Fifa: Sepp Blatter to quit as president amid corruption scandal

[Bosonic]

Source: BBC

Sepp Blatter says he will resign as president of football's governing body Fifa amid a corruption scandal.

In announcing his exit, the 79-year-old has called an extraordinary Fifa congress "as soon as possible" to elect a new president.

Blatter was re-elected last week, despite seven top Fifa officials being arrested two days before the vote as part of a US prosecution.

But he said: "My mandate does not appear to be supported by everybody."

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

[DinahMoeHum]

1. "FIFA Finally Emptied Its Blatter" - Twitter tweet

https://twitter.com/EdgeofSports/status/605778888136851457

[libdem4life]

2. OK, now can we go after the fraud in the US Banking System...you know, our own back yard?

Or will we have to wait for Bernie? Dying to know who he'd have as Attorney General...OK, it's a little early, but the one we have now sure pounced on this somewhat ethnic worldwide sport. Why? Because we can. Seems to be the US Motto not only in war.


This must have been Too Big To Fail...so we broke it up. I think that's Bernie's cue here.

[awoke_in_2003]

17. There are people

smoking pot in California

[libdem4life]

18. as long as they've got their card...you know...1-800-POTDOCS

[awoke_in_2003]

19. Card doesn't mean crap

when the DEA is busting legal dispensaries

[libdem4life]

20. Card is still OK for personal use...just no one can legally sell it. Heard the Feds had started up

again. Don't currently live there, so may have changed? Do they still raid backyards?

[staggerleem]

31. I thought we were talking SOCCER here!

Those cards you're talking about? If they ain't red or yellow, they don't belong in this conversation!

[libdem4life]

34. Maybe a toke would be in order? I'm not the one that commandeered the thread, BTW.

And besides, my son is a soccer player and he smokes...legally. I don't like it, but he's an adult.

[DonCoquixote]

22. to be fair

this fellow did damage on all continents, including ours.

[libdem4life]

30. To be precise, our banking fraud has done more on all continents than any...countries are currently

in "austerity" which means, likely default and severe hardship...aka Grexit...and is spreading in Southern Europe. Who are their taskmasters? The IMF, the EU and the complicit with the IMF, ECB.

And, it continues. Yes, the put away a little small bank every now and then...then carry on as usual. I've been following their CBOs and worthless mortgage "tranches" mostly sold to Europe and China for years.

In fact, we've crapped in our Empire...which is how we got The Empire...by destroying either financially or bombing a devastating list of sovereign nations.

Soccer, my ass. Our new AG really jumped on that one. Bankers? What bankers?

[rocktivity]

3. TRANSLATION: "I've lost my leverage, so I'm getting out of Dodge

Last edited Wed May 4, 2016, 06:22 PM - Edit history (6)

before the fecal matter makes a close encounter with the oscillating air circulation mechanism."

I wonder if it has to do anything to do with John Oliver's followup look at FIFA:

That's what he gets for taking advice from Chris Christie!


rocktivity

[MADem]

24. I think they found a bribe...nt

[Jesus Malverde]

26. awesome

best political commentator out there.

Makes Stewart look like a putz.

[libdem4life]

36. Thanks for 15 minutes of hilarity !

[geek tragedy]

4. Qatar's WC hosting gig has to be revoked.

We'll have to see about Russia, which is at least a real country that actually plays the game.

[staggerleem]

32. Why?

Are you saying that you object to the idea of a World Cup tournament conducted in a place where temperatures routinely exceed 120 degrees?

[geek tragedy]

33. and that has a horrific human rights record, engages in slavery, and has

no real history with the game or infrastructure to accommodate such an event.

[DeadLetterOffice]

5. Ahem... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. eom

[Ron Obvious]

6. Will miracles never cease?

I wouldn't have believed this a week ago. Great news, though!

