FIFA Officials Arrested

NTA

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="sparky" data-cid="522465" data-time="1443815901">
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Coca-cola and McDonald's two of soccer's major sponsors have just issued statements that Sepp Blatter should resign immediately.
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"We have a problem on a moral level being associated with Blatter. We have high standards of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity to maintain..."

Tim

<a class="bbc_url" href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/oct/08/sepp-blatter-suspended-fifa">Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini and JÃ©rÃ´me Valcke suspended for 90 days</a>

Tim

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">[b][url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/documents-indicate-slush-fund-used-in-german-world-cup-bid-a-1058212.html]World Cup Scandal: Germany Appears to Have Bought Right to Host 2006 Tournament[/url][/b] 
In what could turn out to be the greatest crisis in German football since the Bundesliga bribery scandal of the 1970s, SPIEGEL has learned that the decision to award the 2006 World Cup to Germany was likely bought in the form of bribes. The German bidding committee set up a slush fund that was filled secretly by then-Adidas CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus to the tune of 10.3 million Swiss francs, which at the time was worth 13 million deutsche marks. 
It appears that both Franz Beckenbauer, the German football hero who headed the bidding committee, and Wolfgang Niersbach, the current head of the German Football Federation (DFB), and other high-ranking football officials were aware of the fund by 2005 at the latest. 
Acting in a private capacity, Louis-Dreyfus -- who was, at the time, chairman of Adidas, the sporting apparel and supplies company that equips the German national team -- lent the money to the German bidding committee prior to the decision to award the World Cup to Germany on July 6, 2000. The loan never appeared in the bidding committee's budget or later, once the tournament had been awarded to Germany, in that of the Organizing Committee (OK). 
A year and a half prior to the World Cup, Louis-Dreyfus called in the loan, which by then had a value of â‚¬6.7 million. Officials at OK, of which Beckenbauer had become president and Niersbach vice president, began looking for a way in 2005 to pay back the illicit funds in an inconspicuous manner. 
Internal documents show that a cover was created with the help of global football organizing body FIFA to facilitate the payment. Using the cover, the Germans made a â‚¬6.7 million contribution for a gala FIFA Opening Ceremony that had been planned at Berlin's Olympic Stadium but was later cancelled. The money had been paid into a FIFA bank account in Geneva. From there, FIFA allegedly promptly transferred the money to a Zurich account belonging to Louis-Dreyfus. 
It appears that the loan was used to secure the four votes belonging to Asian representatives on the 24-person FIFA Executive Committee. The four Asians joined European representatives on the executive committee in casting their ballots for the tournament to be awarded to Germany in the July 2000 vote. After Charles Dempsey of New Zeeland unexpectedly abstained from casting his vote, Germany prevailed and landed the right to host the World Cup in a 12:11 vote. 
Beckenbauer and Niersbach did not provide a response when contacted by SPIEGEL. On Thursday, DFB said that, "for reasons of timing," it could not provide a statement within 24 hours. But then, on Friday morning, it sent a press release in which officials admitted that the World Cup 2006 Organizing Committee made a payment in April 2005 of around â‚¬6.7 million to FIFA. DFB officials stated it is possible that the payment was not used for the stated purpose (the FIFA cultural program). But officials claim the payment had no connection to the awarding of the World Cup. 
Of the three Asian representatives who voted for Germany in the Executive Committee in 2000 who are still living, two did not answer requests for comment from SPIEGEL. A third, Chung Song Joon of South Korea, said only that the questions were unworthy of a response. Former Adidas head Louis-Dreyfus passed away in 2009. </blockquote>

nostrildamus

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="NTA" data-cid="522665" data-time="1443819971">
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"We have a problem on a moral level being associated with Blatter. We have high standards of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity to maintain..."
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Plus their historic importance as cocaine distributors.<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.livescience.com/41975-does-coca-cola-contain-cocaine.html'>http://www.livescience.com/41975-does-coca-cola-contain-cocaine.html</a>

Tim

Sounds like Panorama will be interesting this week ...


