Fifa Officials Arrested On Corruption Charges

[MikeL]

In major sports, the big money can attract big shot crooks.

 

See New York Times article.
 

 

ZURICH — Swiss authorities conducted an extraordinary early-morning operation here Wednesday to arrest several top soccer officials and extradite them to the United States on federal corruption charges.

 

As leaders of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, gathered for their annual meeting, more than a dozen plain-clothed Swiss law enforcement officials arrived unannounced at the Baur au Lac hotel, an elegant five-star property with views of the Alps and Lake Zurich. They went to the front desk to get room numbers and then proceeded upstairs.

 

The arrests were carried out peacefully. One FIFA official, Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, was led by the authorities from his room to a side-door exit of the hotel. He was allowed to bring his luggage, which was adorned with FIFA logos.

 

The charges, backed by an F.B.I. investigation, allege widespread corruption in FIFA over the past two decades, involving bids for World Cups as well as marketing and broadcast deals.

 

 

[Zombie]

It is astonishing that it has taken an American law enforcement agency - the FBI - to arrest these criminals. The U.S. of all countries - surely  the nation least interested in football - has finally moved in on this criminal racket masquerading as the world's governing body for international football. It'll be interesting to see how the main criminal, Blatter, wriggles out of this one and continues clinging onto power. What's truly shocking is how England's governing body, the Football Association, has cravenly failed to make a stand against this corrupt-to-the-core organised crime mob. I mean, we invented the game for goodness sake! *hangs head in shame*

[Drew Espinosa]

Oh the US is interested in Football... just the American kind

[JamesSavik]

It's not that the US is any less corrupt. To get away with acting that way here, you have to call yourself a corporation and own a dozen senators.

[wildone]

So Mr. Blatter got re-elected again after his only competitor bowed out before a second round vote could happen.... go figure Rumour has it that he threatened a lot of his cronies around the world if he wasn't re-elected he would reveal everyone in every country that did something not above the table.

 

Heard a Football/Soccer journalist saying the international community has noticed how Blatter hasn't set foot in the US in over four years as he knows he would be arrested in a minute.

 

Also, coincidentally Russia is saying the whole thing is a ruse to destroy their holding of the FIFA World Cup in 2018.

[Zombie]

Methinks this is the end of the World Cup as we know it. Any hope of reforming FIFA just went out the window. Uefa will most likely break away and take the cash with it, leaving Fifa as a sad pitiful brand for third world corruption.

[Drew Espinosa]

Jon Oliver's Last Week Tonight has an excellent take on this issue.

[Zombie]

blocked in the UK

[Zombie]

Blatter resigns!

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32982449

[Slytherin]