FIFA Corruption Thread

[baitman]

Its all about getting extra money from advertisers. 16 more countries to extend their tentacles into for 4 weeks.

yeh, just the advertisers... nothing dodgy going on here.

now there are more countries to chuck some money into swiss bank accounts

[Alex]

FIFA Just voted to expand the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams from 2024. What a **** change that will be. Just like the Euros I think it will dilute the quality of games.

Its all about getting extra money from advertisers. 16 more countries to extend their tentacles into for 4 weeks.

[ChesterDave]

I think my mindset has been corrupted. I first thought was not along the lines of 'shame / RIP or whatever. I thought 'oooh, another one for the deathlist' (http://deathlist.net/)

[baitman]

wouldn't it be nice if joao havelange has left an envelope [not one of them, brandan] to be opened in the event of his death...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37097423

In 2010, a BBC Panorama programme accused Havelange and son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira of taking millions of dollars in bribes from Swiss marketing agency International Sport and Leisure (ISL) to retain the company as Fifa's sole official marketer.

[RichC]

Doesn't look like Sepp is going to disappear quietly!

Sepp Blatter claims European draws were rigged by manipulating balls

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that he has witnessed draws for European football competitions that were rigged using the "hot and cold balls" method.

Blatter claims no draw for any FIFA event has ever been fixed in his 18 years as the head of the world's governing body, but the same cannot be said about European competitions.

While he did admit he had the power to affect such draw fixes, it was never carried out at FIFA, even though he knew of the method which was used in such cases.

"There was only one person who had that power in Europe. [Former UEFA president] Artemio Franchi used to do that for the club tournament draws," Blatter told La Nacion.

"I did not do that for the World Cup in 1978. But with my magic, I could do anything. Once again, I am joking. The draw was honest down to the last detail.

"I never touched the balls, something that other people did. Of course, you can rig them by making them hot or cold."

When pressed on how the draws were rigged to favour certain clubs or countries, the Swiss explained the exact method in which the draw balls come into play.

"Of course it is technically possible. This did not happen in FIFA but I have been witness to draws at the level of Europe, at which it happened," Blatter said.

"But never in FIFA. Of course it can be done but in my case it never happened, never.

"Before the draw you put the balls in the freezer. Then when you touch them you can determine which ones are cold or hot. By touching them you know what you have."

Sepp Blatter and two other high-ranking FIFA officials awarded themselves millions of dollars in raises and bonuses, lawyers for the organisation said.
Blatter, 80, who along with former UEFA president Michel Platini is serving a six-year ban -- reduced from eight years after a successful appeal -- from all football-related matters was also quick to defend himself.

He insisted that FIFA and himself have never done anything wrong, despite the organization being investigated for corruption where a slew of top football officials have been arrested in recent years.

"[I am] not corrupt. They have tried to find something on me but no one has found that I have violated any Swiss law," he said. "Swiss laws and any criminal law."

The former FIFA president was adamant that not only will his reputation remain unscathed, he has never felt remorseful for the corrupt accusations that have come his way.

He added: "They aren't going to find anything on me. My conscience is clear, yes.

"FIFA are not corrupt, any organization cannot be corrupt. Only men are. FIFA are an organization with 1,600 people, they can't all be corrupt."

http://www.espnfc.com/blog/fifa/243/post/2892866/sepp-blatter-claims-european-football-draws-were-rigged-by-manipulating-balls

[Vermilion]

Infantino orders council tapes destroyed as FIFA’s new culture of cover-up deepens
3rd June 2016.

June 3 – Explosive new allegations have emerged of a cover-up orchestrated by FIFA president Gianni Infantino which could push him towards an ethics hearing only three months into the job.

According to German and Swiss publications, Infantino ordered recordings of a FIFA council meeting in Mexico last month to be deleted and could face a 90-day suspension if found to have acted inappropriately.

The recordings appeared to confirm he had pushed for the removal of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance chief Domenico Scala even though FIFA described as “ludicrous” an article in German’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that a plot had been hatched to get rid of Scala, tasked with cleaning up financial corruption within FIFA.

Now, however, it is further claimed, in a leaked email dated May 23, that Infantino personally instructed his legal chief Marco Villiger – appointed this week as one of FIFA’s two deputy general secretaries – not to publish minutes of the meeting in question that took place a couple of days before the May 13 FIFA Congress. The internal email exchange (reproduced below) appears to confirm that Villiger acted at the request of Infantino.



FIFA’s ethics committee have refused to confirm whether Infantino is under investigation. “We are not in a position to indicate if we have or have not preliminary investigatory proceedings against an individual,” a brief statement said. “ We would however like to point out that there no formal proceedings going on against Mr. Infantino.”

When Infantino was elected three months ago, it was hoped he would provide a safe pair of hands. Now, like Sepp Blatter before him, he has already become embroiled in scandal and skulduggery – including appointing his new general secretary Soumara Fatma as a fait accompli without due process or an integrity check, refusing to accept his $2 million salary on offer from the compensation committee headed by Scala, and forcing both Scala and his finance director Markus Kattner out of the organisation.

The latest leak has been dismissed by FIFA, who said in a statement that one recording had been deleted because it was stored improperly, but that the original audio file still existed and was properly archived.

“In accordance with standard practice all official FIFA meetings – including council meetings – are recorded and archived. This was the case for the meeting in Mexico City in question,” a statement said.

“The email exchange that makes mention of the deletion of audio files refers to a copy of the original audio file of the meeting that was improperly saved on a local drive. This mention does not refer to the officially archived audio file. That file exists and is properly saved at FIFA.”

Yet once again FIFA has been forced into unconvincing trouble-shooting mode just when Infantino is striving to enhance his image. At the very least the leaked email asks more serious questions about Infantino’s quest for power and authority, the exact opposite of what the reform programme set out to achieve under his presidency.

Should the allegations against Infantino be substantiated, the 46-year-old former UEFA general secretary’s position seems bound to come under serious threat. Insideworldfootball has further learned that Kattner, who would have drawn up the minutes as acting secretary general, was barred from attending the meeting at which Scala’s removal was discussed. Kattner was later sacked by FIFA for unidentified “breaches of his fiduciary responsibilities in connection with his employment contract” without a personal hearing.

Kattner has not yet commented on the precise reasons for his dismissal but a source close to him told Insideworldfootball he was “surprised by the steps taken” and that he “had to learn about the allegations via the media.”

“He will take all legal action to protect his integrity and good standing,” the source added.

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2016/06/03/infantino-orders-council-tapes-destroyed-fifas-new-culture-cover-deepens/

[Kenneth]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/03/blatter-valcke-and-kattner-awarded-themselves-55m-in-bonuses-say-fifa-lawyers

[Daffy Duck]

This is new, from this afternoon, no idea what it's about.

[Alex]

Again? Is this something new? Or relating to older?

[Daffy Duck]

[ame]https://twitter.com/SkySportsNewsHQ/status/738703709484548096[/ame]

[Yozza]

Former high-ranking Fifa officials Sepp Blatter, Jerome Valcke and Markus Kattner awarded themselves pay rises and bonuses worth $80m (£55m) over five years, say Fifa lawyers.

[Harv]

Still seething Tokyo Sexwale didn't get in

[RichC]

Platini apparently is going to resign now his attempt to overturn his ban has failed.

It's been reduced however from 6 years to 4 years (which was originally 8 years before an initial reduction to 6).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36245660

[Fivex]

His hometown is 6 miles from Blatters hometown.

[Alex]

Nope. That's it, he's prez.

Old guard. Not much chance of reform I don't think. IMO the whole lot should have gone.