Sepp Blatter is a victim, claims Russia 2018 chief executive

[uhnope]

Source: BBC

Fifa president Sepp Blatter is "a victim", according to the man in charge of the Russia 2018 World Cup.

Blatter is standing down in February as a result of a corruption crisis at world football's governing body. But Russia 2018 chief executive Alexei Sorokin told the BBC that the 79-year-old Swiss was "a very brave person".

"Unfortunately he decided to take up responsibility himself for certain things which are not within his responsibility," he said.

Blatter is in St Petersburg for Saturday's World Cup draw, his first overseas trip since Fifa was plunged into turmoil by criminal investigations into allegations of systematic bribery. "He has always been a friend of our country," said Sorokin.
"We respect his decision. We are certain everything he's doing is for the good of Fifa to which he has dedicated his life."

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33651442

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He's one of the most corrupt people on the world stage, but to Russia he's "a friend of our country" and "a very brave person."

[SwissTony]

1. IOt's not just Blatter, it's the whole organisation.

Last edited Fri Jul 24, 2015, 05:36 PM - Edit history (1)

Fourteen people have been indicted by the FBI and/or the IRS. Four individuals (not any of the 14) have already pleaded guilty as have two sport-related companies. Here's a link...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_FIFA_corruption_case

John Oliver has a wonderful series on FIFA and corruption. John hails from England, of course, and is a big soccer fan. His first feature was made before the last world cup (2014). But he's done some follow ups, particularly with regard to Jack Warner who actually makes Blatter look like a saint. Warner is also an idiot. The Onion published a piece saying FIFA had awarded the US with an extra World Cup starting the very same day!!! Even the US couldn't arrange a World Cup in less than a day's notice (ignoring the small fact that no-one would know which countries would be represented etc etc etc). But this idiot believed it. And he was vice-chairman of FIFA!!!

And don't get me started on United Passions, the film FIFA made to praise itself. It cost $29 million to make and in its first weekend in the US made $918. No, that is not a typo. $918. And it's awful. I sat through it (downloaded it from the web) so you didn't have to - I could only do 15 minutes at a time, then i had to go rinse my brain out. But the "highlight" was when some countries represntatives were openly taking about making money for themselves, Blatter informs them that such behaviour is unacceptable. It took me three hours to find my jaw because after it hit the floor, it rolled under the settee.

[Blue_Tires]

2. FWIW, Russia is scared shitless the corruption probe will start sniffing around their bid...

So they've been breathlessly defending Blatter from the start