England Poor Losers. FIFA Not Corrupt - BLATTER!

[Macmoish]

Reuters

Blatter says FIFA not corrupt, England bad losers
16:35 GMT, Wed 8 Dec 2010
ZURICH, Dec 8 (Reuters) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has rejected allegations of corruption at soccer's governing body after Russia and Qatar won the right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, calling England "bad losers" for their reaction.

World

"To be honest, I was surprised by all the English complaining after the defeat. England, of all people, the motherland of fairplay ideas," Blatter told Swiss weekly magazine Weltwoche in an interview released ahead of publication on Thursday.

"Now some of them are showing themselves to be bad losers," he said. "You can't come afterwards and say so and so promised to vote for England. The results are known. The outcome came out clearly."

Roger Burden, acting chairman of the Football Association, withdrew his application for the permanent position last week, saying he could no longer trust FIFA members after the failure of England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

He added that England's bid team in Zurich, which included Prime Minister David Cameron and the second in line to the throne, Prince William, were promised votes which had not been delivered by FIFA executive committee members.

Blatter said the reaction of the losing bidders showed some did not understand his drive to expand soccer's frontiers.

"I really sense in some reactions a bit of the arrogance of the western world of Christian background. Some simply can't bear it if others get a chance for a change," he said.

"What can be wrong if we start football in regions where this sport demonstrates a potential which goes far beyond sport?" he said.

England's bid chief Andy Anson has suggested Blatter influenced committee members before the vote by reminding them of British media stories which alleged corruption against them and led to two being banned.

Blatter rejected the corruption allegations and said he was being targeted by anti-FIFA journalists: "There is no systematic corruption in FIFA. That is nonsense," he said. "We are financially clean and clear."

But Blatter said FIFA could not act as if nothing had happened, adding he wanted to set up a taskforce to look into compliance issues, without giving details.

"We need to improve our image. We also need to clarify some things within FIFA," he said.

Asked if he would still be FIFA president to open the Qatar World Cup in 2022, Blatter said: "Definitely not. If God wills it, I will be invited to the opening party on crutches or in a wheelchair."

football.uk.reuters.com/leagues/world/news/2010/12/08/LDE6B71NR.php?rpc=401

[klr]

* Oh, I dont think he needs to worry too much about an invite to the opening party in Qatar*

*Massive English understatement alert*

World Cup in Qatar most ridiculous, corrupt & shameful decision in Football History.

Maybe the Isle of Wight should bid for The World Cup ?

[Lonegunmen]

Wait till Phil from South Africa reads this one. He's been a life long fan of "Honest Sepp" and his friends!

No corruption in Fifa is the same as saying Alien Races don't exist on other planets.

[Macmoish]

And Brian Glanville/World Soccer

THIEVES KITCHEN

England beyond doubt have been cheated: theirs was the best, most valued bid for the 2018 World Cup.
Russia, almost concurrently impugned as a mafia country by American diplomatic sources, should have been ignored from the first, were FIFA to implement the meaningless hypocrisy of its so called Kick Out Racism policy. Panorama were fully justified in blowing the whistle on the leading FIFA executives and committee members who stole vast funds from the organisation. And the vision of the Prime Minister of Britain grovelling to the ineffable Jack Warner of Trinidad, impugned for disgraceful dealings in black market World Cup tickets, was humiliating and nauseating.

Even Prince William was dragged into the squalor of the system: still more than David Cameron he should surely always have been above the conflict. It remains to be seen whether Russia can make good its expansive promises of stadia building and improve its inadequate sometimes dangerous (aerial) communications. In an ideal football world, major countries would break away from FIFA and form their own federation. Alas it won’t happen. The putrescent augean stables of Zurich will remain.

FIFA alas is beyond reach and beyond reform, a thieves’ kitchen, a sink of iniquity, mired in dishonesty, greed and dishonesty. To impugn the nature and pursuit of the English bid simply begs the question. True it wasn’t what it might have been. In Andy Anson it had, as number one, a fairly feeble advocate. It was beyond belief and logic to subject David Cameron and Prince William to the utter humiliation of trying to persuade the ineffable Jack Warner to come on board, of course that irredeemable charlatan, he of the World Cup ticket scams and so much else, was never going to keep his word. Any more than his fellow CONCACAF miscreant Chuck Blazer.


