2022 Qatar

[PieEater]

The FA were meant to have influenced the dodgy Jack Warner, and yet IIRC we only received one vote and it wasn't him.

You have to ask whether FIFA are so corrupt or out of touch that they really think they'd get away with this, what a shambles.

The suggestion at the time was always that the FA bunged him a kickback and he only changed bis mind when someone else bunged him an even bigger kickback.

So why weren't the purveyors of the bigger bung outed? Presumably that didn't fit with their agenda.

[Mr Optimist]

So the greed of the Premier League has ruined English football, FIFA ruin the best international football tournament, Game 39 apologists, what will be the final nail in the game of football for you?

[Sanguine]

lol

Daily Telegraph have gone full 'Daily Mash' with a report on FIFA awarding the 2026 World Cup to Hell.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... -hell.html

[PieEater]

The report noted that the Russian bid team made "only a limited amount of documents available for review".

According to the report, the Russian team hired computers that were subsequently destroyed, denying the inquiry access to email accounts.

"We were always confident that there could be nothing which would come out from this investigation," said Alexey Sorokin, the head of Russia's 2018 World Cup organising committee

of course they were confident, they only gave them documents that made them look angelic.

[floyd__streete]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30015096



"I'm surprised by his criticism, not shocked. But, erm, I cannot publish his report to discredit his criticism due to 'continental law' "

Really What continental law would that be then Smells a lot like BULLSH*T.

In fact, what kind of organisation comissions a report and has the investigator present his evidence to another who will write the report for him "Yeah, erm if you can leave your report there next to that bin that'll be great".

[floyd__streete]

http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisat ... d=2443563/

Can we see the report then, Mr Eckert, just to prove that no 'specific ethics proceedings ' have been suggested by Mr Garcia In doing so, that would then kind of clear the waters you have yourself muddied, wouldn't it

[Sanguine]

In general terms, what sort of sanctions might Garcia expect if he just posted the report online? Would he be breaking any laws?

[PieEater]

As I understand it the confidentiality of the report is meant to be because people gave evidence on the basis of assured public anonymity, so I guess they are named or easily identifiable in the report. A bit of redacting the sensitive parts doesn't seem that difficult to do.

I guess he'd be liable to getting sued for deformation or misrepresentation or something like that as well as his reputational damage for breaking his word to these witnesses.

[TFF]

I'd guess he'd be in breach of contract and probably lose at best two years' worth of income, possibly punitive damages too

[glass half full]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30037729



Blatter HAS to resign now, brilliant

He would ensure - and probably has already that nothing will stick to him. As I said in an earler post, he is ' teflon man' and laughing all the way to a Swiss bank, no doubt.

[PieEater]

I do wonder why Blatter doesn't just retire, he's 78 FFS. Just live off the millions you've scammed.

[Sutekh]

What would be ideal is if the leading FAs across Europe got together (or UEFA as a whole) and broke away with their own "global" federation, that'd more or less scupper FIFA completely. Shame they haven't got the bottle to do it though.

[Royalclapper]

Why doesn't one of those weirdo computer hacker creatures do us the good service of getting into the FIFA systems and do some damage?

Isn't Qatar modelling itself on being a kind of Gulf/Middle Eastern version of Switzerland? i.e. opening their legs to anyone with the right currency and changing their loyalties dependent on which way the wind is blowing - shameless whores of Countries.

Expecting the Qatar based Al Jazeera TV to do some propaganda on FIFAs behalf. I bet there'll be little about Qatari funding of IS military equipment mentioned though - let me guess..........there's little proof as FIFA have offered to help with the denials.

[Sanguine]

What would be ideal is if the leading FAs across Europe got together (or UEFA as a whole) and broke away with their own "global" federation, that'd more or less scupper FIFA completely. Shame they haven't got the bottle to do it though.

Or aren't as anti-FIFA as England and many other nations.

Germany are champions and hosted it in 2006, Spain won it in 2010 - can't imagine their FAs telling FIFA to stick it, as much as I agree with you.

[Ian Royal]

I do wonder why Blatter doesn't just retire, he's 78 FFS. Just live off the millions you've scammed.

Because if he retires he's not in charge anymore and can't protect the skeletons in his closet. Even if he can control his successor and guarantee they'll protect him he's unlikely to be able to do that with their successor. And then he could look forward to whiling away the end of his life in prison.

[Sutekh]

Latest from the BBC OS

The English Football Association has been urged to lobby Uefa for a European boycott of the next World Cup - unless Fifa implements meaningful reform.

Former FA chairman David Bernstein said it was time for drastic action against football's world governing body.

