Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
2014/12/01 20:55:55
Subject: Corruption? In FIFA? I am shocked, SHOCKED
Vladimir Putin allegedly gave UEFA President Michel Platini a Picasso in exchange for a FIFA World Cup vote
Spoiler:
By Marissa Payne December 1 at 2:45 PM
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, shares a totally non-sketchy handshake with FIFA President Sepp Blatter after Russia was announced as the host for the 2018 soccer World Cup in Zurich. (Kurt Schorrer/AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly offered a Picasso painting to UEFA president Michel Platini in exchange for World Cup votes, according to a new report from The Sunday Times. The allegations are being made by England’s 2018 World Cup bid committee, which, according to the Sunday Times, gathered intelligence “from a network of British embassies and private intelligence firms staffed by former MI6 officers” over the course of two years about the Russian bid. The information was then revealed in “a dossier published by parliament.”
If true, the contents of the report are damning for Russia. The Sunday Times writes:
It reports how England’s bid officials were warned that Vladimir Putin, then the Russian prime minister, had “cranked up . . . the operation” months before the secret ballot and was alleged to have tasked a trusted cabal of oligarchs with doing “deniable” deals to win the support of FIFA voters.
Some of those “deniable” acts, according to the Sunday Times, included the handing out of high-priced art to FIFA voters, including a painting believed to be by Pablo Picasso to UEFA’s Platini and an additional landscape painting to FIFA voting member Michel D’Hooghe of Belgium. The latter painting was said to be wrapped in a paper bag and given to D’Hooghe by Vyacheslav Koloskov, a former FIFA vice president and Russia 2018 World Cup committee member.
D’Hooghe, who is reportedly being investigated along with four others by FIFA in a new corruption probe connected to the World Cup bids, confirmed the receipt of the painting to the Sunday Times, but noted he thought it held no monetary value. He also said it was “absolutely ugly” and added that he did not vote for Russia to win the 2018 bid.
Platini, however, denies the allegation that he was given a Picasso painting from Putin.
“Allegations in the Sunday Times relating to my actions in the 2018 and 2022 bidding processes are total fabrications,” Platini told CNN. “The matter has now been passed to my legal advisers.”
Officials from Russia’s bid committee also denied any wrongdoing, telling CNN in a statement:
“Russia 2018 categorically rejects all of the allegations made in the Sunday Times today as entirely unfounded speculation.
“These allegations are not new, but the evidence has only ever indicated that Russia 2018 behaved professionally and fairly throughout the bidding process.
“The Russia 2018 Bid Committee operated in full compliance with the spirit and letter of FIFA’s Code of Ethics, and sought to abide by the FIFA bidding guidelines at all times.
“This kind of speculation will not affect Russia 2018′s focus on doing what we have been doing for nearly four years already: making great progress towards our objective of hosting the best ever FIFA World Cup in 2018.”
The Sunday Times report comes less than a month after FIFA released a summary of the findings from an independent investigation into corruption behind the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids. The summary cleared both Russia and the 2022 winner Qatar of any wrongdoing, but found improprieties in the losing bids of England (which lost to Russia) and Australia (which lost to Qatar).
2014/12/01 20:56:33
Subject: Corruption? In FIFA? I am shocked, SHOCKED
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation
2014/12/01 20:59:18
Subject: Corruption? In FIFA? I am shocked, SHOCKED
Various bid teams were clearly naughty (and that includes England)
I suggest we abolish world football entirely for a decade or two before restarting it (preferably with mixed teams on motorbikes)
So we give the world another beautiful game, fall behind in technique and skill (yet somehow have 'the best league in the world') AND still loose world cup bids to countries who understand the value of a well placed brown envelope full of cash.
We would be best off staying away from world football full stop. And maybe have an albion super-league (made up of the best European and south american talents).
2014/12/01 21:50:43
Subject: Re:Corruption? In FIFA? I am shocked, SHOCKED
Proud Member of the Infidels of OIF/OEF
No longer defending the US Military or US Gov't. Just going to ""**feed into your fears**"" with Duffel Blog Did not fight my way up on top the food chain to become a Vegan...
Warning: Stupid Allergy
Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend
DE 6700
Harlequin 2500
RIP Muhammad Ali.
Jihadin, Scorched Earth 791. Leader of the Pork Eating Crusader. Alpha
2014/12/01 22:05:48
Subject: Corruption? In FIFA? I am shocked, SHOCKED
All the more reason for you foreigners to pick up American football or baseball, as God intended.
Those are good clean sports, filled with paragons of virtue and goodwill, from the lowliest towel boy, to the players, and all the way up to the head honchos, nary a foul deed enters their thoughts.
"Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning." - The Emperor, from The Outcast Dead.
"Tell your gods we are coming for them, and that their realms will burn as ours did." -Thostos Bladestorm
