested following investigation of the suspicious death of his wife.

Bob Jones was arrested pending trial.

Witnesses claim they saw Bob Jones murder his wife.

Suspicion looms over Bob Jones following the murder of his wife.

There are reports that Bob Jones murdered his wife.

Someone told me that Bob Jones is the prime suspect in the murder investigation.

Police find evidence that Bob Jones murdered his wife.

I think that Bob Jones murdered his wife. (You probably wouldn't see that one printed in a newspaper though)

I think that there is enough evidence to prove that Bob Jones murdered his wife.

Family says Bob Jones is capable of murdering his wife.

There have been allegations that Bob Jones murdered his wife.

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

#238

Post by mark-r »

iwwr wrote: post #65
petepete wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I live less than a mile away from the golf course hosting the Ryder Cup next year. I am NOT looking forward to it. The Ryder Cup isn't as big as the World Cup, but it's considered bigger than the Super Bowl[1]. Thankfully they don't need to build any stadiums, but I'm sure we'll be stuck with all the incidental expenses.

[1] http://www.startribune.com/hartman-2016-ryder-cup-chairman-s...

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

#239

Post by rodgerd »

century19 wrote: post #102
rodgerd wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. The cudgel FIFA uses to prevent anyone looking too closely at how it does business is to threaten any member country with suspension from international competition if there is "political interference in football."

Indeed. Perhaps the US were the only country that could do this? Great that they did !

It requires a combination of a big enough investigation/court system to work with the Swiss and a political class who won't care if there's a risk of soccer being disrupted in the country, so the US would be one of the few nations that might fit the description.

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

#240

Post by SEJeff »

krisdol wrote: post #154
SEJeff wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where does slavery exist in the US? You know we had a war about that an all... It didn't end up super well for the slavers.

(Private) Prisons. Prisoners have no labor rights in the US and earn cents per hour making textiles, office furniture, military wire, id-tags, vests, etc. Private prison corporations contract out this labor to clients like the DoD, Wal-Mart, Costco, etc. It creates an incentive for the prison industry to lobby for more prisons, tougher anti-crime laws, tougher border crossing penalties, longer sentences. The profits…

I certainly wouldn't call illegal immigrants slaves. They generally speaking work under stolen identities and pay taxes for non-cash payment just like the rest of us. For those that do work strictly for cash, yes what you said does happen, but they are breaking the law to begin with by being illegal immigrants. The current US administration has made it a lot easier for said illegals to get less scetchy jobs via the DREAM act and the associated legal things.

The points you bring up about prisoners is interesting. I've always found the moral idea of a for-profit prison as reprehensible.

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