FIFA Arrests Made for Fraud

[DarkSithLord]

Mike Anstead ‏@mike_anstead 4m4 minutes ago
Blimey... Irish FA were paid 5m euros by FIFA to essentially keep quiet over Thierry Henry handball

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

with that and possibly 1998 its no bloody wonder the French went against the correction choice in that election on Friday

good to see the French maybe getting a thumping though.....if that were true above they should be banned from the next event.....Mind I do not think the next world cup will take place

 

[CEngelbrecht]

I love Beckham but coming out after the fact just reeks of band-waggon publicly. Where was he before these investigations started? Some of the high profile players should really have been standing up to FIFA but they're not added as long as they're in their money bubble.

More like wanted to make sure, Blatter couldn't saw the branch they are sitting on. Better late than never.

 

[Christian Slater]

More like wanted to make sure, Blatter couldn't saw the branch they are sitting on. Better later than never.

It doesn't really matter after the fact though, does it?

 

[CEngelbrecht]

It doesn't really matter after the fact though, does it?

Then recognize Platini and Figo for trying.

 

[Christian Slater]

Then recognize Platini and Figo for trying.

Platini jumped in when the brass was cracking. I will give Figo his due, he publicly called them out.

 

[mnb089mnb]

with that and possibly 1998 its no bloody wonder the French went against the correction choice in that election on Friday

good to see the French maybe getting a thumping though.....if that were true above they should be banned from the next event.....Mind I do not think the next world cup will take place

The bribes related to the World Cup of 1998 were for delegates to vote for Morocco.

Would you ban England too for the handbags for delegates wives, friendlies in Trinidad & Thailand etc?

 

[DarkSithLord]

.Mind I do not think the next world cup will take place

Of course it will.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

I have said before England are as much to blame. Very happy to give themselves until snubbed, then threw toys out of pram like spoilt brats all while claiming injustice.

I firmly think we will have no world cup in 2018 as not one country deserves it. I think 2018 will be scrapped by politics not footbal, then new vote for one after

 

[mistermagic]

with that and possibly 1998 its no bloody wonder the French went against the correction choice in that election on Friday

good to see the French maybe getting a thumping though.....if that were true above they should be banned from the next event.....Mind I do not think the next world cup will take place

We went against what now?

 

[CEngelbrecht]

The bribes related to the World Cup of 1998 were for delegates to vote for Morocco.

Ah. Important detail, there. Must feel like a bunch of nitwits, like Donald Trump paying Karl Rove 50 million dollars to fix the US presidential election, so his puppet Romney wins, and then Obama gets bloody reelected anyway. How rotten a candidate must Morocco have been, when even money can't buy you democracy anymore? What's the world coming to?

I firmly think we will have no world cup in 2018 as not one country deserves it. I think 2018 will be scrapped by politics not footbal, then new vote for one after

Don't worry, World War III is on before then, so it won't even matter. The 1940 summer Olympics was supposed to be in Tokyo.

 

[Jarv]

So how long before someone at the FA is implicated. Surely only a matter of time

 

[CEngelbrecht]

So how long before someone at the FA is implicated. Surely only a matter of time

This disease seems to spread like fungus, so why not?

 

[mistermagic]

FIFA confirmed that they did loan the FAI 5M€. Am I the only thinking that the FAI should be blamed as much as FIFA for this?

 

[CEngelbrecht]

FIFA confirmed that they did loan the FAI 5M€. Am I the only thinking that the FAI should be blamed as much as FIFA for this?

Don't forget, this is the Irish:

If only the world was like this. At least FAI don't try to hide it when asked. The Spanish or Argentinians or something would deny it for any and all time, untill the heavens fall.

 

[Gulliball]

I don't blame Ireland for this. They had a legitimate sporting grievance, but no real legal case. Taking an "out of court settlement" was the simplest way to resolve the issue.

It's not the worst thing FIFA have ever done either - they compensated Ireland for unfairly missing out on a chunk of money and prestige when legally they had no case to answer. Ok, you can say it's an example of using money to solve problems, but at least it went to a Football Association, for a legitimate purpose, and as they were cheated out of a World Cup place, Ireland did at least benefit from the experience in the shape of their new stadium. It was officially documented too, even if it wasn't publicised. Given all the other things that have already come out, and will continue to come out, this will blow over pretty quickly.

 

[nousername]

It's a completely stupid thing for FIFA to do, and for the FAI to accept. Off the top of my head:

1. Why wasn't it publicized at the time? It makes a mockery of the Irish protests and their 'expletive' ridden tirades if they were quite happy to pocket the cash and STFU.
2. The FAI never had a legal case to begin with, so why was it paid? There was no 'issue to resolve'.
3. Did this influence FAI decision making and voting in regards to Blatter and FIFA?
4. The terms and conditions are incredibly soft and basically amount to it being a gift to FAI - is this FIFA policy?
5. It sets a dangerous precedent for effectively paying off teams if they think they've been wronged by a refereeing decision - that's ridiculous.
6. Where did the money come? Who decides these payments? Could that money have been better spent? Did it actually get spent on the stadium?