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<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/12036464/Blatter-knew-of-Fifa-bribes-in-the-Nineties.html'>Blatter 'knew of Fifa bribes in the Nineties'</a> 
Claim by BBC's Panorama programme 
By Ben Rumsby 
12:50AM GMT 07 Dec 2015 
'Fifa, Sepp Blatter and Me' will cite a letter said to have been written by Blatterâ€™s predecessor as president of footballâ€™s world governing body, Joao Havelange, in which the Swiss is accused of having â€œfull knowledgeâ€ of bungs paid over the award of lucrative television and marketing rights during the 1990s. 
Blatter has always denied being aware of kickbacks taken by Havelange and others but was branded â€œclumsyâ€ in April 2013 by Fifaâ€™s ethics committee over his failure to identify a bribe intended for the Brazilian. 
The committee also questioned whether Blatter â€“ who is already facing criminal proceedings in Switzerland and a life ban from football over a separate scandal â€“ knew Fifa executives had been in receipt of such payments before and after he took office. 
A letter said by Panorama to have be written by Havelange â€“ and to have been obtained by the FBI â€“ reads: â€œI emphasise that Mr Joseph Blatter had full knowledge of all the activities described and was always apprised of them.â€ 
The new claims about Blatter follow the latest arrest and indictment of senior football officials on Thursday as part of a wide-ranging FBI-led criminal inquiry into Fifa corruption. 
The investigation was closing on the very centre of power at the governing body after two high-ranking officials were named as â€œco-conspiratorsâ€ in a $10million (Â£6.6m) bribe allegedly paid to bring the 2010 World Cup to South Africa. 
Both were referenced in the original indictment released by the United States Department of Justice after Mayâ€™s FBI-orchestrated swoop that sent Fifa into meltdown, but the amended charge sheet updated their status to that of â€œCo-Conspirator Â£14â€ and â€œCo-Conspirator Â£17â€. 
A source close to Sepp Blatter said the suspended Fifa president was definitely not Co-Conspirator Â£17 but would only say he did not think the 79-year-old was Co-Conspirator Â£14. 
Neither Jerome Valcke, the banned Fifa secretary general, not his lawyer responded to questions as to whether he was Co-Conspirator Â£17. 
Both Blatter and Valcke have denied any wrongdoing. The Panorama programme will also allege that Qatar spent Â£117m on its controversial bid for the 2022 World Cup, six times that England spent on its doomed attempt to land the 2018 tournament. 
â€œI was told by two sources that have always been very reliable with good information, good intelligence that the sum that Qatar had spent on their bid was one hundred and seventeen million poundsâ€ 
Lord Triesman, the former FA chairman who led Englandâ€™s 2018 World Cup bid 
Lord Triesman, the former FA chairman who led Englandâ€™s bid, said he was given the figure by sources close to British intelligence. 
The ex-Foreign Office minister said: â€œI was told by two sources that have always been very reliable with good information, good intelligence that the sum that Qatar had spent on their bid was one hundred and seventeen million pounds.â€ 
Qatar has repeatedly denied paying bribes to Fifa officials in order to secure the 2022 World Cup. 
Two-thirds of the men who voted in the 2010 ballot that saw Russia and Qatar secure the next two tournaments are either facing punishment or have already been sanctioned for ethics breaches. 
:: Panorama: FIFA, Sepp Blatter and Me, BBC One, Monday night at 8:30pm.
 
 
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NTA

Its like a fucking hydra - cut off one head, two more appear.
 
Only way to fix it is to burn it all out. But then its reached the point where there are stupid amounts of money running around every week, feeding the beast. If you try to control it, no-one will benefit.

Siam

Watch that Panorama doco if you can - entertaining

Tim

Now that was very interesting viewing ...

Siam

He's a champ, that Andrew Jennings.
 
And look how great the FBI can be when they use their powers for genuine good instead of genuine obsfuscation
 
Surely, they'll all have to go to jail won't they?

Tim

You'd think so.
 
Did love the image of Chuck Blazer sitting on his mobility scooter, Parrot on shoulder, at a fancy Manhattan restaurant.

Tim

Here's the documentary:

NTA

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Siam" data-cid="546700" data-time="1449635237">
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He's a champ, that Andrew Jennings.
 
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08:55
 
"And suddenly I've people who carry guns agreeing with me. I liked that!"

