FIFA Corruption Thread

[Kenneth]

Anyway, the difference is that the English FA volunteered evidence and the others simply refused to, and the complete lack of investigatory powers meant there was only incriminating evidence against those that volunteered it.

[dom9]

.

[ChesterDave]

But the English FA has been found to be corrupt also. Why would other European FAs want to form an organisation with them?

[dom9]

Has it?

Martin Lipton ✔ @MartinLipton


FA declared £35K Gala Dinner for CFU - "damaged integrity"; Qatar hid £1.2m CAF Congress and dinner - ''didn't affect integrity'' - mmmmm!

[Kenneth]

But the English FA has been found to be corrupt also. Why would other European FAs want to form an organisation with them?

[G]

The major european FA's should leave FIFA and form their own governance. Mind you the English FA are a sham too so would it make a difference.

[dom9]

We should be surprised. Should be

[Reece]

Sounds like this is far from over

[ame]https://twitter.com/pkelso/status/532870569289850880[/ame]

[ame]https://twitter.com/danroan/status/532870271959830528[/ame]

[john316]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/live-fifa-world-cup-corruption-4618930

FIFA essentially appealing against its own ruling after the lead investigator says FIFA's judge completely misinterpreted his findings

[Kenneth]

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

Not quite. Limited investigation lacked the ability to obtain evidence that could determine whether the bids were corrupt. A case of not proven.

The English FA however, provided evidence of their own corruption with Jack Warner and will get it in the neck.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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]

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.