I don't want to take this thread on a tangent, but again it highlights the incompetency, opaque decision making and sleaze at FIFA.

 

[nousername]

If only the world was like this. At least FAI don't try to hide it when asked. The Spanish or Argentinians or something would deny it for any and all time, untill the heavens fall.

That's bordering on racism, corruption is not a Latino thing, trust me.

And anyway, the FAI kept quiet about it for years - why? 'Cause it looks, and is, dodgy as f**k.

 

[Gulliball]

If you look at it as a pretty exceptional one-off situation, whereby a team unfairly lost out on a huge amount of money in a blaze of media, then it wasn't the worst course of action as it kept all parties relatively satisfied. In a well run and transparent organisation, I don't think it would have been a problem at all, similar maybe to the compensation Sheffied United received when they were relegated after West Ham played Tevez and Mascherano - it was too late or too drastic to reverse anything on the field, so they were financially compensated afterwards.

You're right though that there is a very slippery slope when it comes to secret payments and pay-offs. With an organisation like FIFA there's no trust that there's a positive answer to any of those questions.

 

[nousername]

It's not particularly exceptional though, is it? Referees make howlers all the time. Each team accepts it's a part of the game and they have to live with the outcome. (I'm not condoning the handball btw). I don't think the West Ham situation is comparable to a human error.

Why should all sides be satisfied? It's a two-legged knockout fixture. Not a fixture where the runner up secretly gets a soft loan that they can spend as they please.

The more I think about this, the more it bothers me. The FAI had no legitimate reason to accept the money, while it also undermines their ability to make unbiased decisions.

 

[CEngelbrecht]

You know, I think I'm right about why Blatter and everyone around him are so corrupt. This is the reason he didn't want to leave his seat for so long.

 

[mistermagic]

I understand what Gulliball is saying what with the financing of new stadia but I still can't believe that people are fingerpointing FIFA and FIFA only. When it comes down to it, the FAI did accept illegitimate money and nobody seems to care. Had they come out and said that they took a 5M€ pay-off to shut up, I don't think it would have gone down too well with the fans who made the trip down to Paris for example.
The FAI seem to get away with it on this one.

 

[CEngelbrecht]

I think this thing with FAI illustrates the dangers of a global sport being run by an organization without standard transparency. Human nature just can't administer that much responsibility unchecked. Even if some may call this "handgate" a misdemeanor (God knows what this Warner fella is harbouring), such stop-gap measures sounds to me like a kindergarten. Yes, it's a game, but a tad more mature thinking, please.

 

[rudebwoyben]

It's a completely stupid thing for FIFA to do, and for the FAI to accept. Off the top of my head:

1. Why wasn't it publicized at the time? It makes a mockery of the Irish protests and their 'expletive' ridden tirades if they were quite happy to pocket the cash and STFU.
2. The FAI never had a legal case to begin with, so why was it paid? There was no 'issue to resolve'.
3. Did this influence FAI decision making and voting in regards to Blatter and FIFA?
4. The terms and conditions are incredibly soft and basically amount to it being a gift to FAI - is this FIFA policy?
5. It sets a dangerous precedent for effectively paying off teams if they think they've been wronged by a refereeing decision - that's ridiculous.
6. Where did the money come? Who decides these payments? Could that money have been better spent? Did it actually get spent on the stadium?

I don't want to take this thread on a tangent, but again it highlights the incompetency, opaque decision making and sleaze at FIFA.

All good points.
Also, surely the head of FIFA shouldn't be able to act like an absolute emperor who can dispense favours and gifts on a whim.

 

[George Reilly's Hairpiece]

How much did England get from FIFA for the Maradona handball? Or was that exempt as it was an Act of God?

 

[DarkSithLord]

How much did England get from FIFA for the Maradona handball? Or was that exempt as it was an Act of God?

Or did they get anything for the "Ghost Goal" vs Germany at the 2006 WC?

 

[rudebwoyben]

That must have been a real ghost goal seeing as we didn't play Germany at that World Cup Finals!

 

[DarkSithLord]

That must have been a real ghost goal seeing as we didn't play Germany at that World Cup Finals!

Whoops sorry I meant 2010 South Africa.

 

[CEngelbrecht]

How much did England get from FIFA for the Maradona handball? Or was that exempt as it was an Act of God?

Blatter weren't prez then.

Or did they get anything for the "Ghost Goal" vs Germany at the 2010 WC?

That was to balance out '66. It must've been!

 

[George Reilly's Hairpiece]

Blatter weren't prez then.

Yes, it was probably different then, under the whiter than white, Joao Havelange.