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Post by tuum on Nov 20, 2014 15:58:05 GMT
True. Latest news - www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30103293Looks like they intend to sacrifice somebody to protect the organisation. I think they're genuinely feeling the pressure from countries like Germany and England now. Alternatively, they'll be going after somebody at the FA. My immediate thoughts were that having criticised the England bid in the summary someone at the FA would be the target. It's a risky ploy though because surely all the dirty linen would be aired including all the shit the Sunday Times has dug up that Garcia didn't even consider. Interesting times. Is it significant that it was lodged in Switzerland (other than FIFA's HQ is there)? Are Swiss Judges less averse to large well stuffed brown envelopes mysteriously appearing in their bank accounts? No.They are not. The Swiss legal system and Police have consistently failed to investigate allegations of corruption within FIFA and seem to have a very cosy relationship with Sepp et al. Where money is concerned, it seems the Swiss are always willing to turn a blind eye. It's a good job the Yanks have still got some morals to keep the Swiss moderately honest because most of the Euro countries only have their own interests at heart and are just as bad as the Swiss.
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Post by Paul Spencer on Nov 30, 2014 18:19:19 GMT
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Post by Olgrligm on Dec 15, 2014 21:18:26 GMT
I'm afraid that I'm a fortnight late with this one, but another fascinating article out of Private Eye:
It's pass-the-toxic-"ethics"-parcel time again at Fifa's glass palace above Zurich. President Sepp Blatter's latest hired investigator has overdone his exoneration of Fifa's venal leaders over claims they solicited bribes from Qatarr and Russia. As the world hoots, the scandal officially closed two weeks ago has been reopened.
The "re-examination" of the evidence by Domenico Scala, a former CEO recruited from Big Pharma, will be in secret, as is the Fifa way. It will also lack the help of his colleague on Fifa's audit committee, Cayman's Canover Watson, who was charged last week with corruption, fraud and money laundering.
How did it all go so wrong for Blatter? His tame "investigator", former New York prosecutor Michael Garcia, had successfully produced a secret whitewash in 2013, clearing Blatter of involvement in the notorious $100m scandal of kickbacks to Fifa's leaders from a Swiss marketing company.
In issue 1367, Columbia University professor Scott Horton told the Eye: "The one thing that could be predicted with utter confidence on the basis of Garcia's professional career is that he would zealously protect whoever appointed him and paid his bills. He might actually go after corrupt figures, but only to the extent it served the agenda of the person who appointed him."
But Garcia was too zealous this time, producing an "investigation" so generous to the Fifa crooks that the FBI has been provoked to step up its own inquiries into Fifa money laundering and corruption.
Garcia had submitted his report in September, knowing Blatter would bury it. Garcia and the "Fifa family" had approved Blatter's 2012 "ethics code" that rules out publication - and which cannot be changed unless the Blatter-controlled Fifa congress alters the rules in six months' time.
Garcia can't want the report published because his absolution of Qatar, Russia and Fifa's executive committee is patently absurd. Bribes are traditionally solicited by Fifa's leaders when choosing World Cup hosts and the old boys created a double payday when they decided to award two tournaments at once in December 2010. As former FA chair Lord Triesman revealed in parliament in 2011, four members of Fifa's executive committee tried to get cash or other benefits from the England bid.
So what lies behind Garcia's unexpected complaint that Munich judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, tasked with reducing the 430-page report to a manageable 42 pages, had misrepresented his "investigation"?
The wheels came off for Blatter and Garcia on 2 November when the Net York Daily News revealed that former Fifa executive committee member, American Chuck Blazer, was a cooperating witness with an FBI Fifa corruption investigation and had worn a wire at the 2012 Olympics, entrapping Fifa officials. Blazer is most likely to know who took bribes and where they were banked.
If the Feds indict any Fifa leaders, Garcia's reputation will be destroyed. But it was too late to withdraw his whitewash report. How to head off global ridicule?
Three days later, the sports pages of the New York Times, which a year ago had certified Blatter corruption-free, rode to the rescue. Having missed the FBI story, it hired ageing English football hack Rob Hughes to play it down, reporting from faraway London that Blazer was only a "bit player in the bigger world of soccer corruption". The FBI doesn't share that view; indeed, few have more experience of stealing from Fifa than Blazer.
