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.

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
Hurrah for the USA,

the more of FIFA that ends up in court the better (and I don't really even like football)

that said the fact that the USA does not really care too much about (world) football is also a big help in the prosecutions as they have no vested interest in keeping they system alive,

(unlike for instance if they found they had to do something that might risk the American Football or Baseball governing bodies collapsing)

so sweep the corruption away (so we can have new corruption, there's too much cash sloshing around to keep it clean for long)

First Ve Control Your Officialz! Zen Ve Control Your Sportz ZEN VE CONTROL YOUR PEOPLZ!!!

It's an old Reddit thread -- language etc ahoy! -- but provides a few insights

http://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1kf33g/epl_ceo_joins_efa_is_calling_for_fifa_to_take_the/cbov711?context=3

oh and via

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/27/a-body-count-in-qatar-illustrates-the-consequences-of-fifa-corruption/

In the chart below, I've compared those fatality numbers for Qatar with worker fatality estimates for other major international sporting events in recent years. Some of these numbers (like Sochi's) are third-party estimates, others (like Beijing's) are based on official numbers that are almost certainly an undercount. And it's tough to do an apples-to-apples comparison here, since the Qatar estimates include the deaths of all migrant workers after the announcement of Qatar's successful bid in 2010, while other countries' figures may only include deaths directly related to, say, stadium construction.

If current trends continue, the ITUC estimates that 4,000 workers will die in Qatar by the time the World Cup is actually held in 2022.

The Quataris arrested a BBC team who were in the country to cover the buildup for the World Cup.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
The Quataris arrested a BBC team who were in the country to cover the buildup for the World Cup.

After they went off the guide path though. Still, it's quite obvious the entire Qatar idea was terrible from the start, wouldn't be surprised if teams would refuse to play there at all.

You don't arrest teams of reporters from major news organisations for going off the guide path unless you are some kind of police state.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
You don't arrest teams of reporters from major news organisations for going off the guide path unless you are some kind of police state.

I think you just answered your own question.

The right thing for fans to do if the Qatar world cup goes ahead is to boycott it. Do not travel to it. Do not buy products from it's sponsors. Do not watch it on television.

We can all preach about corruption and how wrong it is, but how many of us are willing to take the simple and easily achievable step of just not watching the damn thing?

 Da Boss wrote:
The right thing for fans to do if the Qatar world cup goes ahead is to boycott it. Do not travel to it. Do not buy products from it's sponsors. Do not watch it on television.

We can all preach about corruption and how wrong it is, but how many of us are willing to take the simple and easily achievable step of just not watching the damn thing?

I will lead the way on this.

The horrible thing is, most wont.

I'm also going to lead the way!
(My soapbox is hollow however because...well...I never watch the World Cup, because football is probably the most boring sport in the world. What's that? Another nil all draw?!?)

Jesus. Thats.......bad.
so, I'm calling it now, fifa is the lizard men empire sought on making us wuss is by having us all love soccer and therefore not real sports

 Soladrin wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
The Quataris arrested a BBC team who were in the country to cover the buildup for the World Cup.

After they went off the guide path though. Still, it's quite obvious the entire Qatar idea was terrible from the start, wouldn't be surprised if teams would refuse to play there at all.

They'll play, there's much too much money and glory at stake.

Boycotts only work if people are public about it and let the sponsors (not FIFA) know about it.

So write coke, McDonalds, visa, Budwieser etc know.



http://www.inc.com/bill-saporito/sponsors-may-turn-on-fifa.html

It's okay, everyone!

Sepp Blatter says he had nothing to do with it!

FIFA is A-Ok!

Just a few bad apples, I think we can all sleep well knowing that.

Things are getting interesting.

The Brazilian delegate has done a runner

The Palestinians are trying to get Israel suspended from FIFA

And England are leading the charge to boycott the world cup.

England not take part in the World Cup...


...that would make two in a row right ?

http://instantrimshot.com/

It'll be interesting to see how the vote goes down today. With the US publicly announcing it's intention not to vote for Blatter (which was probably already obvious when they nominated Ali), it'll be interesting to see how many votes they can swing their way.

 cincydooley wrote:
It'll be interesting to see how the vote goes down today. With the US publicly announcing it's intention not to vote for Blatter (which was probably already obvious when they nominated Ali), it'll be interesting to see how many votes they can swing their way.

I caught on CTV national news last night that the Canadian delegate is also not voting for Blubber... I guess there's some significance there since the Women's World Cup kicks off here in a couple more weeks?

 reds8n wrote:
England not take part in the World Cup...


...that would make two in a row right ?

http://instantrimshot.com/

Far too cynical


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Israel won its vote and I've just seen a picture of the Israeli and the Palestinian delegates shake hands...

