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The embattled head of FIFA Sepp Blatter was reelected Friday as president of the organization, amid allegations of the worst corruption crisis in the world soccer league’s 111-year history.

Lawmakers in Russia have announced plans to use prison labour to help drive down the cost of hosting the 2018 World Cup by forcing them to take jobs that ordinary Russians won't do. Politician Alexander Khinshtein, from the ruling United Russia party, has said he is drawing up proposals which would see inmates taken to work in factories producing materials for the games. Meanwhile Alexander Rudy, head of Russia's prison service, has said that he was keen to use prisoners for 'tasks that, let's say, wouldn't appeal to the ordinary citizen.'

Actually, it’s the Swiss who are probing the 2018 World Cup award to Russia, and the US bid was for the 2022 World Cup that went to Qatar.  Vladimir Putin won’t let those facts get in the way of a good anti-American rant, of course. The Russian strongman publicly questioned why the US would have any interest or jurisdiction over a legal argument that doesn’t involve its own citizens, which also turns out to be … not true: Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of meddling in FIFA’s affairs and hinted that it was part of an...

WASHINGTON — The embattled Clinton Family Foundation received as much as $100,000 from FIFA--the scandal-tarred world soccer federation, available records revealed....the Clinton Foundation is under fire for accepting undisclosed multimillion-dollar contributions from foreign nations while Hillary was Secy of State. Bill was honorary chair of the effort to bring the soccer event to the US in 2018 or 2022 and hobnobbed with FIFA President Sepp Blatter at the World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2010..... the tiny Gulf emirate of Qatar prevailed for the 2022 competition.

Soccer's Embattled Governing Body Made Donation To The Clinton Foundation By Malia Zimmerman May 27, 2015 Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and FIFA President Sepp Blatter attend the 2010 World Cup Group C soccer match between the United States and Algeria at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria June 23, 2010. The Clintons, already under scrutiny for accepting foreign donations to their family foundation and keeping them secret from the Obama administration while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state, have received money from another controversial source: the Federacion Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Soccer’s governing body, which donated between $50,001...

America does not even like football, or so many people think. Why is it leading the charge against alleged Fifa corruption? At dawn, Swiss police rounded up seven Fifa officials at the behest of US authorities who have conducted a massive investigation into corruption at football's governing body. So how did a country where football is more niche than entrenched come to police the world's beautiful game? "Too many countries are cowed by Fifa," said Alexandra Wrage, a former Fifa anti-bribery adviser who resigned in protest from the organisation. "As with international bribery more generally, the US Department of Justice...

Corrupt FIFA Has Clinton Foundation Ties; World Cup Host Qatar Gave Millions Both Bill Clinton and his family’s charity have been tied to soccer’s governing body, as well as Qatar’s disastrous World Cup bid. And just like that, another Clinton Foundation donor is in the news. The Clinton global charity has received between $50,000 and $100,000 from soccer’s governing body and has partnered with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association on several occasions, according to donor listings on the foundation’s website. Several top FIFA executives were arrested Wednesday in Zurich and face corruption charges stretching back two decades, according to...

RUSH: FIFA. When I first heard about this, I was stunned. We've got a new attorney general, and how long has this investigation been going? She didn't do this. Did she start this? How many moons ago has this been going on? Holder started this or some -- not that that matters. The thing about this that blows my mind, of course FIFA is corrupt. They're a bunch of Western socialist guys. Of course it's corrupt. That's the story of the world before the United States of America came along. It's just another opportunity here to define American exceptionalism in...

.....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.

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. Russia’s official emblem of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be unveiled late on Tuesday night in Moscow, reflects the soul and heart of Russia, Sepp Blatter, the president of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), said. The official emblem of the 2018 World Cup will be unveiled late on Tuesday night in the Russian capital during the Evening Urgant television talk show by FIFA President Blatter and Secretary General Jerome Valcke, jointly with Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who is also the chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and Fabio Cannavaro, captain of...

'Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee' is the entity responsible for organizing the Gulf state's 2022 World Cup bid and the resulting preparations FIFA itself is also listed as a donor to the foundation, giving up to $100,000 Clinton Foundation website discloses donations from the committee of between $250,001 and $500,000, including a donation in 2014 Qatar itself has donated between $1 million and $5 million to the foundation, and did it before 2014 The tiny Middle Eastern country won the rights to host the 2022 global soccer tournament in December 2010 Clinton Foundation later said Qatar worked toward 'utilizing its research...

Clinton Foundation took at least $1,250,000 from Qatar and World Cup committee embroiled in soccer bribery scandal - and up to $100,000 from FIFA itself The fast-moving FIFA bribery scandal now has a Clinton connection, after news that the nation of Qatar and its 2022 World Cup organizing committee - and even FIFA itself - donated between $1.3 million and $5.55 million to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. The scandal-hit football world authority is listed by the foundation as having handed over at least $50,001 and as much as $100,000 to the Clinton's controversial organization in a direct...

Charged defendants include Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner Nine soccer officials and five others were charged in the U.S. on broad corruption charges accusing them of a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the sport’s top governing body, FIFA, authorities said Wednesday. Charged defendants include Jeffrey Webb, the head of the regional body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, and Jack Warner, his predecessor. Mr. Webb is also a FIFA vice president. Six individuals have pleaded guilty in connection with the case, the U.S. Justice Department said. It added that Swiss authorities in Zurich had earlier Wednesday arrested...

Six soccer officials arrested in Switzerland U.S. authorities are preparing to unveil a criminal indictment against officials of soccer’s international governing body that will detail allegations of widespread corruption, according to people familiar with the matter. The indictment against officials of the International Federation of Association Football, known as FIFA, was expected to be unsealed in Brooklyn federal court against multiple individuals as early as Wednesday, the people said. Early Wednesday morning six soccer officials were arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, the country’s Federal Office of Justice said in a statement, adding that they had been detained pending extradition. The FOJ...

May 27, 2015 Loretta Lynch's Justice Department unsealed a 47-count indictment Wednesday morning laden with racketeering, corruption and conspiracy charges against 14 people associated with FIFA, the world soccer association, and international soccer organizations.

Swiss authorities began 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. The officers went to the registration desk to get keys, then headed upstairs toward the hotel rooms. One FIFA official was led by the authorities from his room to a side-door exit...

I posted this question in another thread but got no response so...Who else has been watching the Barclays Premier League for the last 5 years on "the networks of NBC Universal" (and before that, ESPN)? Anyone else notice that when a player comes off for a sub (or after the game), they applaud their team's fans? Who besides me thinks that looks a little gay?I'm considering stopping watching soccer for that reason (although I'll watch Newcastle try to stave off relegation tomorrow [only recently did I tire of the returned applause gesture (just a wave will do IMO)]).ff

Italian Official Under Fire For Allegedly Calling Female Footballers ‘A Bunch of Lesbians’ Marcus Christenson 16 May 2015 An Italian football official is under pressure to resign after allegedly referring to female players as a “bunch of lesbians”. Felice Belloli, the president of the county’s amateur football association, allegedly made the comments when discussing funding for women’s football in the country. The Italian Football Association (FIGC) opened an investigation on Friday after it was sent the minutes of the meeting of the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (LND). Belloli allegedly said: “That’s enough, we can’t always talk about giving money to this...

TEL AVIV – A Palestinian previously convicted of multiple terrorism charges is the official currently leading the dialogue with a prestigious international soccer federation from which the Palestinian Authority is seeking to get Israel expelled. If the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, suspends or boots the Jewish state, the move would have a dramatic impact on Israel’s ability to compete in international soccer competitions. As part of a larger boycott movement against Israel, the PA’s Palestinian Soccer Association has filed a formal complaint with FIFA to have Israel’s membership suspended. The PA’s main complaint is that Israel does...

Israelis appear to have been banned from buying tickets to see the Paris St. Germain soccer team in action, NRG reported Sunday night. The discovery was made by an Israeli couple planning a trip to Paris who wanted to attend a game – and could not find a listing for Israeli orders on the group's ticket ordering web site. Guy Schleider of Ramat Gan perused the team's web site and went to the ticket buying area, where a drop-down list allowed residents of countries around the world to choose their home countries where tickets would be sent to. Included on...