[kwassa]

7. Excellent. May the reforms now begin.

[SunSeeker]

8. He must have gotten word that USDOJ has the goods on him.

I mean, it certainly did not occur to him just today that he did not have everybody's support.

[Dream Girl]

9. Succession planning...he ran for reelection knowing he would resign..

Most likely this was planned last week when he ran for reelection. As I understand it, his former protégé will now run for the top post and is favored to get it. The prince from Qatar was the runner up last week, but is probably out of the running now.

[rocktivity]

10. The prince who ran "against" him was from Qatar???

Subtle as bulldozers, aren't they?


rocktivity

[Bosonic]

11. Prince Ali is from Jordan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Ali_bin_Hussein

[MADem]

25. Ali is Jordanian.

Who knows what will happen next?

[hughee99]

35. By protégé, you're not talking about Jerome Valcke, are you?

Because he's up to his neck in this mess.

[Bosonic]

12. Sepp Blatter, Under Investigation, to Resign as FIFA President

Sepp Blatter, Under Investigation, to Resign as FIFA President

Sepp Blatter, who was re-elected last week for a fifth term as president of world soccer’s governing body, resigned his position Tuesday as law enforcement officials confirmed that he was a focus of a federal corruption investigation.

Mr. Blatter had for days tried to distance himself from the controversy, but several United States officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that in their efforts to build a case against Mr. Blatter they were hoping to win the cooperation of some of the FIFA officials now under indictment and work their way up the organization.

In a short speech delivered at the headquarters of FIFA, which oversees global soccer, Mr. Blatter said that “FIFA needs a profound restructuring” and that he had decided to step away from the organization for which he had worked in various positions for 40 years. Mr. Blatter, 79, who spoke in French, then referred to his recent re-election by FIFA’s 209 member nations when he said, “Although the members of FIFA have given me the new mandate, this mandate does not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football.”

Mr. Blatter’s resignation is not immediate; according to Domenico Scala, the independent chairman of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee, who spoke to the news media after Mr. Blatter, a special meeting of FIFA’s member nations will be called to elect a new president. According to FIFA’s rules, there must be at least four months’ notice given to members for such a meeting, so Mr. Scala indicated that the likely window for a new election is from December 2015 to March 2016.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/sports/soccer/sepp-blatter-to-resign-as-fifa-president.html?smid=tw-bna

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Under investigation; he knew there was no way he could continue

He'll be busy shredding documents, wiping drives, and consulting lawyers. And more importantly, the sponsors would be running for the doors.

[pampango]

13. Why Putin Leapt to FIFA’s Defense

For Putin, few things are less acceptable than the absence of authority over a territory. Not necessarily his authority—contrary to what many would say these days, Putin is not bent on ruling the world, or even much of Europe—but absence of a clear authority as such. This is why Putin demonizes the memory of the 1990s in Russia. That merry, wild and hard time, when authoritarianism had collapsed, but no alternative system had yet taken root, was dangerous in his eyes, almost like a car without a steering wheel.

This is also why Putin’s Russia has been an adamant supporter of the Assad regime in Syria—not because of the old ties to the Assad family, but because the alternative looks set to be anarchy. This is also the source of much of the anti-American rhetoric coming out of the Kremlin: America, with its sympathy toward democracy and liberal revolutions, is seen as sowing dangerous chaos in the world, whether through incompetence or hostile intent.

Moscow sincerely thinks that Western countries’ judicial systems are in some hidden ways subordinate to the state, the way they are in Russia, and that the Western media carries the governments’ messages. In other words, Moscow’s view of order is very state-centric. And not only state-centric, but big state-centric: a persistent strand in Russian thinking maintains that only big states can be truly sovereign, while smaller ones are inevitably “vassal states,” underlings of some big power.

