Sepp Blatter respond to British press reports about FIFA corruption

[Magda Hassan]

While FIFA are obviously a corrupt organisation, I find the hubris from the UK press amusing.

I would like to see something done about the undeniably corrupt (and incompetent) FA too.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

[Danny Jarman]

It just seems like a sour grapes campaign to me by the English as they didn't win the bid. Nobody is going to vote for a world cup in Milton Keynes and Sunderland (two of the stadiums in the bid) no matter how much money you throw at them.

[Magda Hassan]

Think I'd rather go there than some god forsaken dodgy bling palace built by imported indentured labour in the desert in a despotic fiefdom in the Middle East.

[Danny Jarman]

True, the whole Qatar thing is a farce. But we lost the 2018 bid to Russia. Ever since the British media have been calling for Russia to be stripped of the 2018 world cup and for it to be given to England because Putin is evil. ::doh::

[Magda Hassan]

LOL! And Middle Eastern despots are as sweet as Mary Poppins? At least the Russians actually play soccer lol! :oldier:: ::
British media so parochial and owned anyway. I wish soccer were just a game and not an extension of the corporate advertising world.

[David Guyatt]

While FIFA are obviously a corrupt organisation, I find the hubris from the UK press amusing.

I would like to see something done about the undeniably corrupt (and incompetent) FA too.

I agree. For me the FA and the premiership referees organization, PGMOL, are riddled by corruption and match fixing. The refereeing is a disgrace imo.

I suspect that the Media's attitude is based largely on the way the England 2018 team must've been told in advance they had won the bid and therefore arranged for the high and mighty, a royal prince, a prime minister (as I remember) and lots of other VIPs to attend the announcement ceremony - a sort of footballing Forlorn Hope. It wasn't that England lost the bid, but the way Blatter set them up for that fall, I think, that has resulted in the present attitude?

[David Guyatt]

Let's also not assume that Russia won the 2018 bid on a free and fair basis.

Their winning was foretold by Lord Tribesman when he told (via entrapment) the Mail on Sunday that a deal had been done between Spain and Russia in advance. It is interesting to me that consequently Russia won the bid and Spain won the last World Cup 2010.

the following BBC report is dated may 2010 ahead of the 2010 World Cup. Tribesman resigned even though what he foretold came to pass in both cases. Must've been pure chance, eh? ::

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Lord Triesman quits FA and 2018 World Cup bid jobs

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Lord Triesman resigns as FA chairman

Lord Triesman is to stand down as chairman of the Football Association as well as the England 2018 World Cup bid.
His exit follows what he has called his "entrapment" by the Mail on Sunday.
The newspaper article said he suggested Spain could drop its 2018 bid if rival bidder Russia helped bribe referees at this summer's World Cup.
The England 2018 team has apologised to the Russian and Spanish FAs as it tries to rescue the World Cup bid with a Fifa decision due in December.
FA board members David Sheepshanks and Roger Burden have been drafted in as acting joint-chairmen of England's governing body, while Geoff Thompson is the new chairman of the World Cup bid.
Thompson, who was chairman of the FA between 1999 and 2008 before Triesman succeeded him, joined the bid board last year.
The 64-year-old is also the only English member of the Fifa Executive Committee - the 24 men who vote on the World Cup hosts.
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So where does this leave the 2018 bid? In short, they are going to find it incredibly difficult to recover from this





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The Mail on Sunday revelationscame only two days after former England captain David Beckham had helped the FA submit a 1,752-page bid book as they try to persuade Fifa to award England the 2018 World Cup.
"I have decided to resign as chairman of the FA and the 2018 Bid board," Triesman said in a statement.
"A private conversation with someone whom I thought to be a friend was taped without my knowledge and passed to a national newspaper," he added, referring to former aide Melissa Jacobs, who met Triesman a fortnight ago.
"That same friend has also chosen to greatly exaggerate the extent of our friendship.
"In that conversation I commentated on speculation circulating about conspiracies around the world. Those comments were never intended to be taken seriously, as indeed is the case with many private conversations.
"Entrapment, especially by a friend, is an unpleasant experience both for my family and me but it leaves me with no alternative but to resign."
Triesman's resignation statement followed an FA board meeting that lasted over two hours.
"It would have been difficult for the FA to have sacked John Terry and for Triesman to have stayed on," said new Sports Minister Hugh Robertson, referring to England coach Fabio Capello's decision to strip Terry of the England captaincy over an extra-marital affair last year.
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"I'm very impressed with the way it has been handled," Robertson told the BBC News channel. "The danger was this could have drifted on. I'm pleased they have acted decisively and they have done the right thing.
"Nobody could pretend that this hasn't been a good day. But the trick now is to refocus everyone's attempts on the bid. It can be done and if you concentrate on the bid's core strengths we can get over this."
Apart from the damage to the FA that may be created within the Fifa corridors of power, the world governing body's rules prohibit World Cup bidders from talking about rival bids.
Triesman was quoted in the article as saying: "Spain are looking for help...to bribe the referees".
On Friday, Fifa chief Sepp Blatter spoke in glowing terms of England's 2018 bid which includes 12 towns and cities from Sunderland to Plymouth, calling it "the easiest bid in the world" - but also described the plans put forward by Russia as "remarkable".
After the good publicity that was generated by the 2018 team and Beckham on Friday it remains to be seen what effect Triesman's reported comments are likely to have on the FA's 2018 bid.
From its inception the bid has been troubled by infighting with senior members resigning from the board while Triesman's leadership has also been questioned.
In October the 2018 bid was criticised by Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and Danny Jordaan, who led South Africa's successful 2010 campaign.
A month later former Birmingham City director Karren Brady, who was one of six board members to stand down, said that England's hopes of hosting the 2018 World Cup were in danger of being undermined by internal politics among the bid team.
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Beckham delivers 2018 World Cup bid

