There's been a lot of talk for quite awhile in the news about FIFA, especially around the time of our last world cup; the problem with bribes, slave labor, and under the table deals has been pretty blatant for awhile now. Well, it turns out that in the US, the FBI has been investigating and looks to have a lot of people implicated in taking multi-million dollar bribes, money laundering (possibly implicating Nike?), and more. Here are a couple articles to get you started if you are first hearing about this: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32902076 http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/27/football/fifa-arrests-webb-warner-marin/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...d-what-this-means-for-soccers-governing-body/ Out of all the people extradited from Switzerland, only one came immediately, which probably means he'll be squealing on all the others to reduce his penalties. Interestingly enough, this is one power move by a US department that many foreign countries and citizens are happy about. Typically our meddling is not met with a lot of happiness from other countries, but it looks like FIFA was so corrupt and powerful that a lot of countries could not even address these issues themselves. Focus: All things FIFA. Who's getting busted? Will this change anything? What's the future look like for this organization?
How do I boycott something I was already not going to watch? Focus: It sounds like they're pretty fucked, but I'm curious what that means for such a huge organization. Do they just root out all the corrupt people, or at some point does "FIFA" become guilty? Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what this Jack Warner guy releases - there are serious charges against him, so I assume he's trying to get those dropped by revealing some super illegal soccer stuff (that HE never actually took part in, OBVIOUSLY). I'm hoping for a real shit blizzard.
This can't ruin FIFA's reputation, that ship sailed years ago. They'll probably skate through this and Blatter will go on living, despite by best efforts to use my psychic energy to cause him to burst into flames while being raped by a ten-cocked buffalo.
My guess FIFA finally pissed off enough people with enough money to do something about it. Qatar has proven to the middle finger that FIFA gave everyone that broke things out. They also snubbed the US in favor of this, and not to mention the WC was moved to the winter which screwed a lot of leagues. FIFA ended up pissing off the European Clubs and the US, thats a lot of money and power thats mad at you. Maybe its no surprise the US is taking the lead on this or maybe its just the easiest way to go about it. Either way Sepp Blatter and FIFA are evil, the epitome of greed, and do not give a single fuck about anyone but themselves. Their level of corruption is transparent, there was no questioning how to get a WC, there were no qualifications. The only qualification was who was willing to pay them the most. The WC is an interesting thing, FIFA is a private organization that host this one event. It's as if Augusta National (the Masters golf course) hosted the most popular event in the world. John Oliver did a good piece on why Sepp Blatter may be Satan incarnate
I watch so little soccer Im at a loss to see the huge picture? I mean were they fixing matches? Just a big bribe scandal for host cities? Id be really pissed if I was a soccer fan if they rigged matches. Outside of that it seems most people enjoy the WC no?
Apparently it's a corrupt organization, just like the NFL, MLB, and pretty much every 'sports' association. The problem, with all of them, is sports are no longer about sports, they're about entertainment and money. And surprise, surprise, when money gets involved apparently things are less on the up and up. Shocked, I say. Shocked.
I'll admit that, much like Jazz, kale, and strap-ons, I just don't see the appeal to soccer. But I've been wondering - what authority does the U.S. have to take the actions they're taking? Are there actual laws against paying someone to be allowed to hold a soccer tournament? None of these folks are public officals, so antibribery or graft laws don't seem to come into play. Or will these be racketeering charges?
So beyond simple corruption why is FIFA evil? They demand countries without the infrastructure build world class stadiums. If your country has these, if not build them or you wont get the WC. FIFA will not subsidize these facilities and often the countries who are forced to build these often only use them for one event and then they fall into ruin. Brazil had a massive problem with this. You might assume some of the proceeds from a FIFA event go to the hosting nation, you'd be really fucking wrong. Most if not all revenue from ticket sales, advertising sales, tv ad sales, etc goes directly to FIFA. Before the Brazil WC, they had a policy of no alcohol in the stadiums due to previous issues with violence. FIFA said fuck you to Brazil, demanded alcohol be served and it happened. FIFA contributes nothing to a hosting nation and only serves to rape it of any money its willing to provide so that they can host an event and make a fuck ton of money. For fucks sake they literally had their own judicial system in place in South Africa, and the outcomes of these courts were legally binding in SA. SA had no say in this but were forced to tolerate this and enforce any ruling these courts made. I imagine this link says it better than I can. Read it. Once again, this isn't an issue of simple corruption its so much more insidious than that http://www.toptenz.net/10-reasons-fifa-evil.php John Oliver also had an eloquent way of stating this. and his response to the arrests As interesting as Caitlyn Jenner is, somehow I think this is more interesting and effects more people. Ask the migrant workers in Qatar who are dying building a stadium that will only be used a handful if times of they give a fuck about some kind of celebrity man changed into a lady in the US. FIFA has caused people to die, so has Jenner, but FIFA has a higher count by far.
Oh the indignity! Yes, how dare John Oliver say those things "for some ad revenue"! Can you imagine sacrificing even an ounce of integrity for profit? I can't either, Jack Warner. Hopefully this all gets sorted out quickly so we can finally get you your World's Most Honest Citizen mug that you so deserve.
He's so public about his indignation I almost think he believes his own bullshit. Maybe instead of bribes they were called gifts and he saw no problem receiving gifts from representatives of certain countries, and maybe those reps of those countries gave those gifts without the explicit condition that he votes for them. Maybe he actually thinks he voted for those countries who gave him gifts because of the relationships he developed with the reps, not because of the massive amount of money he received. Never under estimate stupid. Not everyone has a self awareness of a critical internal monologue. Also John Oliver vs. John Stewart, who did it better at their best? Oliver seems to be really good at creating segments that are both informative to the uninformed and critical at the same time. Quite a talent really. I never really got Stewart. His political slant tended to steer me away from him
Oliver's show is wonderful, even necessary to watch. The funny thing is it's a very funny and entertaining show, yet the things they show are often unpleasant and can make a person very angry. He did segments about purely evil systems like Civil Forfeiture that should be shown to kids in schools. The "How is THIS Still A Thing?" is always a riot. It's a great call-out show done for maximum laughs. Stewart is a very, very smart guy. His show leans, yes, but I doubt you can find one person in network news who can interview or debate better. It seems that nobody fact-checks or does their homework better than he personally does and all with a comic slant. Of course, tastes are optional.