FIFA Corruption Thread

[Fivex]

The super league ship sailed with the advent, and then commercial success of the Champions League. All the clubs ever wanted was **** loads of money, and they have now.

But CL money is now being dwarfed by commercial sponsorships and domestic prize money (again?).

[Resu]

But CL money is now being dwarfed by commercial sponsorships and domestic prize money (again?).

I don't think that is the case for most clubs.

[dom9]

But CL money is now being dwarfed by commercial sponsorships and domestic prize money (again?).

True - the new deal will kick in next season though. How much will BT Sports be paying to boot Sky out of the equation? I think it will be enough to keep the clubs happy for now. There's not been a squeak out of them on the issue for years.

[dom9]

I don't think that is the case for most clubs.

It is in England. And the elite in Spain. But the rest of Europe, no.

[Cormack74]

And the massive global sponsorship deals from the likes of Cocal Cola, MacDonalds and the rest.

I was posting on a phone so couldn't be arsed to go through every income stream. Agreed commercial deals bring in plenty too but I suggest the majority are linked to tournaments and with no European teams and less interest in watching from the affluent people living there I think it's safe to say the amount the likes of Coke would be prepared to pay would reduce significantly.

[red g]

But CL money is now being dwarfed by commercial sponsorships and domestic prize money (again?).

Gazprom need to dip into there not dodgy pockets and up the ante then!!!

[dom9]

Has anybody been following watchgate?

Another shambles:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29285817

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Has anybody been following watchgate?

Another shambles:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29285817

Sums the entire set up to a tee.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[Fivex]

"We receive many watches, just like journalists - you receive many watches. Just like the associations receive watches. Yes, yes, you receive watches occasionally. Every now and again, you do receive watches.

Does anyone get the feeling that he receives watches?

[Bender]

Rob Harris @RobHarris 9s
Blatter says World Cup corruption probe to stay secret http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/4...be-stay-secret … - from @gdunbarap



Rob Harris @RobHarris 3m
Blatter on receiving $27k watch gift:"What is wrong?Wrong maybe that according to court of ethics perhaps the value, but what is the value?"

Dan Roan @danroan 1m
Just asked Sepp Blatter if FIFA execs accepting £16k watches was a mistake & if he's given his back yet. "A non-problem" he insists.


Rob Harris @RobHarris 25s
Blatter points out when he came for English FA's 150th anniversary "they have given me gifts"

Dan Roan @danroan 30s
Blatter refusing again to answer if he's given £16k watch back (as demanded by his own Ethics Cttee), & seems upset by furore over watchgate

Rob Harris @RobHarris 1m
Sepp Blatter not saying if he's returned his $27,000 watch from the Brazilian FA

Matt Dickinson @DickinsonTimes 2m
Good that Fifa, Uefa finally get round to banning 3rd party ownership. Even the 'straight' versions of it carry too much risk

[dom9]

Here is a bit of a shocker. FIFA seem to be doing something right for once...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29373456

Fifa to introduce ban on third-party ownership of players

By Richard Conway
BBC Radio 5 live sports news correspondent

Fifa has agreed to ban the third-party ownership (TPO) of players.

Already banned in Britain, TPO is common in Europe and South America, where investment companies take a stake in the economic rights of players.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said there will be a "transitional period" before the ban comes into effect.

Manchester City's £32m purchase of Eliaquim Mangala from Porto was one of four major deals that went through in England this past summer involving TPO.

English clubs who wish to buy players co-owned by an investor and a team are already required to buy out the contract rights from all parties retaining a financial interest.
Fifa says TPO threatens the integrity of the sport and creates conflicts of interest.

Supporters of the practice argue it allows clubs to buy players they could not otherwise afford.

Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke said a working group set up to implement the ban would decide how long the transitional period would be - which could be up to four years.

The working group will submit a proposal to the next Fifa executive committee meeting in December.

"The ban cannot be implemented immediately and we are discussing the number of transfer windows we have to wait for this ban to come in," Valcke said.