In November a senior member of Fifa's executive committee returned a handbag given to his wife as a gift by the England bidding team.
The FA tried unsuccessfully to get an injunction against publication of the Triesman story on privacy grounds.
The Mail on Sunday quotes Triesman as saying: "There's some evidence that the Spanish football authorities are trying to identify the referees...and pay them.
"My assumption is that the Latin Americans, although they've not said so, will vote for Spain. And if Spain drop out, because Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup, their votes may then switch to Russia."
But in his statement Triesman said: "The views expressed were not the views of the 2018 bid board or the FA.
"Nobody should be under any misapprehension that the FA or 2018 bid board are disrespectful of other nations or Fifa and I regret any such inference that may have been drawn from what has been reported."
A European bid is tipped to get the 2018 tournament with England up against Russia and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands.
The other bidders, although they are mainly focused on the 2022 tournament, are Australia, the United States, Japan, Qatar and South Korea.
Spain have yet to respond to Triesman's comments, but Russia insisted their bid was committed to "maintaining ethical norms and the principles of fair play".
"I don't know why there are so many rumours regarding Russia's World Cup bid," Russian bid chief Alexei Sorokin told Reuters news agency.
"Maybe because we're moving in the right direction and our rivals see us as a major force and try to derail our bid campaign."
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[David Guyatt]

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Dyke and FA join clamour for full Fifa report



German judge has refused to publish report in full

TOM PECK

Monday 17 November 2014

The Football Association chairman, Greg Dyke, has written to every member of Fifa's executive committee to urge full publication of the investigative report into alleged corruption in the bidding to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Dyke's move follows a warning from the president of the German Football League, Dr Reinhard Rauball, that Uefa's 54 member nations could take the ultimate step of quitting Fifa if the report is not published in full.
The author of a summary of the report's findings released last week, German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, who is head of the adjudicatory arm of the Fifa ethics committee, has refused to publish the report in full, claiming it would be illegal to do so.
More pressure was piled on Fifa and its president, Sepp Blatter, yesterday when one of two whistleblowers in the affair formally complained to Fifa that Eckert's 42-page summary had "threatened her personal safety" by all but revealing her identity.
The summary was last week immediately denounced by the full report's author, US attorney Michael Garcia, the head of the investigatory arm of Fifa's ethics committee, who alleged "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions" and lodged an appeal to Fifa. The two men now plan to meet on Thursday to discuss their differences.
In a further development, the former FA chairman David Bernstein yesterday called for Uefa to boycott one of the contentious World Cups.
[B]READ MORE: IT WOULD BE WRONG FOR ENGLAND TO BOYCOTT WORLD CUP
IAN HERBERT: ENGLAND BOYCOTT WOULDN'T WORK
GARCIA UNHAPPY WITH FIFA'S REPORT SUMMARY
SAM WALLACE: FA NAIVE TO WORK WITH BROKEN FIFA[/B]


Dyke's letter was hard-hitting, stating: "As you probably know, the reputation of Fifa was already low in England and much of Europe before the events of last week. The failure to publish Mr Garcia's report, and his statement that the summary report which was published contained numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations', has resulted in a further decline in public confidence of Fifa. We cannot go on like this.
"Complete transparency is required if the actions of all those who bid, including England 2018, are to be judged fairly," Dyke added
Around half the committee members Dyke has written to are the same people who voted to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, in the latter's case ignoring medical reports produced by Fifa's own staff that warned of the impossibility of holding a tournament there in June and July owing to the heat. But publishing the report will not be straightforward, as many of those who spoke to Garcia did so on condition of anonymity. Even a redacted version would present serious difficulties.
Phaedra Almajid, who worked for the Qatar 2022 bid team before losing her job in 2010, was among those who spoke to Garcia, and is now furious that Eckert's summary all but reveals her as a whistleblower, and also discredits the information she gave. Another whistleblower, Bonita Mersiades, who worked for Australia 2022, has also complained to Fifa that her information was discredited.
Almajid said that her safety and that of her son had been put at risk, and in a letter to Garcia explained: "Identifying me and falsely discrediting me sends a message to anyone who may think to come forward that their credibility and protection will be in jeopardy for the rest of their lives."
Bernstein, who took over not long after the December 2010 vote that awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia, when England's bid won only two votes, called on the powerful football nations of Europe to boycott either the Russia or Qatar tournament.
Bernstein said: "There are 54 countries within Uefa. There's Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Holland all powerful. You can't hold a serious World Cup without them. They have the power to influence if they have the will.
"The choosing of Qatar was clearly one of the most ludicrous decisions in the history of sport. You might as well have chosen Iceland in the winter. It was like an Alice in Wonderland sort of decision."
Boycotting a World Cup would present numerous problems, including getting no revenue from the finals or qualifying games. Russia, a member of Uefa, would not miss its own tournament.

