OT:Sepp Blatter

[gasman]

Is stepping down as FIFA President. Wonder what they have on him ?

[vav]

Yeah...let's have a 100 page thread on real futbol :banana:

[jr59]

I wonder if he gets to pick his replacement?

[goonster]

I can't imagine what happened between Friday and today to force his hand this way, and think there will be a whole bunch of shoes still to drop.

His position inside FIFA was fairly unassailable, so the threat to his power must be external, e.g. imminent criminal indictment, or such, because I don't think he has a functioning conscience.

[fa63]

His top lieutenant has been accused of making some shady bank transactions possibly related to bribery. I imagine he realized it would be difficult to refute that he had no idea of his second-in-command's actions, so he stepped down.

Which he should have done a long time ago.

[jmoore]

"Sepp Blatter" sounds like a very uncomfortable medical condition

[FlashUNC]

I'm guessing its a combination of legal exposure and sponsors turning up the heat. Probably more of the latter honestly.

[Climb01742]

Two guesses:

1. Some of the indicted have begun to flip and sing.

2. Sponsors like VISA have, behind the scenes, said change or the gravy train stops.

[rwsaunders]

TMZ has reported that Sepp is headed to the NFL...

[goonster]

I imagine he realized it would be difficult to refute that he had no idea of his second-in-command's actions, so he stepped down.
The SAFA/Valcke letter publication is recent and embarrassing, but is small potatoes compared to the totality of rampant graft that passes for business-as-usual in the executive committee.

Blatter has announced his intention to resign once his successor is elected, but he remains in office until then, and will now presumably put an army of shredders into overdrive.

[fa63]

I agree, I guess what I meant was that the latest allegations were sort of the nail in the coffin for the old man.

[PQJ]

Some funny comments here. MODS - 'like' button or similar, please.

I'm guessing it is Sepp's first step towards appearing contrite.

[Louis]

TMZ has reported that Sepp is headed to the NFL...

To replace Belichick? (sp?)

[BdaGhisallo]

I have little doubt that a great number of global sporting governing bodies like FIFA, the IOC, IAAF and the like are riddled with corruption top to bottom. Until very recently, there's been much money involved with next to no accountability allied with a status that seemed to be beyond the concern of any major govt or judicial body. That is changing and the folks at the US Justice Dept and their contemporaries in other national governments will be kept busy with it for as long as they remain interested in it.

[fiamme red]

To replace Belichick? (sp?)Yes, that's the correct spelling. After the longest-ever thread on Paceline about Belichick (1,421 replies), I should hope we're able to spell his name correctly. :)

[Len J]

Is stepping down as FIFA President. Wonder what they have on him ?

One or more of his (indicted) lieutenants rolled on him for leniency. Add the pressure of sponsors.


Pretty straightforward.

Len

[OldCrank]

... and, that very pesty US DoJ

[denapista]

Blatter sounded smug and overly cocky to me. I mean... Everyone underneath you have been repaing the bribe benefits for years, without your knowing? I find that hard to believe. Even still, you're at the top of a corrupt organization. FIFA RICO stature comes to mind. Guilty by association with slight knowledge of decades old corruption, or just so out of it that you're no longer competent to run said organization. It's one or the other and no in between.

Did you all hear about the US official, with a Trump Tower apartment for his cat? hahaha I can barely scrape together my Breadwinner deposit, and these guys are renting penthouses for their cats.

[tiretrax]

One or more of his (indicted) lieutenants rolled on him for leniency.

I wonder when Landis will file his Qui Tam lawsuit.

[saf-t]

When the first arrests were announced, my first thought was to wonder how long it would be until they scooped Blatter as well. Probably not much longer, I'd guess.

[spartanKid]

I liken this to JoePa resigning. They must have some pretty damning stuff.

[54ny77]

The $ involved with global soccer makes cycling look like a rounding error.

Perhaps Hein Verbruggen is jealous....his "honorarium" must've been chump change. :bike:

[texbike]

TMZ has reported that Sepp is headed to the NFL...

Haha!! The NFL needs to cleaned out as well.


Two guesses:

1. Some of the indicted have begun to flip and sing.

2. Sponsors like VISA have, behind the scenes, said change or the gravy train stops.

One or more of his (indicted) lieutenants rolled on him for leniency. Add the pressure of sponsors.


Pretty straightforward.

Len

Agree and agree!

Texbike

[1centaur]

I like goonster's thought - getting the shredders working. I find it hard to believe that much has changed from last week to this in terms of the odds that people will roll on him. So what did change? He got to stay in office, where he has the power to affect his outcome better than if he was at home. If one thinks what a totally corrupt individual would do, it is to plan his dismount with as much control as possible. Suddenly being booted out in a vote was not the way to accomplish that. For all we know he bought the vote that kept him in and hopes to engineer a successor who will cover his trail.

[Rueda Tropical]

Suddenly being booted out in a vote was not the way to accomplish that. For all we know he bought the vote that kept him in and hopes to engineer a successor who will cover his trail.


That might be a possibility. He knew he was going, he just needed time to arrange his own exit and get a replacement in that would not go after him. Maybe he intended to resign before he was elected.

[alessandro]

Some good stuff in this piece about Scottish freelancer Andrew Jennings:

How a curmudgeonly old reporter exposed the FIFA scandal that toppled Sepp Blatter
The Washington Post
June 3, 2015
www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/03/how-a-curmudgeonly-old-reporter-exposed-the-fifa-scandal-that-toppled-sepp-blatter/
“This journalism business is easy, you know. You just find some disgraceful, disgustingly corrupt people and you work on it! You have to. That’s what we do. The rest of the media gets far too cozy with them. It’s wrong. Your mother told you what was wrong. You know what’s wrong. Our job is to investigate, acquire evidence.”

[bikingshearer]

FIFA and the IOC make the pre-Cooksen UCI look like the Vienna Boys Choir. The World Cup in Qatar? The amount forwarded to the IOC to try to garner the Olympics? Verbruggen never began to think of corruption on such a scale.

As for Blatter getting re-elected - of course he got re-elected. He owned the votes outright of the Guinea-Bissous and the Bhutans of the world thanks to (1) the one-country, one-vote rule and (2) the judicious greasing of palms in said places. The fix was in before the hotel reservations were made.

[bironi]

Some good stuff in this piece about Scottish freelancer Andrew Jennings:

How a curmudgeonly old reporter exposed the FIFA scandal that toppled Sepp Blatter
The Washington Post
June 3, 2015
www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/03/how-a-curmudgeonly-old-reporter-exposed-the-fifa-scandal-that-toppled-sepp-blatter/

That article was a fun read. That old curmudgeon has a set.

[Anarchist]

I have little doubt that a great number of global sporting governing bodies like FIFA, the IOC, IAAF and the like are riddled with corruption top to bottom. Until very recently, there's been much money involved with next to no accountability allied with a status that seemed to be beyond the concern of any major govt or judicial body. That is changing and the folks at the US Justice Dept and their contemporaries in other national governments will be kept busy with it for as long as they remain interested in it.

The only reason the U.S. DoJ or any other national body would be interested, is because they have to come to realize how much tax revenue is slipping away unreported.

The U.S. has a greater interest than most because of their taxing on "worldwide" income.

[Scooper]

"Sepp Blatter" sounds like a very uncomfortable medical condition

Last week when the SHTF, his name sounded like "stepladder" in all the newscasts. I was thinking "what kind of name is that?"