The spectacle of the Prime Minister of Great Britain grovelling to the likes of Jack Warner is nauseating beyond belief. Cameron should certainly have known better and the well intentioned but plainly ill informed Prince William should never have been exposed to such humiliation.

Ever since Joao Havelange manipulated Stanley Rous out of the presidency of FIFA in Frankfurt in 1974, morality went out of the window, greed and skulduggery became the name of the game, and there is simply nothing to be done with an organisation with its self perpetuating malfeasance.


That Russia, which, far from kicking our racism, has it in its football in spades should get one World Cup is ludicrous enough. That another should be given to tiny Qatar, with its 105 degree heat, its mediaeval laws, its shocking exploitation of immigrant labour, its lack of any achievement or prestige in international football, is surely a parody of a parody.


FIFA in other words is beyond any kind of reform. In an ideal football world, there would be a mass withdrawal of those countries like our own with some claim to honesty and integrity. There are even rumours that this may happen. In the meantime, we can dream can’t we?

***************

History repeats itself. At the Emirates last Saturday one watched Arsenal’s two inadequate centre backs collide, allowing the incisive Fulham striker, Kamara, to equalise. Afterwards Arsene Wenger insisted that the referee should have stopped the game. Alas, the unlucky Laurent Koscielny had to be carried off with concussion.



Arsenal’s manager insisted afterwards that the referee should have stopped the game when the collision occurred. Which brought back memories of his angry outburst a couple of seasons ago at Highbury when two Gunners players collided and fell near the touchline, allowing Spurs to go on and score. An infuriated Wenger accused the guiltless Tottenham manager, the Dutchman, Jol, of lying when he said he hadn’t seen what happened. But when two men from the same side collapse in this way with no opponent close or guilty, play will presumably go on. Which doesn’t alter the fact that a porous Arsenal defence could do so badly with the old Tony Adams.


Isn’t it high time that the Football League Cup – yes, I know, it’s the Carling Cup, having had more aliases than a con man – was laid to rest? The most recent results expose its irrelevance, having thrashed poor Blackburn 7-1, a few days later, Manchester United bring a reserve team to West Ham and crash 4-0. Complete with that bizarrely and mysteriously priced £10 million centre back Smalling. And a weakened West Brom succumb at Ipswich Town, struggling in the Second Division, alias the Championship. Our football today is overwhelmed with fixtures and these are surely superfluous.


Long ago, the Football League’s vengeful panjandrum, Alan Hardaker, who did his best or worst to nip the European Cup in the bud, launched the League Cup as a proposed rival to the FA Cup. He hated the FA. Initially it was an obscure midweek double-headed affair, right the way through to the Final. Then he took it to Wembley and somehow contributed to get UEFA to allow the winners a place in the old Intercities, now UEFA Cup. But its hour has long ago struck.

***************


How long now will Carlos Tevez stay at Manchester City, before following in the wake of a Craig Bellamy whose physio now says he can play for another three or four years? True his reaction when subbed last Saturday against Bolton in the 90th minute was, excessively brusque, but what a daft time to substitute him anyway.



Roberto Mancini is a confrontational figure though disciplining those players who jaunted off to Scotland to play golf and drink was fair enough. Of them, however, young Adam Johnson is surely a jewel who deserved a regular place. What a superb midweek goal he scored in that other questionable competition, the Europa Cup. How sad it was to see the end of the Cupwinners’ Cup, destroyed by the greedy ambition of the bigger clubs, who wanted places in which is now so erroneously still called the Champions Cup.

www.worldsoccer.com/glanville/

[scarletpimple]

Blatter said the reaction of the losing bidders showed some did not understand his drive to expand soccer's frontiers.



So why except bids from established nations, knowing full well they would be wasting their time AND THEIR MONEY.

[weavie]

i have no idea what this thread is about,but as always i agree with the scarlet pimple,im sure hes probabley correctomondo

[moriarty]

A contribution from this week's popb1tch:

RAM writes:
"During the noughties, | was Events Manager
at a (then) cool hotel on Park Lane (the one
whose members bar was very popular with the
Cool Britannia set). We regularly hosted FIFA
press conferences in our penthouse, hosted by
Sepp Blatter. On his first visit Blatter's
Swiss PA (a very nice young man) approached us
and asked if Mr Blatter would be able to have
a massage to help him relax before his press
conference. Having our own spa, this was not
a problem. The awkward part was that it was
made clear to us that the massage was expected
to have a happier ending than the one our
trained therapists would expect to give.

