Sepp Blatter finally lets go of Fifa as FBI noose tightens

[Mosiah]

Sepp Blatter finally lets go of Fifa as FBI noose tightens

After 17 years as virtual head of state, addicted to the power from ruling football’s top body, he accepted the inevitable and resigned – but he’s not going quite yet.

Sepp Blatter, who has resigned as Fifa president, joined in 1975 when it had just 12 employees and created a model of kickbacks, patronage and pork barrel politics as Fifa’s revenues soared.

Owen Gibson, chief sports correspondent
@owen_g
Tuesday 2 June 2015 16.58 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 2 June 2015 17.41 EDT

On Friday, Sepp Blatter stood before the 209 members of the “Fifa family” that have become his fiefdom and giddily beamed: “Let’s go Fifa! Let’s go!”

Just a few days later, he stood before a sparsely attended, hastily convened press conference in Fifa’s £150m HQ and gloomily announced he would step down, bringing down the curtain on four decades at world football’s scandal-hit governing body and 17 as president.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...noose-tightens

[Sir X]

One Country, One Vote is an absurd rule that Mr. Blatter has deftly manipulated to create a stranglehold over the game. By pouring patronage into tiny countries’ football infrastructure, Mr. Blatter has created an unbreakable web of cronies at National Soccer Confederations around the globe. A few hundred thousand dollars spent on a physiotherapy center building in Tahiti, or on a soccer pitch in the Comoros locks in those countries’ votes at the FIFA Congress. It’s a coalition of these micro-states that keeps re-electing Mr. Blatter, and will continue to in perpetuity, as long as One Country, One Vote is the rule.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/op...n-up-fifa.html

[Sir X]

Babylon lines up its contenders

Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein and Michel Platini emerge as favourites to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president
Sepp Blatter sensationally announced he will quit as FIFA president
Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein and Michel Platini are favourites to succeed him
Here, we take a look at the possible contenders for the presidency
By NICHOLAS GODDEN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 14:39 EST, 2 June 2015 | UPDATED: 15:53 EST, 2 June 2015

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Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein and UEFA President Michel Platini have emerged as the early front runners to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president.
Blatter made the shock announcement on Tuesday that he will stand down as football's most powerful man amid the turmoil of the bribery scandal that has ripped through the governing body.
Here, we take a look at the possible contenders to replace Blatter after Paddy Power release the early odds.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz3bwgWR25x
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[Mosiah]

Why doesn't this make sense?

[Peter R]

He's modelling what he would like to see after this I guess.
http://www.un.org/en/sc/meetings/voting.shtml

[Rockman]

Because all countries are eqyal but some are more equal than others,similar to we had to destroy the town in order to save it.

Blatter is paranoid,I have yet to see any evidence suggesting he is corrupt.

[USAF]

Is he being "paranoid" or is he doing what is best for him???

The crooked bankers agreed to pay billions of dollars in fines. Do you think the government gave the public all the evidence from the financial crisis???

Blatter just needs to keep a low profile and get a good & well connected lawyer to broker a deal.

[Don1]

Why doesn't this make sense?

LOL!!!

That question is rhetorical...right??

[Mosiah]

I'm dead serious!

What does retori...retto...rhetr...what does that word mean?

[Karl]

Blatter, Warner, Burrell have been good for Ja's football

Blatter, Warner, Burrell have been good for Ja's football

With former CONCACAF President and FIFA vice-president Austin 'Jack' Warner, as well as the man who was his immediate successor in those two prestigious positions, Jeff Webb, being two of the most prominent figures at the centre of the scandal that is now crippling the world governing body off football FIFA, it is obvious that the credibility of the confederation of CONCACAF has been hardest hit by these developments.

Something that has also become equally obvious, is that a lot of people seem not to understand or care enough about the negative implications for the region's and indeed Jamaica's football from this ongoing implosion.

There seems to be an inherent naivety about the way world football is structured and governed and how important it is for each region and each affiliate to defend its own interest.

The 209 affiliates of FIFA are divided into six geographical confederations Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceana, South America and CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean).

The perennial tug-a-war for the control of the affairs of the world's most popular sport has basically been between Europe and the rest of the world. The Europeans with their superior resources, wealthy and prestigious leagues and numbers in terms of participation in the sport at the elite level, understandably feel that they should be in control of the affairs of football, and should not be put in a position where by the governance structure of the game, Germany, Italy and France have no greater say than Jamaica, Barbados or St Lucia in the running of the game.

Ironically, this is precisely the kind of equity that Blatter has fought for and has implemented during his four terms as FIFA president. This is why despite all the negativity surrounding his leadership of the game, Blatter remains very popular in corridors of power of the beautiful game. Blatter was returned to office for a fifth consecutive term simply because most of the people who are integrally involved with the game, think he has done more good than bad for the game of football.

The regional football leadership inclusive of Jack Warner, Horace Burrell, and even Jeff Webb, despite his relatively short stint, have all been more good than bad for regional and local football.



grateful to Warner



Had it not been for Jack Warner, who advocated relentlessly for the increase of the number of teams to qualify for the World Cup Finals from this region from two to three and half, then Jamaica, and subsequently Trinidad and Tobago, would more than likely never ever have qualified for the World Cup Finals. For that I will be eternally grateful for these gentlemen, regardless of how history treats them. Facts are facts, and we have an obligation to be fair and balanced in contextualising their roles in regional and local football.

If and when the status quo changes and the 'Jack' Warners, Sepp Blatters and the Horace Burrells of this world no longer determine or wield power in the governance of the game, and the Europeans get the chance to reset their claws into the running of the football "dawg nyam we supper" we shall revert to our roles as minnows and grumbling victims of the reverse side of the nepotism and politicking that will always be at the forefront of the governance of the game.

Don't be fooled by all the rhetoric, platitudes and the noise emanating from the dizzy heights of the moral high ground, the governance structure of football will not change any time soon. The individuals in the various positions might change but the reality of what world football is, has always been, will remain very much the same.

If we are not careful and meticulously thoughtful in arriving at the stance we take as a people on matters concerning world football, without even knowing it, we could be putting ourselves in a position, where Jamaica will never ever see better days than we have seen, under the vision and leadership and of Messrs Blatter, Warner, and Burrell .


http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/s...d-jas-football

[Rockman]

The crooked bankers agreed to pay restitution,often that goes hand in hand with doing time,sure they were treated in a special way ,so most definitely we did not expect full disclosure..
Blatter was vilified insomuch that replacing him became the discussion,not so with the bankers.
USAF,I think what we witnessed can be best explained by the dynamics of a poker game,you fold or dump your hands and I am under no obligation to show you that I truly have a winning hand.Lynch chronology of the corruption has to do with the entry of the players that were indicted,Blatter's era at the helm spans way beyond that.Futhermore,Blatter asking if he will get arrested should he comes into the US jurisdiction in no way mandates that he gets a truthful answer.Also after getting that answer, the element of surprise was removed,why wasn't an indictment pursued and an arrest warrant subsequently issued?
I think at worse(well in Blatter's mind not necessarily having much weight regarding the case being pursued by Lynch)Blatter may have entertained damning arguments from the canary bird Blazer but never acted on it.What evidence gathered from that communication maybe discounted as entrapment by Lynch.
If there is indeed a case against Btatter ,why is it being pursued so different from the others?
I think it is a successful bluff as we often see in a good poker game with Blatter responding as hoped.