"England on its own cannot influence this," he said. "If we tried something like that, we'd be laughed at."

He says a World Cup would be weakened without Europe's top teams and that a boycott would have public backing.

"If I was at the FA now, I would do everything I could to encourage other nations within Uefa - and there are some who would definitely be on side, others may be not - to take this line," he added.

"At some stage, you have to walk the walk, stop talking and do something."

Bernstein said he also wanted Fifa president Sepp Blatter to step down but described him as "formidable, very shrewd, very smart", conceding it would "not be easy" to bring his reign to an end.

In an exclusive interview, the 71-year-old also said:

Fifa is a "totalitarian" set-up that reminds him of "the old Soviet empire" and is "beyond ridicule"

The credibility of football is "suffering enormously" under the current Fifa regime

Choosing Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup was "one of the most ludicrous decisions in the history of sport"

Bernstein has chosen to speak out after a report into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups cleared Russia and Qatar of wrongdoing but was critical of England, accusing the FA of flouting bid rules in its attempt to win the right to stage the 2018 event.

Yet less than four hours of the document's release, it was questioned by Michael Garcua, the man who conducted the two-year investigation into corruption claims.

The furore surrounding the report is the latest controversy to hit football's world governing body, which has been riddled with allegations of corruption in recent times.

Now Bernstein, who led the FA for three years from January 2011, wants Fifa to change its ways or face a challenge that it finds impossible to ignore.

When asked again if he was calling for the FA to unite with Uefa to boycott Fifa and the World Cup, he replied: "Unless it (Fifa) could achieve the reforms that would bring Fifa back into the respectable world community, yes I would.

"It sounds drastic, but, frankly, this has gone on for years now. It's not improving, it's going from bad to worse to worse."

He said there were 54 countries within Uefa and described Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Holland as "all powerful".

He added: "You can't hold a serious World Cup without them. They have the power to influence if they have the will."

Similar views have been expressed by German Football League president Reinhard Rauball, who suggested Uefa could leave Fifa if the findings of the two-year investigation into corruption claims are not published in full.

As for the criticism of England by the Fifa report, Bernstein accused football's world governing body of trying to deflect attention from its own failings.

"I don't think much to these accusations," he said. "I don't think we should get away from the real issue. The real issue is Fifa governance and trying to achieve real change. But it won't happen easily."

"Fifa is sort of a totalitarian set-up. Bits of it remind me of the old Soviet empire. People don't speak out and if they do they get quashed."
Play media

Bernstein also described the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, where blistering summer temperatures means the event could be switched to winter, "as one of the most ludicrous decisions in the history of sport".

He added: "You might as well have chosen Iceland in the winter. It was like an Alice in Wonderland sort of decision. The attempt to change the timing is also absolutely wrong."

He felt the decision to choose Qatar as 2022 hosts could come under further scrutiny.

"There's also a background of political, social and employment issues that keep emerging and I think there's a danger that Fifa and football might be embarrassed by what emerges in the coming years," said the former Manchester City chairman.

"It's certainly not sour grapes. England didn't lose to Qatar, we lost to Russia. Qatar is clearly a totally unsuitable place to hold a World Cup."

Bernstein also revealed he had resigned from Fifa's anti-discrimination taskforce.

He described it as "ineffectual" and wishes to end his ties with Fifa.

Explaining his decision to quit Fifa's anti-discrimination taskforce, which was introduced in 2013, Bernstein said: "I've resigned for two reasons.

"Firstly, the body has been pretty ineffectual. I've been on it for more than a year and we only had one meeting. Secondly, because frankly I don't wish to be personally associated with Fifa any further.

"Fifa sets up these things - and we've seen it with their regulation - that look good in theory but don't seem to do very much in practice."

[6ft Kerplunk]

Latest from the BBC OS

"At some stage, you have to walk the walk, stop talking and do something."

He's talking sense, if only he'd ever been the FA chairman he could've done something. Oh.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

As I understand it the confidentiality of the report is meant to be because people gave evidence on the basis of assured public anonymity.

Yet the judge put identifiable info in there so everyone knew who the two whistleblowers were! What a pcunt

[Blue Hooped Moose]

Why doesn't one of those weirdo computer hacker creatures do us the good service of getting into the FIFA systems and do some damage?

Because the only group that would do this would be Anonymous - and they are all American so don't overly care about soccer. Cracking idea though.

[Whatevs]

Why doesn't one of those weirdo computer hacker creatures do us the good service of getting into the FIFA systems and do some damage?

Because the only group that would do this would be Anonymous - and they are all American so don't overly care about soccer. Cracking idea though.

They're not all American