[Macmoish]

Hold the 2022 World Cup in Jan

BBC

Ex-Asian official urges Fifa to change 2022 Cup timing

The Asian Football Confederation's former general secretary has urged Fifa to change the timing of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to avoid the summer heat.

Peter Velappan said temperatures reaching 40C during the desert state's summer months pose a danger to players.

Velappan added that plans to cool stadiums and training grounds with air conditioners were "not a solution".

He also warned that some European countries might boycott the tournament due to concerns over the heat.

"Qatar is a nice country but there is no way football can be played in June and July there. No player will ever want to play in these conditions," said Velappan.

It has never been said by the bid team that the tournament would be staged in January

Qatar bid expert Mike Lee
"I would strongly recommend that Fifa reschedule the tournament to January, February. Fifa is obliged to do everything possible to provide the best for the teams and the football fans."

Velappan's comments echoed those made by Fifa executive committee member Franz Beckenbauer, who earlier this month suggested making a one-time change to the European league schedules to allow the 2022 World Cup to be played in winter.

However, throughout Qatar's bid for the World Cup, AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam - a native of the desert state - downplayed the hot temperatures.

In addition, public relations expert Mike Lee, who played a significant role in Qatar's victorious 2022 bid, said that rescheduling the tournament was never a part of their proposal.

"It has never been said by the bid team that the tournament would be staged in January," Lee told BBC 5Live's Sportsweek on Sunday. "It was never a discussion during the course of the bid.

"It will be in the traditional window. That is what has been proposed in the bid book and what the campaign has been based on."

Lee also praised the work being done in Qatar to provide the appropriate facilities for the tournament.

"If you look at what Qatar did in the campaign, it is there, it works in terms of open, air cooled stadiums, and it is now solar powered," he said.

606: DEBATE
Would it make more sense to have a winter World Cup, which would be a first and allow Qatar to leave yet more legacy on their hosting of the World Cup?

ruuuuud
"We have provided solutions in a bid book and made the argument publically but there is also real development work going on.

"Qatar is a place that is changing very quickly, it has amazing resources. I've been there three years and seen so much change already. In the next 12 years it will be unrecognisable."

FA general secretary Alex Horne believed that it would be possible to stage the 2022 World Cup in January.

"I think it would be possible in 12 years' time to hold the World Cup in January," Horne told Sportsweek. "It might just be preferable to subjecting fans and athletes to 50C heat in training and preparation and then games.

"It is 12 years away and during that we have time to have a serious conversation about it. I'm not sure how you do it and it is terribly difficult with regard to the various calendars, but we have 12 years to think about it."

Qatar obtained an outright majority of 14 in the fourth round of voting for 2022 after a secret ballot of Fifa's 22 executive members in Zurich on 2 December.
newsvote.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9271449.stm

[scarletpimple]

Qatar, a total wast of a world cup, i hope the European big footballing nations get togeather and pull out, and form their own governing body, Let fifa run there world cups for the like's of Qatar, south africa, tiawan, isle of man, isle of scilly.

Generations of football lovers in this and other great football nations will never see a world cup in there own country, because of dodgy blatter and fifa........taking football to new places my arse.

Whats the population of qatar, prop less then shepherds bush.

And fifa take a world cup away from millions of football lover's for a month in the desert, watched by a desert royal family and of coarse the cash, dont forget the cash.

I hope this is the beggining of the end for fifa.

[Lonegunmen]

AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam - Thats the cnut that's been dishing the shit out on the Wellington Phoenix. He didn't want the Nix in the A League and the club is certainly barred from playing in the Asians Champions League should the club ever finish in the top two of the A League. Total little W*nker!

[klr]

Whats the difference between Qatar & Shepherds Bush ?

There's more Arabs in Shephereds Bush

[saphilip]

Hey at least SA has a footballing tradition, we hosted a decent WC with hardly any incident (with most incidents being of FIFA's own making) and we had the infrastructure to host it. As FIFA decreed that it was Africa's turn to host it (and let's not forget our bid for 2006 was beaten by the narowest of margins agaisnt powerhouses Germany) the alternative to us would have been Egypt or Morocco - great footballing giants of Africa but hardly fit to host a WC.

