If Loony Lisle comes back as Acting President, or whatever else his title may be, CONCACAF is going to turn into a clown show. That's why Chuck is getting out now. Austin's main goal when he comes back will be getting rid of Blazer, so now he's robbed of that. How is it that a few kleptocrats from countries with a combined population of Rhode Island can run the whole confederation? What realistic options do North and Central American countries have of opting out of CONCACAF or forcing the other countries to adopt different rules?
If its going to happen 2012 is the year in the cycle of FIFA events that a break has to happen. Qualifying is not yet set in North America for the next U-20 and U-17 FIFA events, the Women's World Cup is 4 years off, the 2018 World Cup has not advanced to planning stages for qualifying yet, the 2013 Gold Cup carries no qualification to any other events so could be scrapped, and there would have to be enough advance so that planning could be done so that the Digicel Caribbean Cup could comply as an official FIFA event, and that the organizing committee for the 2017 Confederations Cup could draw up a plan to modify their event as a 9 or 12 team tournament.
Blazer is the ultimate politician and chess player. He never says or does anything without looking 5 moves ahead and for what benefit he can obtain. His comments about Blatter and intriguing and makes me guess that he won't be getting a christmas card from him this year: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footballFifa president Sepp Blatter has promised reforms but Blazer doubts they will deliver wider representation. "Blatter should be talking to a broader base," said Blazer. "The days of tablets of stone being delivered from the mountain should be gone. He isn't Moses. At the moment, the chairman of the ethics committee is Swiss, the chair of the disciplinary committee is Swiss. And the president is Swiss. "The structure at the moment revolves around national associations. We have to bring other interests into Fifa - clubs, leagues, referees, women. None of these are represented in the executive committee. "If the issue is cleaning things up, we need a balance of competing interests. We need a broadening of the system But Blazer, who announced on Thursday his intention to step down as the general secretary of Concacaf - the federation that governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean - is not confident his call for a wider cross-section of stakeholders will be heeded. "Absolutely not, [the reforms] won't come close," he said Hmmmm. I wonder, what direction Blazer isgoing with this? He is a member of the FIFA executive commitee isn't he? This can't sit well with the other members on the committee.
It take it very strongly that his involvement with FIFA is coming to an end. Beyond his days with CONCACAF he'll probably serve out his term on the FIFA ExCo and that's it.
And let the big clubs take over the game? No thanks. I still like the existence of the international game.
So how do you go about blowing up "the lot of them" without creating a gap that the Manchesters, Madrids and Milans will rush to fill? Not easy.
This x 10000. I'll take slow, gradual change over a complete collapse and resulting strangulation of international soccer at the hands of guys like the Bayern cabal for the sake of the constant fellating of Barca and effing Champions League football. (which isn't bad or anything, but for me, is not nearly as interesting or entertaining as international football).
All it would take to "blow them up" is for four or five of the TOP European F.A.'s to band together and withdraw from FIFA....then the whole stack of cards would come crashing down.....nothing to do with the big clubs at all.
The big clubs wouldn't have had anything to do with bringing the stack down, but once it was down, would they stay politely on the sidelines or would they charge into the vacuum that had been created, eager to set up a new world soccer structure geared solely toward putting their interests first. Be careful what you wish for.
Yeah, this is the ONLY reason I'm not for banding together a bunch of people with pitchforks to burn FIFA down to the ground. (Well, not literally, but you know what I mean...) FIFA needs reformation, and badly, but at this point in time about the only people with money and a truly vested interest and a voice who actually could tear down that crooked house of cards are those who would prefer to replace international football with Champions League 24/7. Or maybe leave the World Cup as an invitational, quadrennial tournament, and that's it. I mean I watch Champions League as much as the next guy, but a world dominated solely by Champions League just seems about as cold as the NFL to me. And for those of us who like to watch Americans compete at a high level, forget it. We're a good, long way away from developing more than the odd player or two a generation who could realistically play a role with the Man U's and Madrids of the world, and this would probably have a negative effect on increasing that number. The gulf between the G14 clubs and the rest of the world would widen dramatically.
For Blazer to voluntarily remove himself from power makes me think: 1. That power was under threat, as in another corruption investigation could have its eyes set on him and he needed to step down now before he faced it, or 2. He has figured out a way to get more power (run for Blatter's spot after he leaves?) and thinks he needs to do this to get that done. I get that he is on "our" side, but, he just seems like such a slimy, self-interested con man that I have a hard time believing he is just 'walking away' so that he can sit by a lake & fish or something. Then again, maybe he is leaving because he took one final, large payoff to go away.
Or that there is another payoff awaiting him once he walks away from the organization (sort of politician turned lobbyist).
Blazer attributes his resignation to Mexico and Televisa. (english) http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=1397564&s=mundial&type=story
They responded with talk of audits, unaccounted millions, and improper disbursement of funds to national federations. Things are about to go down. It may be reaching a point beyond FIFA's disciplinary action with officials like Warner, Blazer about to get prosecuted by various national authorities. FIFA hasn't dealt with corruption and reformed, the scandal is about to get a whole lot worse and may spread to Zurich as well.