Going to war with FIFA

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

f*** off Blatter (f*** off Purslow)

 

Europe's top clubs have expressed "major concerns on how world football is governed". Following their general assembly in Geneva, the 136 clubs of the European Club Association rejected Fifa proposals to expand the international calendar and registered their anger at a lack of consultation over whether to hold the Qatar 2022 World Cup in the winter. Fifa has added eight dates for international fixtures to the calendar, including the current round of friendlies.

 

"I wouldn't say we are at war – the clubs are very patient – but we have our limits," said the Barcelona president, Sandro Rosell.

 

Umberto Gandini, a Milan director and vice-chairman of the ECA, said: "There is not a national team manager or a club manager who is happy there is an international friendly match tomorrow. It's just nonsense. We suddenly realised that Fifa can alter the international calendar when they like."

 

The Manchester United chief executive, David Gill, who is on the ECA board, said the debate over whether to move the 2022 World Cup had not been dealt with correctly.

 

"There has been concern obviously in the way this debate has manifested itself," he said. "That is the view of more than 100 clubs and the European leagues. This is a major thing that will have ramifications for club football for three seasons. For it to happen in that way was somewhat surprising. This is an issue that has not been dealt with correctly."

 

The ECA announced a set of "new basic principles" it would like to see in place regarding the international calendar. It proposed a maximum of one international tournament per player per year and national team "periods" instead of single dates.

 

Michele Centenaro, the ECA general secretary, said: "The ECA primarily questions the way Fifa reaches decisions heavily affecting club football without the involvement of the clubs themselves and believes that modern football needs democracy, transparency and certainty of rules."

 

The intensifying club v country row could have ramifications for this summer's Fifa presidential race. The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, who has argued passionately for the primacy of international football, could be challenged by the president of the Asian Football Confederation, Mohamed Bin Hammam.

[New York Red]

Internatonal football has been waning for ages now.

 

Since this last set of votes on the World Cup i'm totallt f*cking done with it. I with Blatter and his corrupt cronies would just p*ss off.

 

Hopefully the clubs will band together, grow some balls, and tell FIFA that their players won't be goingto any more World Cups.

[Flight]

You do get the feeling that things have reached a tipping point. Is it just LFC fans that have by and large have little interest in international football ? You'd think all other big teams supporters are as pissed off with it as us.

 

Shamed Fifa vice-president to appeal World Cup bribery ban

• Adamu to take case to Court of Arbitration for Sport

• Fifa upheld three-year ban after Sunday Times report

 

 

Amos Adamu is to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after Fifa's appeals committee upheld a three-year ban following the Sunday Times investigation into World Cup bidding.

 

Nigeria's Adamu was a vice-president of Fifa when he was handed the original sanction by the organisation's ethics committee in November last year. The appeals committee confirmed at the weekend the punishment would stand, to Adamu's frustration.

 

He said: "I am extremely disappointed by the findings of the Fifa appeals committee as announced. It had been my hope that the appeals committee would completely exonerate me and restore Nigeria's representation on the international football stage. Sadly this has not proved to be the case.

 

"My next step will be to appeal this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and I am currently taking legal advice in this regard and cannot comment further on this process. I count myself lucky to enjoy the support of my colleagues in Nigeria who have committed to support me in clearing my name."

 

In addition to Adamu, Reynald Temarii, from Tahiti, also had his appeal against a one-year ban for breaching Fifa rules thrown out by the appeals committee while the three former Fifa ethics committee members Slim Aloulou, Amadou Diakite and Ahongalu Fusimalohi, had their suspensions reduced but the decisions upheld.

 

Adamu and Temarii were caught out in a sting by Sunday Times investigators who pretended to represent a company seeking to buy votes for the USA's World Cup bid.

 

Although Adamu became the first Fifa member ever to be banned for seeking bribes, the newspaper's investigation was criticised by the ethics committee chairman Claudio Sulser as "sensationalist", and England 2018 admitted the furore had damaged their bid.

 

Neither member was permitted to take part in the voting for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, won by Russia and Qatar respectively.

[gulaman]

Good on the clubs. I've long felt UEFA, or at least the European clubs, should break away from FIFA, a corrupt organisation that really don't look out for European interests even though the majority of funding comes from us.

[Gunga Din]

Good on the clubs. I've long felt UEFA, or at least the European clubs, should break away from FIFA, a corrupt organisation that really don't look out for European interests even though the majority of funding comes from us.

 

 

indeed. play the Euro's every two years and invite Brazil and Argentina as guest teams. job done

[Hassony]

indeed. play the Euro's every two years and invite Brazil and Argentina as guest teams. job done

 

 

what about the likes of Uruguay, Japan, Paraguay, south korea, Ghana... who were all better than half of the european teams at the world cup

[gulaman]

 

what about the likes of Uruguay, Japan, Paraguay, south korea, Ghana... who were all better than half of the european teams at the world cup

They can be invited too. This will leave FIFA totally redundant.

 

 

 

[Gunga Din]

 

what about the likes of Uruguay, Japan, Paraguay, south korea, Ghana... who were all better than half of the european teams at the world cup

 

 

dont care. European Championships plus Brazil and Argentina. all the other s**** from South America, Africa and Asia can play in the world cup

[épieur]

Good on the clubs. I've long felt UEFA, or at least the European clubs, should break away from FIFA, a corrupt organisation that really don't look out for European interests even though the majority of funding comes from us.

So you are saying FIFA should privilege European football, because that is where they get their money? You seem to want to legitimise corrupted thinking.

 

I have little respect for FIFA but if they are not euro-centric in their management, then that is at least one thing I will give them credit for. European football is tremendously powerful as it is. It doesn't need the worldwide association pandering to it at the expence of less developed footballing countries.