"It's a matter of whether we are talking about six transfer windows, meaning three years, or eight, meaning four years, this is what we will be discussing in this working group."

Fifa's decision comes after pressure from Uefa, who want to introduce new rules to clamp down on TPO from as early as next season.

Earlier this year Uefa's general secretary Gianni Infantino warned that they would take action on the issue if Fifa failed to act.

A decision to ban the practice could have far-reaching consequences for many leagues where TPO is rife and clubs rely heavily on outside investors to assist them in purchasing players.

[RedAndWhite]

Here is a bit of a shocker. FIFA seem to be doing something right for once...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29373456

Or they couldn't work out how to get their share.......

[dom9]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/29387309

Sepp Blatter's watch-gift stance shows Fifa is behind the times

There was a palpable sense of frustration from Sepp Blatter when he was questioned by BBC Sport on the controversial £16,000 watch given to him and his executive committee colleagues by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) during the 2014 World Cup.

Speaking at Fifa's executive committee meeting in Zurich on Friday, Blatter twice refused to answer if he had, or planned, to return the watch he was given in Sao Paulo ahead of the late October deadline set by the Fifa ethics committee.

I've subsequently been assured by those close to the 78-year-old that he will send it back.

However, a number of Fifa executives are said to be angry with how the organisation's ethics committee has handled the matter.

That's borne out of the belief of many that the watches cannot be considered an inducement or a bribe.

They were included in 65 gift bags, which were given to the 28 members of Fifa's executive committee as well as representatives from all the countries taking part in the World Cup, meaning about £1.04m of watches were handed out.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter Members of Fifa's executive committee were given watches as gifts by the Brazilian Football Confederation during the 2014 World Cup

What possible advantage, many of them have argued in private, could the CBF gain from giving such a gift when they were already hosting the World Cup? What advantage or favour could they hope to be seeking from them?

The special-edition Parmigiani Swiss-made, rose-gold device was merely a token welcome gift, they believe. Uefa president Michel Platini has said he will not return his.

Such a mindset will be seized upon by some as showing Fifa is still a long way from true reform.

It will be hard for many to accept that £16,000 watches are gifts of a 'trivial value', as the reformed code of ethics mandates they must be.

Yet that is exactly what Blatter claims they are.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

"Wrong maybe that, according to court of ethics perhaps, the value? But what is the value?"

It's feasible many executives were unaware of the true value of the watch. They may not have been expecting it to be in their goody bag and in some cases may not have been aware they even possessed them, as the FA's Greg Dyke insists, if they didn't examine what had been left for them in their five-star Brazilian hotel room.

Uefa president Michel Platini Uefa president Michel Platini has refused to return the watch given to him during the World Cup

However, now in the knowledge of the watch's market value, to quibble and prevaricate that they have been harshly treated, or that the ethics committee has somehow acted beyond its remit, demonstrates to many just how far removed from reality some of Fifa's power-brokers have become.

Three executives are said to have reported the watch soon after they received it, yet many remained silent.

And now some are indignant.

In so doing, Fifa's leadership perpetuates a perception of graft and grubbiness that is now, rightly or wrongly, synonymous with the organisation in the minds of many supporters and members of the 'football family'.

The culture of expensive gift giving and receiving - thought to have been consigned to Fifa's past - is still, it seems, alive.

Even Fifa's fiercest critics acknowledge that the organisation does sterling work on many different matters.

However, the fallout from this dispute over 65 watches will leave many believing the game deserves better from those who lead it.

[ChesterDave]

Qatar did nothing wrong and it is actually the FA that require pulling up on their behaviour says 42 page summary (that we do get to see) of a 430 page 2 year report (that we won't)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30031405

[Alex]

Shock.

Most of the people who could have been implicated are gone from FIFA now as I understand it. So you'd have to think that most of them didn't talk to him.

Report was never going to do anything other than clear Fifa. Which is a shame, because I genuinely believe that its a pretty broken system.