Then, on 6 November, the NY Times sports section published a classic blow job piece hailing Garcia's skills as a prosecutor. The headline, "Secret Fifa Report Stirs Dispute Between Investigators", signalled Garcia's attempt to distance himself from his report. Readers were told "he had written a report that he expected would eventually be made public, in the spirit of transparency". Garcia had been shackled by fuddy-duddy Judge Eckert, a prisoner of European confidentiality.
Blatter, knowing Garcia was now semi-detached, told his longtime media fixer Peter Hartigay (Eyes passim) to set the agenda for BBC Sport. The earliest advance copies of Judge Eckert's summary were sent there and, as instructed, the boot went into the England FA (who'd fired "consultant" Hartigay in 2008 when he asked for £4m in cash to bribe Fifa officials to give England the 2018 World Cup - see Eye 1278) and Fifa's leaders were cleared of taking kickbacks.
The BBC Sport website is trusted worldwide and control of its output is essential to Blatter's survival. BBC Sport's compliant reported Richard Conway churned out the Hartigay briefing, soon joined by new sports editor Dan Roan. Britain's well-rewarded Fifa vice-president and Blatter loyalist, Ulsterman Jim Boyce, announced the affair was closed. It became the Fifa story du jour - for three hours. Then Garcia struck. He condemned Eckert's summary, saying it "contains numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations".
The suggestion that this example of German judicial rectitude would not accurately distil Garcia's investigation-lite is risible. Eckert, knifed in the back, replied meekly: "A lot of my report was word for word from the Garcia report." But that was the wrong story for football hacks. A man who didn't speak English was far easier pickings than American Garcia, who they had been told was a top corruption buster.
Garcia even went out of his way to disrupt the FBI investigation. He interviewed former Qatar bid employee Phaedra Almajid, who claims to have witnessed three of Fifa's leaders negotiating multi-million dollar with Qtari officials.
In Eye 1368, we reported that once Doha had coerced her into retracting her evidence, former BBC Sports editor David Bond was given the world exclusive that she had lied. Bond and BBC Sport executives swallowed this fantasy, not bothering to interview her at her home in America and dismissing allegations that the Gulf billionaires had paid bribes. This has hampered attempts by other BBC reports to unravel how a broiling strip of Gulf sand could acquire a World Cup.
Ms Almajid has been extensively debriefed by the FBI on the bribery and coercion, but using her crucial evidence in a US court will not be problematic. Garcia, in a boost to Blatter's hopes of escaping a federal indictment, declared he had "serious concerns about the individual's credibility".
The Hartigay and Conway version of Garcia's sweetheart "investigation" led all BBC bulletins. BBC News boss James Harding lost patience with Bond sucking up to Blatter, and must now be wondering who he can trust at BBC Sport.
As before, apologies for any dodgy typing.
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Post by eddyclamp on Dec 16, 2014 10:13:17 GMT
The big sponsors are getting itchy feet now. This was always going to be the thing that would force issues. Big companies don`t want to be associated with the going`s on at FIFA and are starting to pull away. The shit`s stating to hit the fan and the gravy train stop`s and then people look for a scapegoat. When the truth finally does come out which I believe it will , it will make a great movie.
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Post by dadofsam on Dec 16, 2014 10:40:21 GMT
Twats the lot of 'em
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Post by JoeinOz on Dec 16, 2014 10:47:35 GMT
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Post by Clayton Wood on Dec 17, 2014 10:57:49 GMT
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Post by eddyclamp on Dec 17, 2014 16:43:31 GMT
Michael Garcia has resigned from FIFAs ethics committee , oh dear.
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Post by tpholloway1 on Dec 17, 2014 16:47:39 GMT
That's an oxymoron FIFA ethics!!!
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Post by Paul Spencer on Dec 17, 2014 16:59:27 GMT
It's hard to see how they could go with anything but this option. FIFA would be mad to attempt anything else - it's a massive olive branch from the EPFL.
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Post by basingstokie on Dec 17, 2014 18:39:43 GMT
Michael Garcia has resigned from FIFAs ethics committee , oh dear. The corruption train is slowly gathering speed, soon it will have too much momentum to stop and with the fbi now investigating I really don't see how fifa can survive this
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Post by enuntio on Dec 17, 2014 18:51:08 GMT
I really hope the next two world cups are reassigned. of the two, I'd prefer the one in the middle east and for it to be played in the winter with lots more summer league football for us
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Post by JoeinOz on Dec 18, 2014 0:24:02 GMT
Does Garcia's resignation give him freedom to say publicly what is in the report??
