With empty seats in the stadiums, complaints about the ball, sub-par games on the field, and the annoying vuvuzelas, the 2010 World Cup is seemingly a lackluster entertainment experience at best. But what if, to top it all off, the big European teams don't make the next round? -France is danger of Elimination -England is in danger of elimination -Germany can still be eliminated with a tie -Italy will likely finish 2nd and face Holland in the knockout round, thereby eliminating one of these two -Spain can still be eliminated if they don't beat Chile, as Honduras isn't a threat to the swiss. Would FIFA have a hand in influencing the outcome of these countries' games to save them financially in this World Cup?
FIFA is literlly rolling in $$. Between TV rights fees + official sponsors, FIFA is doing fine. I'm not so sure about the South African federation, though. I would imagine the poor ticket sales will affect profitablity.
there was talk that FIFA was having trouble selling tickets earlier in the year (see transparencyinsport.org, Bill Archer's blogposts) to the point it may affect Blatter's position