Unsurprisingly, they look like they're squeezing the life out of each other

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
Far too cynical

Try tin foil hats next then... According to the usual sources this whole show is once again an attack against Russia and Putin. ;-)

While I admire my country for leading the boycott, they are, sadly, irrelevant in football having poor performances for years.

If any country was going to lead the boycott, it would have to be Germany.

FIFA can probably cope with the loss the top European teams from a boycott.

UEFA member teams are largely irrelevant when considering the power of the $. UEFA know a boycott is meaningless.

Blatter has known for years, and is why he keeps in power despite repeated acts of cronyism and fraud perpetrated by FIFA, that the smaller confederates are where he has most support and where football is growing as a whole. FIFA main sponsors also know this.

Should Blatter loose the vote the organisation would still be the same as it has been for many a year and to keep this status quo the federation can still look to the 150+ members who have been the targets of FIFA previous 'charm' offensives.

For those interested, Blatter got 133 out of 209 votes in the first round of voting, he needed 140 to win on the first round. Second round of voting is simple majority so... yeah, he's gonna stay.

I think it was pretty much that obvious.

You've got footballing giants like Germany, Brazil and others have the same amount of votes as smaller nations.

With Blatter bringing World Cups to Asia and Africa (and in turn, getting their support), the numbers start to add up quickly when you consider the amount of members/votes it means.

EDIT: Aaaand just like that, the President is re-elected. Almost as comical as when he ran against himself last time xD

I'm sure I read that UEFA is financially a bigger organisation than FIFA? It now needs Michael Platini to follow through with his threats, and the rest of the UEFA countries to grow some balls and back him up.

Even despite these corruption allegations there has been so much discord about the Qatari world cup, that's even without the human rights issues going on (which are frankly appalling) - just having the tournament during regular season time for Europe is going to put the WC against the financial juggernauts of the European leagues and interfere with their scheduling. This was already turning into a train crash before any of these current issues came along.

 Frozocrone wrote:
While I admire my country for leading the boycott, they are, sadly, irrelevant in football having poor performances for years.

If any country was going to lead the boycott, it would have to be Germany.

You say that, but (and this is purely anecdotal) I have a few European friends, scattered from different parts of the EU, who all think of 'England' as being a kind of traditional homeland of football. A friend from Israel and the US who say the same thing too.

Special attention is always given to the team internationally, and an England game is always a big game, despite the team not really having a realistic shot at the cup since 1990. If England didn't play at the World Cup it would have a massive impact, you have to remember as well that the UK Premiership is the biggest league in the world.

And boycotting does have an impact. We would see sponsors start to withdraw, less money coming in and in the case of 2022 especially players be tentative about taking up the call from the national team for the first time; they could cite their thoughts on human rights for a start, but more likely there will be massive internal pressure from their league teams to not miss league play. FIFA is playing a very, very dangerous game and in taking money for allowing Qatar to host the cup they could stand to lose out massively and undermine the entire concept of a World Cup.

The boycott isn't going to happen. Just have a look at how much money is at stake. Do you seriously think they'll even consider not taking it?

 Sigvatr wrote:
The boycott isn't going to happen. Just have a look at how much money is at stake. Do you seriously think they'll even consider not taking it?

Agreed, they'll talk the talk though.

World football can do without European teams, European teams need world football.

 Mr. Burning wrote:


World football can do without European teams, European teams need world football.

No, World football needs European teams. No major sponsor will pay if there are no European teams.

 Sigvatr wrote:

 Mr. Burning wrote:


World football can do without European teams, European teams need world football.

No, World football needs European teams. No major sponsor will pay if there are no European teams.

Sponsors are all over the European game. The reason why Sponsors are very moderate in their press releases regarding fraud and racketeering within FIFA is that FIFA have opened up major opportunities in previously untapped markets. THEY (The sponsors) need these markets to continie generating their profits for shareholders.

As football grows and grow in Africa, Asia, The Middle East etc the NEED for Germany, Italy, Spain and England to be in major competitions lessens.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

 Soladrin wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
The Quataris arrested a BBC team who were in the country to cover the buildup for the World Cup.

After they went off the guide path though. Still, it's quite obvious the entire Qatar idea was terrible from the start, wouldn't be surprised if teams would refuse to play there at all.

They'll play, there's much too much money and glory at stake.

Boycotts only work if people are public about it and let the sponsors (not FIFA) know about it.

So write coke, McDonalds, visa, Budwieser etc know.



http://www.inc.com/bill-saporito/sponsors-may-turn-on-fifa.html

I wonder how many of those sponsors are going to have some fashion of tug at your heart strings ads that feature a dog and horse, little kid being inspired, etc.
I think a great ad to run would be a couple teams playing in a graveyard where the stones bear the names of those laborers who died so this atrocity could go forward.