[Magda Hassan]

Let's also not assume that Russia won the 2018 bid on a free and fair basis.

Indeed! The 23 computers used for the bid mysteriously malfunctioned.....::drevil:: ::::computerpunch::

[David Guyatt]

Blatter still declines to comment on demands that Garcia's report be published. This call for a criminal investigation for me is a cynical deflection from that simple request:

Fifa ask Swiss police to launch criminal investigation into Russia and Qatar World Cup bids following allegations of corruption



Sepp Blatter admits internal inquiries have discovered grounds for suspicion' bribes were paid

TOM PECK

SPORTS NEWS CORRESPONDENT

A criminal investigation is to be launched into the awarding of hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

In an unexpected development, Fifa has asked the Swiss authorities to launch a criminal inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the bidding processes, which ultimately saw the tournaments given to Russia and Qatar.
The move, which follows days of criticism of Fifa for allegedly covering up its own evidence of corruption in the bidding, raises the prospect that some of football's most prominent current and former administrators could face criminal charges.
Announcing the referral to Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General, Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, said internal inquiries had discovered "grounds for suspicion that, in isolated cases, international transfers of assets with connections to Switzerland took place".

Fifa's own investigation into alleged corruption by the US lawyer Michael Garcia did not have the authority to compel people to give evidence. Individuals who could now be interviewed by police include several members of the 22-strong committee who voted in 2010 to award the two tournaments to Russia and Qatar and who have since left Fifa after different corruption allegations.
The Swiss authorities, Fifa said in a statement, "will have the ability to conduct investigations under application of criminal procedural coercive measures".
FINDINGS OF THE FIFA REPORT
The decision four years ago to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a country with no football history and not a single suitable stadium, has been described as the most controversial in the history of football. Anger has grown in recent months, with the realisation that Europe's powerful domestic leagues may have to suspend their seasons so the tournament can be played in the cooler winter months.
In awarding the tournament to Qatar, Fifa ignored the advice of its own medical officers which stated that a tournament in June and July in the desert heat would be dangerous to players' health. Fifa has since made clear it will have to move the tournament to a winter date.
Human rights campaigners have also been heavily critical of the appalling treatment of migrant workers building the stadiums.
Neither Mr Blatter, nor Hans-Joachim Eckert, the German judge who heads Fifa's Ethics Committee and who recommended the complaint be lodged, have disclosed the identities of the individuals potentially of interest to investigators, or which of the various bids for the two tournaments the complaints concern.
Russia and Qatar won the double vote for the two tournaments, but Fifa's summary of Mr Garcia's investigation into the affair was more critical of England and Australia's failed bids than it was the two winners.
In making the recommendation to call in the police, Mr Eckert, whose short summary of the investigation has been branded by Mr Garcia as "incomplete and erroneous", said there is "insufficient incriminating evidence to justify calling into question the entire award process", a sentiment echoed by Mr Blatter, who reiterated his view that the bidding process has "concluded".
In the past four years, five of the 22 members who voted for Russia and Qatar have left Fifa amid allegations of corruption. Among them are Mohamed bin Hammam, the Qatari football administrator who had no official role in the bid but who is widely seen as having been instrumental in having secured it.
Others are the Trinidadian Jack Warner and American Chuck Blazer. The Swiss authorities will not have an easy time compelling any of these men to speak to them, though they can investigate whatever bank accounts the men or their families may have held in Switzerland.
But whatever investigations they do make will almost certainly be highly time consuming, with tournament preparations ongoing in both nations all the while, increasing the practical difficulty for the locations to be changed.
Among those still on the committee are the Cameroonian Issa Hayatou, who was accused by Panorama of having taken bribes in the 1990s, which he denied.
The announcement comes before Mr Garcia and Mr Eckert's scheduled meeting on Thursday. The pair are not believed to have spoken since the American condemned the German's summary of his report for containing "numerous incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts" .
Mr Eckert dismissed the suggestion made by Simon Johnson, the head of England's 2018 bid, that the summary had been a "politically motivated whitewash".
"I can only work with the material contained in it," he said. "And in my view, there was insufficient clear evidence of illegal or irregular conduct that would call into question the integrity of the award process as a whole."
This latest development will only increase pressure on Fifa to publish Mr Garcia's report in full as many have demanded.
Mr Blatter said that to do so, even in redacted form, would be illegal given the promise of anonymity that was given to those who took part. "The people who are demanding in the media and elsewhere that Fifa publish the report are obviously of the opinion that Fifa should or must ignore the law in this regard," he said. Mr Blatter said he had not seen the report, but confirmed that it will be passed in its entirety to the Swiss authorities.