I have no problems expanding the game, as Honest Septic Bladder claims, so long as the countries fit the criteria to host it - and more importantly come out tops on merit against other bidding nations.

In both these cases for 2018 & 2022 neither winning nations deserved it - and both fell hopelessly short when compared against the other bidding nations. In fact Qatar & Russia ranked bottom in everything when compared to the other countries - and yet I knew that these 2 nations would win the rights to host it months ago.

You see those 2 countries have ... how shall I put it ... a more tolerant view to kickbacks than the other countries. Not only that you need to add in the anti West sentiment that prevail in many those 22 countries.

The reason why Honest Sepp is now talking about sore loswers and no corruption is because he knows that FIFA is now in the cross hairs of more than few reporters - guys who will now go out of their way to find the evidence - whose suspicions have now been confirmed and now see this as open season.

He is trying to pre-empt that by talking like this. The sad thing is that many will lap it up.

[Lonegunmen]

Or more sadly many wont lap it up yet will not be able to change anything because when you're in the "in club" the only exit is of your your choosing or a pine box.

[ingham]

Would a a world cup consisting of 'Qatar, south africa, tiawan, isle of man, isle of scilly ...' give England a chance if we stayed in it and let the big European countries form another competition?

No, on reflection, I am just being silly.

Of course we wouldn't have a chance.

I still don't get England's beef about where the next two World Cups will be staged, though.

If we believed FIFA are corrupt AND we believed England were going to get the next World Cup, doesn't that imply that we expected to BENEFIT from FIFA's corruption?

And why were we competing at all under the aegis of an authority which is bent?

And especially why were we sending representatives of the British Establishment - viz the Prime Minister and a member of the Royal Family - to grovel before them.

It does sound like sour grapes to me.

[scarletpimple]

Dec 11, 2010 17:03:33 GMT ingham said:

Would a a world cup consisting of 'Qatar, south africa, tiawan, isle of man, isle of scilly ...' give England a chance if we stayed in it and let the big European countries form another competition?

No, on reflection, I am just being silly.

Of course we wouldn't have a chance.

;D ;D ;D

[Macmoish]

And to honest: I'd say the USA has far more legitimate grounds to be outraged than England.

I mean Russia is a reasonable World Cup Host...Sure they're corrupt, racist, etc....But that part of the world has a fair claim to the World Cup. Never hosted it, etc.

But Qatar?

[scarletpimple]

Aus should have got it for 2022......usa have staged the world cup twice already, a third time would have been a touch greedy, considering we have only staged it once, the country who gave football to the world, that would have been ridiculous.

The Russians saying they have never held the world cup before, bloody good reason as most of that time they were a commi despot and no fans would have been allowed into the country, and if you did unfortunatly get in......you would have been accused of spying by the Homely KGB.

And would have been swapped for Kim Philby.......eventually.

[Macmoish]

You can make a fair case for Australia over the USA - But not on the basis of them having hosted it twice. Just in 1994

1930 Uruguay

1934 Italy
1938 France
1942 Cancelled due to World War II
1946 Cancelled due to World War II
1950 Brazil

1954 Switzerland
1958 Sweden
1962 Chile
1966 England
1970 Mexico

1974 West Germany
1978 Argentina
1982 Spain
1986 Mexico
1990 Italy

1994 United States
1998 France
2002 South Korea / Japan
2006 Germany
2010 South Africa

2014 Brazil
2018 Russia
2022 Qatar

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup_hosts#2002_FIFA_World_Cup

[scarletpimple]

Apologies ;D.....Baz gave me that info ;D

[cpr]

Yeah, I blame CPR before Bowles says it!

Anyway, the septics shouldn't have got it in 94, dodgy dealing done then but FIFA can argue that their attempt to take the game to the north American continent finally worked.

Pimple was obviously confusing the world cup with the olympics, thay's what happens when alzheimers sets in.

[scarletpimple]

Dec 11, 2010 22:36:11 GMT cpr said:

Yeah, I blame CPR before Bowles says it!

Anyway, the septics shouldn't have got it in 94, dodgy dealing done then but FIFA can argue that their attempt to take the game to the north American continent finally worked.

Pimple was obviously confusing the world cup with the olympics, thay's what happens when alzheimers sets in.

I had a senior moment.............baz dear.

