Bookmaker's favorite is Angel Maria Villar as Platini's successor. Would be an absolute joke (imho) if that would be true. Not just his reputation and track record (and nepotism with his son), but his country and federation has compliance issues at all fronts as well (e.g. WADA). Of course, it's easier to take action against Jamaica than 'against' Spain... No, for multiple reasons he's clearly not the right man. Ask Real Madrid, ask Alex Ferguson, the 2012 Portugal team.
New Secretary General is a woman. Looks good, but I have no background on her, though she comes from the UN. Not sure how to feel about that really, but we'll see I guess. http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/05/13/fifa-secretary-general-fatma-samba-diouf-samoura-senegal
I'd say it's a great move. Woman finally at this high position, and more interesting, she's an African Muslim. I hope this might be a big push forward for women's football development in Muslim countries. Anyway, I hope that Zvonimir Boban enters FIFA (as reports and activities lately suggest) and I hope he'll do something to clean Croatian football up of local Blatters and Platinis and similar criminals. Short article that shows some of the problems affecting Croatian football http://www.total-croatia-news.com/s...rating-title-with-a-little-help-by-lokomotiva
Scala resigns and effectively accuses Infantino of worsening the standards rather than improving, as well as rewinding previous reforms. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/14/domenico-scala-fifa-auditor-resigns-protest http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36293324 http://www.espnfc.com/blog/fifa/243...-scala-resigns-in-protest-at-gianni-infantino Here's the truth about Infantino https://t.co/2NYbsDtNqc— Andrew Jennings (@AAndrewJennings) April 6, 2016 More questions from Bonita that Infantino has to answer https://t.co/de9fVyqr7A— Andrew Jennings (@AAndrewJennings) April 9, 2016
Well, the Scala resignation sure takes away from the following: I have been asking for independent auditing at the association level. Just when things seemed to get back on track...
Agreed. I can get that Infantino might have some dirt on his hands -- shit who wouldn't within FIFA? BUT Scala resigning is HUGE for FIFA. That is a huge black mark.
It's more than Scala who disagrees with how Infantino is proceeding: Scala described his resignation as “a wake-up call”, while Mark Pieth, the Swiss governance expert originally employed by Fifa to oversee its reform efforts, said of Infantino: “He is actually exactly working like Platini and Blatter. We desperately want to go beyond that now.” Pieth said the new president had disagreed with Scala over his 2 million Swiss francs (£1.4m) salary, lower than that paid to Blatter. “It is personal, it is very clear,” Pieth said. “He wants more than the two million that Domenico is offering him.” Full article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...i-infantino-accused-of-destroying-reforms-as/
FIFA oh FIFA my goodness: http://www.socceramerica.com/articl...form-message-takes-a-beati.html?edition=15577
Meet the new secretary-general of FIFA: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/20/fatma-samoura-fifa-century-of-patriarchy-infantino
Fifa acting secretary general Markus Kattner has been sacked after being accused of paying himself bonuses worth millions of pounds. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36364768
At this point they should all be wearing clown outfits. Then shoved into one really tiny car. Which is then driven over a cliff. And bombed. Twice.
From the BBC article : "His [Kattner's] salary and bonuses were part of a contract that was unseen by relevant Fifa committees." From an SI article: http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/05/23/fifa-fires-markus-kattner-bonuses-valcke-blatter "Kattner was due the payments over a six-year period from 2008-14 from additions to his employment contract, a person familiar with the FIFA investigation said Monday. The extra payments were signed off by then-President Sepp Blatter and then-secretary general Jerome Valcke, Kattner's immediate boss in that period. "We don't yet understand why these payments were made," the person said on condition of anonymity as details of the investigation are confidential. "These contract provisions were not known widely and not to the appropriate officers at FIFA." Blatter was quite the CEO -- sounds like he was using FIFA money as his own without any regard for reporting or generally accepted accounting principles --- or basic honesty for that matter!! NOTE: This also distracts from Infantino's issue with his lead Audit man (Scala). Still want to see what Infantino does there -- or FIFA council for that matter.
As I re-read the article -- the payments were due in 2008-2014. So this news is almost 18 months old. It also looks like Kattner had an agreement (hopefully in writing) that the bonuses were due. Is he getting sacked for not reporting them appropriately from a fiduciary point of view? Did the auditor of their books not see these payments? Who of us has ever had the responsibility to have our contract properly logged with our employer, is that not your boss' responsibility? I know at the executive level things are a bit different, but this seems very strange. I'll be interested to hear Kattner's side of this actually. The cynical side of me says that Infantino was upset that someone else earned more than he does now....
Maybe it was another of Blatter's "Gentleman's agreements". Blatter ‘astonished’ by deputy general secretary’s sacking http://www.iol.co.za/sport/blatter-astonished-by-deputy-general-secretarys-sacking-2025691
Come meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Gianni Infantino Could Face 90-Day Ban by Ethics Committee This is the part that, if true, is disappointing to me: I was hoping Sunil was above all that. Silly me.
Just the usual... Swiss authorities search FIFA headquarters in corruption probe http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-fifa-swiss-idUKKCN0YP1EA
what is $80mill over only 5 years split among friends??? http://www.skysports.com/football/n...-kattner-wrongly-profited-by-16355m-from-fifa
they need to take up permanent residence until the Swiss force FIFA to move to Russia so that Putin can take over...
My favorite quote there: Blatter's spokesman Klaus Stoehlker toldSky Sports News HQ: "My job for Blatter is finished. The FIFA volcano is exploding." The FIFA volcano is exploding!! Interesting Speaking of exploding, I want to hear Sunil Gulati's explanation on why he recommended to Scala that he resign. Seems quite strange --- hopefully in the new age of transparency that is FIFA, Gulati will be able to talk about it.
Side thought: While the investigation into FIFA is needed and wanted, I imagine it is delaying or outright canceling the oversight and monitoring of the World Cup related developments in Russia and Qatar. I'm not worried about the former, though this would certainly open the door for any local corruption on their part, but as to the latter it means we'll see less pressure toward reform and progress in the coming months, if not years. I've reached the point where I'm now officially angry. I understand that greed occurs when such monies are around. Opportunity begets zeal. But I bet if they simply legitimized extraordinarily high salaries to begin with, with the corresponding fiscal clarity, none of this would have happened and instead of corruption we would simply bemoan FIFA as greedy. Now the wanton acts of these few dozen people will literally impact the game, its well being, and the livelihood of all those associated with football. Bravo, Mr. Blatter. You and your cronies found a way to f*** up football.