The FIFA Reform: News & Analysis

The (English) FA - roundly chastised for trying to expose FIFA corruption - has also been vindicated.

Not sure they ever required vindication. As welcome as their focus on the corruption at FIFA was, as investigative journalism goes a piece about FIFA being corrupt is right up there with a piece about water being wet. Nobody sane and/or not on the payroll thought Panorama mendaciously wrong and FIFA innocently wronged.

No reason at all.

Finally, FIFA has a new looming investigation...

A prosecutor will investigate allegations of bribery and corruption when it came to those winning bids for WC 2018 and 2022...FIFA needs to clean-up fast to gain credibility...I wouldn't be surprised to see those bids being retracted and rebooted....Everyone knows that Qatar pulled a fast one on the United States winning bid by some sort of manipulation or bribery or buying votes...WC 2022 could be given back to United States, and WC 2018 might winning bid might be reversed...(let's see What Mother Russia did...)

http://espn.go.com/sports/conversations/_/id/8170654/fifa-appoint-corruption-prosecutor

While I'd like to see both bids reviewed, and possably a re-vote taking place. I don't think it's a shoo in that the United States would win a new vote, the other 3 2022 bids that lost out were all good ones and I'd like to think Australia would have done better in a fair vote.

Bin Hammam suspended for a month by AFC. Pretty amazing that this guy was still involved in football after his bags of cash episode:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jul/16/asian-football-confederation-ban-mohamed-bin-hamman

Not really. Ultimately, this is FIFA and it's constituant confederations we are talking about.
FIFA, let's not forget, is an institution who's former President took massive bribes which the current President was fully aware of, did nothing and is now flip flopping around whether he should be stripped of his titles, despite the fact that if Havelange is guilty, then Blatter is also guilty by association. An institution who's Senior Vice President has made anti-semitic remarks about referees without censure and has former members who resigned rather than face internal investigation for wrong doing. It is simple corrupt to the core.

Looks like he may be around a little longer:
http://www.tas-cas.org/d2wfiles/document/6088/5048/0/Media20Release202625.pdf

I honestly don't care, if FIFA takes bribes for every World Cup and the voting system is messed up. I just don't like the fact that a team that has never made it to the World Cup is going to get their only bid ever, by hosting. Hosting the World Cup should be reserved for teams that can actually make it to a major tournament every now and then. Even the USA made it to the 1988 Olympics when it was still a full team tournament, before it was announced that the USA would host in 1994.

The "credibility" ship sailed long ago for this bunch of crooks...

The problem with Fifa is that too many countries are allowed a say IMO.

the ploblem is that each country have the same power but each are different and deserve different power.
Why The F we have a Fifa Ranking if we let Caiman Isles and Germany get the same veto power, this deserve a electoral college, and I am not Yanky.

You are correct of course.....but it's much easier and way cheaper for Blatter et al to bribe the head of the Caiman Islands F.A. and the rest of the many minnows....and THEY are the ones who keep the crooks in charge.

Aaaand to add to the pile of FIFA filth, France Football wrote up a lead article "Qatargate", in which it claims the votes of Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma from the African Football Confederation (CAF) were bought to support the Qatari bid for $1.5 million each, as well as four other votes from FIFA’s African executives for $1.25 million each.

And if that is not enough to get your blood pumping, French president Nicolas Sarkozy allegedly asked Platini to support Qatar’s bid for “geopolitical reasons”. Then the two go on to meet with Qatar’s Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani for a high tea, resulting in the Qatar Investment Authority injecting some hefty cash into French football with the 70% purchase of Paris Saint-Germain and the spending spree that followed at the Saine.

Ughhh... what is left to say here?!

http://transparencyinsportblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/what-i-told-the-fbi-about-the-fifa-crooks/

This one's a few days old but:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/27/3310322/trinidads-govt-official-subject.html

Daryan Warner (Jack Warner's son) a cooperating witness in FBI corruption investigation.

more chickens who want to guard the FIFA henhouse...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/interview-soccer-little-known-qatari-eyes-seat-fifa-030629767--sow.html

The sooner they are all cleared out and the joy that is Qatar 2022 is cancelled the better football will be. Also the sooner the brown noses of most federations stop grovelling to Blatter the better.

"Anti-bribery expert resigns":

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/22/anti-bribery-resigns-fifa

Some discussion of Jack Warner and Chick Blazer in here too.

Another shoe falls; who's next?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22351630

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22355455

Vernon Manilal Fernando: www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/news/newsid=2066368/index.html