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Post by ukcstokie on Dec 18, 2014 1:44:50 GMT
Does Garcia's resignation give him freedom to say publicly what is in the report?? You'd hope so - but you would have to think that the FIFA lawyers would have slipped in some confidentiality agreement into any contract. It does feel that those wanting to turn FIFA around seem to see this as somewhat of a setback, losing someone from within rather than having someone who can blow this apart from the outside.
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Post by lordb on Dec 18, 2014 8:52:37 GMT
It's hard to see how they could go with anything but this option. FIFA would be mad to attempt anything else - it's a massive olive branch from the EPFL. 'FIFA would be mad....' November it is then.
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Post by Clayton Wood on Dec 19, 2014 12:10:36 GMT
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Post by localloser on Dec 19, 2014 12:29:18 GMT
It will change absolutely nothing. Watch Blatter get re-elected... The report will be published "where legally possible" - all the juicy bits will get redacted. Except for the bit criticising the English FA And the Russian computers are still wiped!
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Post by Robo10 on Dec 19, 2014 12:35:00 GMT
Its not that great news
1) It will be a LONG LONG time before its ever released while these 'legal proceedings' take place
2) It will be so heavily redacted to 'protect' anonymous witnesses I doubt it will be readable, like in many CIA thrillers from TV :-)
XXXX XXXXXXX received $X,XXXX,XXXX,XXX for the provision of XXXXXXXXXX to the federation of XXXXXX for XXXX and XXXXXX. What a XXXX.
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Post by JoeinOz on Dec 20, 2014 10:17:17 GMT
Are the FBI ever going to take action or is it all talk?
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Post by blackpoolred on Dec 20, 2014 19:28:49 GMT
Does this make any difference as it sounds like only Australia and England co-operated. It's time for England and the FA to disassociate itself from FIFA.
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Post by JoeinOz on Dec 21, 2014 9:02:23 GMT
Does this make any difference as it sounds like only Australia and England co-operated. It's time for England and the FA to disassociate itself from FIFA. England acting alone would be pointless. It needs UEFA to boycott 2022.
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Post by Olgrligm on Feb 23, 2015 22:26:23 GMT
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Post by norman conquest on Feb 23, 2015 22:40:25 GMT
I still think holding it in war mongering racist Russia is a big mistake never mind Qatar where most western things are frowned upon, the European nations should grow a pair and boycott both.
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Post by upthefud on Feb 23, 2015 22:45:09 GMT
50 leagues are set to be impacted.
It's a farce. It's a disgrace. Our game is at it's lowest ebb. What a mess.
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Post by ************** on Feb 24, 2015 1:11:54 GMT
I still think holding it in war mongering racist Russia is a big mistake never mind Qatar where most western things are frowned upon, the European nations should grow a pair and boycott both. When a few of us first suggested this course of action about 12 months back the idea was totally scoffed at.
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Post by JoeinOz on Feb 24, 2015 5:00:27 GMT
Too late to boycott 2018? Almost certainly too late motivate the UEFA nations to do a stated boycott. 2022 is a different matter. But one nation withdrawing alone would look daft.... especially if it was England. It has to be collective action organised and supported by football people not administrators.
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Post by 2004 on Feb 24, 2015 8:34:15 GMT
This is shit!
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Post by basingstokie on Feb 24, 2015 9:09:53 GMT
I'm waiting for legal action from.the countries who bid unsuccessfully for a June/July tournament. FIFA have changed the rules after the winner was announced and that is in no way fair
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Post by cousindupree on Feb 24, 2015 9:15:31 GMT
FIFA if anything are not stupid and when the Qatar option was outrageously awarded in exchange for cash anybody who has spent even a couple of days in Qatar in summer would know that at this time of year its a non starter. They always knew the date would be changed and the longer they delayed that decision the less likely it is for anyone to boycott. If at the time of the announcement the european countries collectively grew a pair and said no chance we will withdraw and hold our own tournament FIFA would have to have changed to another location or no World Cup. Indeed the whole thing stinks but nobody in any authority seems to care too much
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Post by metalhead on Feb 24, 2015 9:38:19 GMT
Surely now is the opportunity for the FA to build some bridges. Phone the Spanish, Italian, French, German FA and talk about a united boycott. If those 4 major countries pulled out, and we pulled out as a token gesture too (we're shit, can't really say we hold much clout) then major sponsors would pull out. Sepp would shit his pants at the thought of less money, hopefully he'd have a heart attack and die when he resizes just how much he would lose.
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