It's happening right now... Watching CNN International. They're getting extradited to the US. Charged by the DOJ for corruption. Apparently they had someone wearing a wire at FIFA.
Wow... They're going after the Exec Committee members. Had the Swiss pick them off one by one as they met for their annual meetings and will be extradited to the US. As it says in the article, Swiss will extradite to the US for general crimes as long as it's not tax evasion... http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/s...cials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html?_r=0
I can't remember the last time I was this happy to see someone arrested. Maybe madoff? Hopefully this will result in some actual change and this isn't the last of arrests and action.
I'm not surprised that he isn't among those being investigated. Revoke Qatar of hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Sounds like the wheels are falling off...I wonder if this throws the middle eastern WC into further calls for cancellation.
I think Blatter has intentionally kept a shield of plausible deniability around him which I'm curious to see if the authorities can pierce.
Apparently it was Chuck Blazer (highest ranking US FIFA Official) who brought it all down. He admitted guilt and then wore a wire tap to incriminate others. Blatter still probably has enough coatings of Teflon to come away with a slap on the wrist. But his reputation otoh (already in the gutter for most people in the know) with the greater public should take a hit. he's a legend in his own mind. Qatar and Russia, wot a joke. FIFA and the IOC = good grief.
From what I understand, most of the case is built around corruption in CONCACAF. The US investigators haven't really touched the Russia/Qatar bidding process.
I think the goal right now is to crack down on people based on CONCACAF/CONMEBOL and follow the string hopefully to WC. They said that they're still investigating the WC but I think they know that they need some more people to roll before they can get there.
yes, exactly. the 7 arrested and 7 more who have already pleaded guilt are all predominately affiliated with CONCACAF and South American assoc.'s. the case is built around how they turned the bidding for the Brasil WC into a racket. for eg., the known POS Jack Warner and his sons. But Swiss prosecutors also announced that they had opened separate criminal proceedings "against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups." this is basically just the start of the sh!te show. it'll be interesting to see how many layers of teflon Blatter has left when all is said and done. if those close to him in the UEFA and Asian confeds go down, we may see the, "Well if I'm going down, I'm taking that rat down with me." mentality.
from what i'm reading it sounds like blazer is dying and working with the feds to protect his estate against tax evasion charges. concacaf is headquartered in miami and is the most practical/realistic party to go after with blazer's "evidence". still think blatter wins on friday though. not that the election even ********ing matters.
I hate to say it but jackshit will happen. They will give some shitty fines and warnings, maybe jail some staff. The problem is that Blatter is the real thug and he let people do the dirty work for him so that he stays untouchable. I'm getting sick of the idea of holding a World Cup in Qatar thanks to $epp Blatter.
I disagree. The DOJ and IRS are experts at using RICO laws to pick and roll up the food chain and destroy the whole pyramid. This time it's different, because of the laws they're being charged under. When faced with 20+ years in US prison, people will sing...
i have no doubt in my mind that Chung is dirty as well, but the interesting thing as far as he and Blatter are concerned is that they have a checkered past. Chung is considered by Blatter and his sycophants to be an outlier who doesn't tow the party line. Chung has even led a few (failed) coup attempts on Blatter's presidency. as far as FIFA goes, it would seem that Chung and Michel Platini are the lesser evils so to speak. Blatter feels as though Chung owes him for KOR/JAP 2002, but because Chung and his side don't jump when Blatter tells them to, good 'ole Sepp has turned to the desert to peddle his influence in the AFC and sniff out oil money. which in turn, led to the whole Qatar fiasco and Qatar being awarded the WC. and then when AFC President and Qatari, Mohammed bin Hammam dared run against Blatter for the FIFA presidency Sepp had one of his inner circle, none other than Chuck Blazer - blow the whistle on the Qataris (led by bin Hammam) for having bribed their way to being awarded the World Cup. as a result, he then conveniently suspended bin Hammam; got re-elected (as bin Hammam was the only one running against him) and then get a load of this, commissioned an internal FIFA investigation of bin Hammam. i mean this sh!t is INSANE. all of Blatter's misdoings are all laid out in Andrew Jennings blog Transparency in Sport. Jennings is the investigative reporter for the BBC's Panorama who authored FOUL! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-Rigging and Ticket Scandals. he's pretty well the world authority on FIFA's dirty secrets (as well as the IOC) and wrote the book on Sepp Blatter's dirty deeds. according to his own blog, he's also been cooperating with the FBI for years helping them build a case. this article: Blatter wants Prince Who? to be new FIFA boss details some of the problems Blatter has had with Chung and how he wanted to install Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan as his puppet/successor. the insanity of it all is endless. a lot now depends on the Swiss. if they follow through with their investigation and actually press criminal charges, Blatter will finally have to answer for his misdeeds. i'm sure it must be heavy bunker mentality for him and his camp. the Cayman Islands bank accounts will be getting a work-out trying to bribe people to the last in attempts to keep his throne. we just need to sit back and enjoy the popcorn.