 

 

[Hassony]

dont care. European Championships plus Brazil and Argentina. all the other s**** from South America, Africa and Asia can play in the world cup

 

I bet Brazil and Argentina can't wait to meet the likes of Greece, Denmark, Serbia, England, solvania every two years

[Gunga Din]

I bet Brazil and Argentina can't wait to meet the likes of Greece, Denmark, Serbia, England, solvania every two years

 

 

make a nice change from playing Venuzuela and Boliva, wont it, or turning up at world cups and playing some s**** from Asia or Africa and not needing to get out of 1st gear

[aka Dus]

This could be interesting if the headline is true (though there is not much to back it up)

 

 

 

European Union turns up the heat on Fifa to tackle bribery claims

• Hugh Robertson says clean-up will be 'key priority' for EU<br style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">• Sports minister wants action over World Cup bid process

 

• • Share29
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• Owen Gibson
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 May 2011 22.26 BST
• Article history

Hugh Robertson, the sports minister, says that the Dutch and Australians share English unhappiness with the World Cup bidding process. Photograph: Alex Morton/Action ImagesThe European Union is to make reforming Fifa a "key priority" as pressure from governments around the world for a fundamental overhaul of world football's governing body grew in the wake of fresh allegations of bribery and corruption during the World Cup bidding process.

 

As Fifa promised to investigate claims from the former Football Association chairman Lord Triesman that four Fifa executive committee members asked for money or honours in return for their vote, and further claims made in the Sunday Times that two more accepted bribes of $1.5m (£900,000) from Qatar, the Conservative sports minister insisted pressure on the organisation would increase significantly.

 

Hugh Robertson said an international consensus was forming that Fifa should be made to reform in the way the International Olympic Committee was forced to change after the Salt Lake City scandal in 1999. Then, 10 IOC members were expelled or forced to resign over allegations of vote-buying during Salt Lake City's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

 

"I would like to see really concerted pressure from international bodies to get them to reform," said Robertson. "We're pretty wound up about it, the Dutch [and] the Australians are pretty wound up and there are a number of others."

 

He said finding a way to force Fifa to reform would be one of the "key objectives" for Poland, which takes over the running of the EU Council from July. "Cleaning up and reforming international sports institutions is a key objective of the Polish presidency for next year," he said. "If the commission take an interest, if whatever country is holding the presidency takes an interest, if we can sustain that for more than one cycle, then we have a chance. No organisation likes being held up to international ridicule and constantly being told they are corrupt. It's got to be much more transparent. They have got to be much more open and much more transparent."

 

Sepp Blatter, who is increasingly likely to win a fourth term as Fifa president on 1 June, and his challenger Mohamed Bin Hammam have promised reforms to Fifa's structure and procedures, including the World Cup bidding process. But there remains widespread cynicism about whether they will deliver.

 

Blatter said the allegations would be dealt with before the body's congress in Zurich in three weeks' time, when the 73-year-old hopes to win another four years as president. "We have to do it very fast," he told al-Jazeera. "We have a Congress to come and have to deal with this matter before the Congress and not just kick it out of the minds of Fifa and [say] we will deal with it afterwards."

 

"We have to do it now, immediately, and we have three weeks.We must accelerate the movement, whether it is for the good or for the bad."

 

All four of the executive committee members accused by Triesman have denied wrongdoing. Brazil's long-standing federation chief, Ricardo Teixeira, described as "absurd" the allegation that he asked Triesman to "come and tell me what you have got for me". Teixeira said he would pursue all possible "legal action against Triesman", although it is unclear how he would do so under English law.

 

As Fifa demanded evidence relating to the claims made by Triesman under parliamentary privilege, the FA said its general secretary, Alex Horne, had written to the world governing body offering its full assistance.

 

Fifa said in a statement that its general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, had written to the FA and expressed "extreme concern" at the allegations "questioning the integrity of some Fifa ExCo members in connection with the bidding procedure for the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups".

 

Bin Hammam, the Qatari president of the Asian Football Confederation who played a key role in securing the 2022 World Cup for his country, denied bribes were paid to Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma. "I can assure you nothing like this has happened from our side. If someone wants to damage reputations like this then they have to provide the proof. You can't just accuse people just like that. It didn't happen. It is fine to say something, to try to damage the reputation of somebody but where is the proof?"

 

In addition to the allegation involving Teixeira, Triesman claimed the Fifa vice-president Jack Warner asked for cash to build an education centre and buy World Cup TV rights for the people of Haiti; that Thailand's Worawi Makudi wanted to be given the TV rights to a friendly between England and Thailand; and that Paraguay's Nicolás Leoz asked for a knighthood.

 

Warner said he "laughed like hell" at Triesman's claims: "First of all, I laugh like hell because it took those guys from December to now [to say] that I have £2.5m, I believe. I never asked anybody for anything. When these guys came here, we promised to help. I showed them a place where they can put a playground. They promised to come back but they never did. That's all."

 

Leoz's spokesman called the accusations "pure fantasy and morbid", and a statement issued on behalf of Hayatou, the head of African football, said "he has categorically denied allegations of corruption brought against him before parliament in Britain. "This kind of reporting to create and propagate false information to destroy his reputation, leadership and integrity will not succeed. The president of CAF said all these accusations brought against him are pure invention and an attempt to discredit him."

 

[Jonesy]

Internatonal football has been waning for ages now.

 

Since this last set of votes on the World Cup i'm totallt f*cking done with it. I with Blatter and his corrupt cronies would just p*ss off.

 

Hopefully the clubs will band together, grow some balls, and tell FIFA that their players won't be goingto any more World Cups.

 

 

He's put it in writing now. Close his account down!!