And this brings us to the role of corruption. In this struggle to impose order on a stubbornly chaotic world, corruption is an invaluable tool. Corruption enables rulers to create hierarchies and structure, to establish allegiances both inside the country as well as beyond its borders.

http://www.newsweek.com/why-putin-leapt-fifas-defense-338534

[Blue_Tires]

15. Bravo...Well done!

Our new AG is quickly making a name for herself

[Bosonic]

16. BTW The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup starts on June 6th

http://www.ussoccer.com/womens-national-team/tournaments/2015-fifa-womens-world-cup

[BuddhaGirl]

21. Yes - can't wait!!!

I'm a big fan of our national team

[Lizzie Poppet]

27. Yep. Portland Thorns FC season ticket holder here.

No less than eight Thorns* headed for the tournament, which is pretty hard on the team when they're gone, but pretty awesome at the same time.

* Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan for the US, Christine Sinclair, Kaylyn Kyle, and Rhian Wilkinson for Canada, Nadine Angerer for Germany, Jodie Taylor for England, and Stephanie Catley for Australia

[Aquavit]

23. I heard he was offered a huge severance bribe...

http://onion.com/1Id7PdZ

[Matilda]

28. Before we start celebrating,

the Australian blog, "The Conversation", put out by academics, has a warning note in today's edition:

"Significantly, despite every news organisation stating that he had resigned, he did not use the word in his brief press conference. The masterful politician remained in control until the end, and left us not entirely certain if it is indeed the end.

The key passage in Blatter’s announcement stated:

I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA President until that election.

Until we hear differently – and this is a fluid situation – he is still at FIFA. More importantly, he is setting the agenda."

(snip)

...we may have just witnessed a piece of skill and mastery to remind us of Argentina hero Leo Messi. While his opponents are busy fighting over who will succeed him, it appears he will be setting the agenda for when they finally replace him, and the seeds were in his announcement."

The master tactician may have outmanoeuvred everyone. Within his brief announcement there are statements that should cause concern. He suggested that the executive committee must be reduced in size and its members 'should be elected through the FIFA Congress'”

This looks like a clever ploy to remove the additional members that are there for historical reasons. Chief amongst these will the anachronistic position for the home countries such as England, held due to their position as the inventors of the modern game."

Blatter continued his brief manifesto for change by saying that: “The integrity checks for all executive committee members must be organised centrally through FIFA and not through the confederations.” This is another clever piece of politics."

https://theconversation.com/the-clever-politics-of-sepp-blatters-resignation-from-fifa-42733

I took the resignation at face value, but I'm no lawyer or politician, and I guess Blatter's a master after all these years. It certainly is a complete turnaround from last week on the face of it, and now I can't help wondering what he's really up to – pulling the strings from behind the scenes to ensure that he and his friends continue to be "rewarded"?

[Matilda]

29. Meanwhile, we can enjoy this:

Sweet!

[muriel_volestrangler]

37. Fifa crisis: Ex-official Chuck Blazer details bribe-taking

The guilty pleas of former top Fifa official Chuck Blazer have been detailed with the release of papers from a 2013 hearing in New York.

He says that he and others on Fifa's executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the choice of South Africa as 2010 World Cup host.

Mr Blazer says he also accepted bribes over the 1998 event.
...
Mr Blazer says: "Beginning in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011, I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/32998735

2011 was after Russia and Qatar were given their World Cups: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2010/m=12/news=russia-and-qatar-awarded-2018-and-2022-fifa-world-cups-1344698.html

[rocktivity]

38. I couldn't think of a more appropriate farewell present

Youtube: Lee Nelson is no stranger to gatecrashing major events for a bit of fun...In the past Nelson nearly got himself on the plane to the World Cup with the England squad and got himself onto the pitch during a Manchester City's warm-up as Joe Hart's understudy.

FIFA were holding a big press conference today about the future leadership of the corrupt organisation when Nelson interrupted to throw fake cash at Sepp Blatter, the current outgoing FIFA president.

He was eventually taken away by FIFA security, the same people who somehow let him waltz in with no accreditation in the first place...

rocktivity