FIFA Officials, Including 2 VPs, Arrested on Corruption Charge [Obama Targets FIFA, not ISIS]

WHO-TV ^ | 5/27/15

[SoFloFreeper]

.....FIFA, the powerful and polarizing governing body for soccer, came under prosecutorial assault from two fronts Wednesday.

Acting on an indictment by the U.S. Justice Department, Swiss police arrested several top FIFA officials, including two vice presidents, during an overnight raid in Zurich on charges of corruption Wednesday.

The U.S. investigation targets alleged wrongdoing that spans 24 years. U.S. prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 14 people, on charges ranging from money laundering to fraud and racketeering.

[SoFloFreeper]

The media is going loco over this crap.

ISIS beheading Christians, China tearing down churches, GDP SHRINKING, record low participation rate in the economy, moral fabric of nation in shreds....

The media and Obama are focused like a laser beam on....a bunch of soccer teams.

Governance. Journalism.

Got kakistocracy?

[C210N]

on charges ranging from money laundering to fraud and racketeering...

Sounds like something that should be applying to the Clinton Foundation... but like Isis, won't.

[Tonytitan]

They would be wise to ignore this too. The more attention they give to this the more ammunition they to defenders of the NFL when the media focuses on some transgression by the League, i.e., “at least our League officials aren’t targets of the FBI and Interpol”.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

“The media is going loco over this crap.”

Although I agree entirely about how media coverage of ISIS, Christian persecution, the economy etc., this is a big story. FIFA is the biggest sports authority in the world, controls a ton of money, and has a ton of influence - in the US, Europe, and all over the globe. Doesn’t matter if one likes soccer or not. It’s kind of like exposing corruption in the International Olympic Committee.

[grania]

I agree with SFF that the news should be doing more to spread awareness and disgust about the genocide going on in the Mideast and Africa.

But I also see this story as part of the larger global problem. That is an entitled out of control global elite, manifesting itself in every aspect of life...and death.

[ExCTCitizen]

Oh no...FIFA is a terrorist Group... ISIS is a JV team...Yep, we got a great commander in chief.

[canuck_conservative]

FIFA is rotten as a pile of decaying feces.

How did a country like Qatar, where the average summer temp is +40 degrees, manage to get the World Cup? Corruption.

Why wasn’t the World Cup yanked from Russia last year after it invaded Ukraine and shot down that plane? Corruption. (There still would have been time to set up an alternative country.)

There’s never been a world cup in Africa, yet FIFA continues to kiss the asses of despicable regimes.

So, these arrests are a start, but are really just the tip; there’s a whole lot more a-holes at the top of FIFA that need to be brought down.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

“But I also see this story as part of the larger global problem. That is an entitled out of control global elite, manifesting itself in every aspect of life...and death.”

Well said, and I totally agree. The level of corruption, world-wide, is immense.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

“So, these arrests are a start, but are really just the tip; there’s a whole lot more a-holes at the top of FIFA that need to be brought down.”

Agree, but hopefully there are enough people involved in these arrests that there will be a domino effect.

[BitWielder1]

It's relatively safe.
FIFA won't shoot, behead or blow things up.

[McGruff]

Wag The Dog

[kevkrom]

There’s never been a world cup in Africa,

*cough* 2010 *cough* South Africa *cough*

[kevkrom]

Our government is quite big enough to handle multiple things at once. This is an investigation that has been a few years in the making, and ISIS doesn’t mean that our legal and judicial system should grind to a halt on unrelated matters.

[canuck_conservative]

Thanks, my bad ... but the Euro / South America bias is there.

*** BTW, I have no horse in this race, I’m just fed up with large corrupt organizations. (Save the IOC for another rant)

[Buckeye McFrog]

But what the media is REALLY dying to know is.....were all of the balls properly inflated?

[kevkrom]

The bias is there because that's still the heart of top-flight soccer. One laudable goal of FIFA was to try to get the World Cup to regions that seldom or never hosted it, which led to the South Korea/Japan and South Africa games, and one might think was part of the rationale for the Middle-East in general. But of course, the actual bidding process is just a pit of corruption and had little to do with any regard for the players or the game itself.

I think there's a couple of options if FIFA is forced (I'd include "shamed", but that seems... unlikely, as they have no shame) into re-awarding 2018 and/or 2022.

1) The US is always a safe bet as a "backup" location because we have the infrastructure and could put together the whole thing in less than a year if need be. In fact, while to a lesser degree, this happened for the women's WC once when China couldn't host due to the SARS outbreak.

2) Why not a true "world cup"? Each of the 32 qualifying nations provides a single venue. 16 of them are randomly* drawn to host the group stage, with 2 sites per group, paired together geographically to keep travel reasonable - those sites would each host 3 group round matches. The remaining 16 sites would be each be randomly assigned 1 of the 16 knockout round match.

* "Randomly" here possibly being defined in manner that ensures roughly proportional distribution between the federations.

[2nd Amendment]

How can there be corruption in this boring sport? deflating the ball?

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Doesn’t matter if one likes soccer or not. It’s kind of like exposing corruption in the International Olympic Committee.

A perfect description of FIFA

[freefdny]

You beat me to it. I was about to say the sound of vuvuzelas is still ringing in my ears.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

That’s tragically hysterical..