Rembrandt

Can't bloody wait for these piston wristed gibbons to get whats coming. Any chance of them going to a real pound-me-in-the-ass prison? I imagine Blazer would have cut a deal keeping him out but going on years of immense gluttony I imagine he won't be around for too long anyway.

canefan

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini banned from football-related activities for eight years

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Michel Platini (left) and Sepp Blatter (right) have been banned from all football-related activities for eight years.
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Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Uefa counterpart Michel Platini have been banned for eight years from all football-related activity following an ethics investigation.
The bans come into force immediately and effectively end Blatter's time in football governance.
Blatter, 79, has been in charge of Fifa since 1998 and was already due to stand down ahead of February's presidential election, following ongoing investigations of corruption and racketeering at the heart of world football's governing body.
<div><img src="http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/8/k/4/n/u/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.18v12a.png/1450689668105.jpg" title="" alt="1450689668105.jpg"><div>REUTERS</div>
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The ban effectively ends Sepp Blatter's time in football governance.
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 Blatter and his one-time protege Platini have been kicked out of the sport for a conflict of interest in a US$2 million payment deal that is also the subject of a criminal investigation in Switzerland.
Blatter's Fifa career is ending in disgrace after more than 17 years as president and 40 years in total with the scandal-hit governing body.
Platini's bid to succeed his former mentor in the February 26 election is now likely over, though both are expected to appeal at the Fifa appeals committee and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Ethics judges ruled that Blatter broke Fifa Code of Ethics rules on conflicts of interest, breach of loyalty and offering or receiving gifts.
Both denied wrongdoing in 2011 when Platini took US$2 million of Fifa money approved by Blatter as uncontracted salary for work as a presidential adviser from 1999-2002.
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Blatter was fined 50,000 Swiss francs (US$50,250) and Platini, a Fifa vice-president of head of European soccer's governing body, was fined 80,000 Swiss francs (US$80,400).
"Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr. Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment," the judges said. "By failing to place Fifa's interests first and abstain from doing anything which could be contrary to FIFA's interests, Mr. Blatter violated his fiduciary duty to FIFA.
"His (Blatter's) assertion of an oral agreement was determined as not convincing and was rejected by the chamber."
Platini, the judges said, "failed to act with complete credibility and integrity, showing unawareness of the importance of his duties and concomitant obligations and responsibilities."
Blatter is scheduled to hold a news conference at 11 a.m. local time.Both denied wrongdoing in 2011 when Platini took $US2 million ($A2.79 million) of FIFA money approved by Blatter as uncontracted salary for work as a presidential adviser from 1999-2002.
Blatter was fined 50,000 Swiss francs ($A70,085) and Platini was fined 80,000 francs ($A112,145).
"Neither in his written statement nor in his personal hearing was Mr. Blatter able to demonstrate another legal basis for this payment," the judges said.
"By failing to place FIFA's interests first and abstain from doing anything which could be contrary to FIFA's interests, Mr. Blatter violated his fiduciary duty to FIFA.
"Mr. Platini failed to act with complete credibility and integrity, showing unawareness of the importance of his duties and concomitant obligations and responsibilities," the judges said.
Blatter and Platini previously said they would challenge any sanctions, at the FIFA appeals committee then the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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NTA

Yeah fuck slap with a wet bus ticket. Where are the jail sentences?

NTA

Sepp is in TV now, weaseling. It's pathetic.

canefan

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="NTA" data-cid="548634" data-time="1450690822">
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Yeah fuck slap with a wet bus ticket. Where are the jail sentences?
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I don't think the FBI are done yet

Siam

Yeah I got my hopes pinned on yank righteousness

nostrildamus

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Siam" data-cid="548648" data-time="1450698954">
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Yeah I got my hopes pinned on yank righteousness
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Well that could be read several ways..

Siam

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Siam" data-cid="548648" data-time="1450698954">Yeah I got my hopes pinned on yank righteousness</blockquote> <blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="nostrildamus" data-cid="548649" data-time="1450703587">Well that could be read several ways..</blockquote>
 
Bingo Nos 
From the bbc doco I have some hope that the fbi and swiss might be motivated to not let this one go. Hopefully someone has career aspirations to see it through or others aggrieved at losing hosting rights fire up a bit. 
Shouldn't be too many political minefields to restrict the yanks IMO I.e guns oil jews 
There can be no doubt that what blatter and co got up to was purely criminal. 
Usually loyalty fades as quickly as power does for these types and all the remora chase plea bargains ala fat chuck

The Silver Fern

FIFA Officials Arrested