[Macmoish]

Re the South Africa World Cup: Today's Telegraph/Rupert Neate

South Africa recoups just a tenth of the £3bn cost of staging World Cup 2010

Hosting the 2010 World Cup may have done wonders for South Africa's international reputation, but has not done much for its finances, returning little more than 10pc of the country's total investment in the event.

South Africa made a return of just £323m on the £3bn it spent on building stadiums and infrastructure for this summer's tournament, according to official figures.

The country predicted it would receive an initial boost of £570m from tourists flocking to attend the festival of football. However the tournament failed to attract as many foreign visitors as expected. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South Africa's tourism minister, said just 309,000 foreign fans attended the tournament, compared to predictions of 450,000.

South African-based companies also failed to reap the benefits of the tournament, according to a study by KPMG. Just 22pc of KPMG's 100 biggest African clients, including several multinationals, said they had benefited from the World Cup, compared to 45pc predicting a boost last year.

John Saker, chief operating officer of KPMG Africa, said: "The big boost didn't happen. Businesses that directly served the World Cup did relatively well, but those without direct involvement struggled."

However, Mr Saker said South Africa would continue to benefit from "word of mouth and goodwill for years to come".

Mike Schussler, director of consultants Economists.co.za, said: "The country made a bit of money but less than expected. We got a small part of the ticket sales and the foreign visitors' spending, but it's not as much as we expected."

South Africa's economic growth slowed from 4.6pc in the first quarter of 2010 to 3.2pc in the second and 2.6pc in the third, the periods covering the tournament.

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that staging the 2018 World Cup in England could have boosted the UK economy by £3.2bn. The cost of staging the event in England would have been less than South Africa spent because all of the stadia are already built.

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/8192484/South-Africa-recoups-just-a-tenth-of-the-3bn-cost-of-staging-World-Cup-2010.html

[Macmoish]

Russia World Cup Here we come!

Guardian

Two dead as far-right football fans riot in MoscowRally to mark death of fan shot by men from the Caucasus turns into racist riot in city square and underground

Miriam Elder in Moscow

Football fans clash with riot police in central Moscow during a rally in memory of shot Spartak Moscow fan Yegor Sviridov. Photograph: Denis Sinyakov/Reuters

At least two people were killed after around 7,000 far-right football fans and nationalists gathered at a rally outside Red Square at the weekend, calling for the death of Russia's immigrant population.

The demonstrators, who were marking the death last week of Spartak Moscow fan Yegor Sviridov, who was shot during a brawl with several men from the Caucasus, flashed the Nazi salute, chanted "Russia for Russians!" and pelted riot police with flares, smoke bombs and metal fence posts.

After the rally, hundreds of protesters entered the Moscow metro, where they continued their rampage, beating and stabbing passersby from central Asia and the Caucasus, Russia's troubled, mainly Muslim, southern region. A Kyrgyz man was attacked by 15 people and stabbed to death. One central Asian man was reported to have died in hospital from his injuries following the riot, but officials have declined to comment. Around 20 people were taken to hospital.

The square on which they gathered, Manezhnaya Ploshad, was left littered with graffiti, including one that read: "Yids, get out of Russia!"

The riot came less than two weeks after Russia won the right to host the 2018 World Cup.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev took to his Twitter account last night to post a photo from an Elton John concert he attended. Seconds later, he wrote: "Everything is under control on Manezh Square and in the country. All the inciters will be brought to justice. All of them, without question."

Around 65 people were detained during the riot, but all have since been released. Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, has remained silent.

Tensions between far-right football fans and police have been building for weeks. In mid-November, fans of Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg clashed with riot police in the city, injuring several.

Last night, around 1,000 nationalists took to the streets of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, shouting "Rostov is a Russian city!" and shutting the main street. They had gathered to protest about the 27 November killing of a student during a fight with a man from the Caucasus republic of Ingushetia.

Activists have long warned that Russia's far-right tensions could boil over. Government officials, particularly in the wake of the financial crisis, have played up populist fears over immigration. Since coming to power two months ago, Moscow's new mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, has focused on reducing the presence of migrant labourers in the city.

Far-right football fans are believed to be planning further demonstrations, with one reportedly set for Wednesday evening in central Moscow.




www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/13/two-dead-football-racist-riot-moscow

[klr]

Fair play to them for sticking up for their own people.


Things could be worse, they could live in the Islamic Terrorist State Of Britain!