OT- FIFA officials arrested, charged with corruption

Submitted by Yostbound and Down on

And the Swiss are evidently playing along with plans to extradite them to the US. Right now we don't know if Blatter is among the indicted. Jack Warner's name unsurprisingly pops up.

At the least, this is a nice black eye and extended middle finger to Sepp Blatter.

At the most hopefully the World Cup moves out of Qatar.

 

Links (the NYT article is a little more in-depth)

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/fifa-officials-be-charged-corrupution-n365101

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html

Edit: damn, doesn't look like they nailed Blatter

 

sources tell me sepp blatter is not among the fifa officials who are being arrested

— Michael S. Schmidt (@MichaelSSchmidt) May 27, 2015

2manylincs

May 27th, 2015 at 2:00 AM ^

Any chance that this is related to the statement from yesterday by blatter's opponent that he had received financial info on blatter and turned it over not to the ethics committee, but to the appropriate government? I havent seen this mentioned in either linked article or on espn.
I dont know fifa politics that well, but it is quite compelling.
My personal feeling is that blatter and most of fifa are disgusting. But unfortunately, most in the organization are the same.
on a side rant that i hold dear. The world cup is a summer event. If qatar cant hold it then, award it elsewhere. I dont want the man united season interrupted for that farce. Club football is of a far better quality than the wc. I have the pl and better damn well have the champions league to watch at that time..
thx for dealing with my rant, on with your regularly scheduled programming..

Bando Calrissian

May 27th, 2015 at 2:09 AM ^

Wheels of justice turning slowly, while migrant laborers work (and die) in what is essentially slavery to build stadiums in Qatar. We know there was shameless bribery to get the World Cup there--why it's taken this long is beyond me.

The Mad Hatter

May 27th, 2015 at 8:27 AM ^

Qatar is the richest nation on earth per capita.

And after some light reading I just did in regards to their judicial system, I'd be totally fine if we wanted to invade that country and separate them from that wealth.

MichiganTeacher

May 27th, 2015 at 8:23 AM ^

Not sure if that was a rhetorical statement - but on the off chance it's not:

It's taken this long because it's difficult and rare* to run a system - let alone a government system - that is not corrupt. In many, many, perhaps most, places around the world, bribery is the everyday standard. People just shrug at it.

*so far. I believe we're getting better, as a civilization.

BornSinner

May 27th, 2015 at 2:25 AM ^

1 more step to potentially having the Big House host a match... please...

(I know Ann Arbor doesn't qualify and the pitch would be too small anyway :( ; USA hosting would still be awesome tho) 

Bando Calrissian

May 27th, 2015 at 2:33 AM ^

NSFMF.

Michigan Stadium was a heavily considered site for the 1994 World Cup, and may have even been part of a bid for the 1986 World Cup as well. The 1994 plan was to build a platform that extended over the first ten rows of seats or so and then install a temporary grass surface on top of it, making the field surface big enough. Bill Martin was even enthusiastic about the idea for hosting a soccer game under the same plan as late as the 2000s--I heard him talk about it a couple times. This really was an actual thing that was seriously considered.

There was an article in the Michigan Alumnus about it that used to be really easy to find on Google Books, which I can't find right now, but included a crude drawing of what the platform would have looked like. Really bizarre, but I guess not that out of the realm of possibility when you consider the crazy things they do to put far more temperamental things like hockey rinks on surfaces they're not normally installed on.

2manylincs

May 27th, 2015 at 3:00 AM ^

Basically any crime that involves a us citizen or money going thru a us bank can be pursued by the justice dept and the fbi. This was used in the french connection of the 70s, the mob work/ pizza connection of the 80s and 90s, and is seen most now in terrorism work.
Edit. It goes thru ny bc thats the largest fbi and justice dept offices. And thats where the banks are that these cases are usually connected to.

Voltron Blue

May 27th, 2015 at 4:16 AM ^

Dumb question from someone who doesn't follow this as closely as some of
you: Won't this screw our chances at the 2026 bid, for which we (the U.S.) are considered favorites?

Not saying that's a reason we shouldn't have done it, but just curious.

BornSinner

May 27th, 2015 at 4:31 AM ^

Not exactly. If this has any legs at all, Qatar will lose the hosting rights to the WC in 2022. This will mean a country with proper infrastructure would have to host it, since it takes years to build stadiums etc. USA is one of the few countries that can and was a finalist country prior to Qatar's joke of a bid winning. 

So cross your fingers Loretta Lynch/Eric Holder and the Justice Dept have enough evidence of dirt on these mofos for RICO charges to stick. 

2manylincs

May 27th, 2015 at 4:48 AM ^

This is the same way we pursue terrorists, and pursued coke and heroin traffickers..
Now in the large scheme, ill agree, but in this instance, im going to disagree.
theyre making a point. If you run illegal money thru us banks, well give you a slap on the wrist, which is better than the alternative.. or not

1464

May 27th, 2015 at 7:32 AM ^

Just because the charges are tied to a sports organization, they're immediately trivial? If this was wall street insider trading and money laundering, nobody bats an eye. But because this is international athletics, it's immediately a stupid pursuit? This is a multi billion dollar league that has been systematically taking bribes for years. It's not some cheeky little side quest to appease soccer fans.

HarbaughToMichigan

May 27th, 2015 at 3:45 PM ^

This is some high level stupid right here.  Guess who came in second to Qatar for the WC originally?  The US.  What country is most likely to host the WC if it is taken from Qatar?  The US.  What country has numerous large corporations which are most likely to be involved?  The US.  

But don't let me stop your, "Succer is 4 commies and puzzies" rant.  Or is it just an incredibly misinformed view of the American Justice System.  I'm just thankful your avatar isn't "UMAlum___" or something similar.

M-Dog

May 27th, 2015 at 3:15 PM ^

It will be interesting to see if their governments, besides the Swiss, will extradite them.

Foreign governments hate to extradite to the big bad USA, but they may actually hate FIFA even more in this case.

What I never understood is why the big world soccer powers did not just ignore corrupt FIFA and have their own tournament.  The Brits would do it in a second, they hate FIFA.  All it would take is Germany, Italy, Brazil, and Argentina to join them and the whole thing would be over.

Everyone Murders

May 27th, 2015 at 8:12 AM ^

If he rolls/rolled on current and former CONCACAF heads Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner, we might expect them to subvehicularize Blatter. Those guys were high enough up the proverbial ladder that they may have paper, email, or text correspondence that would incriminate both them and Blatter.  Prosecutor 101 would be to then lean on them to roll on Blatter.

In any event, we'll likely know more after today's news conference in Brooklyn (including an inkling of whether the U.S. citizens indicted will resist extradition).  I'd love to see the whole rotten organization shaken to its core, and that seems to be a possible result here.

Also, screw Sepp Blatter.