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What shall FIFA do now?


  

105 members have voted

  1. 1. Should Blatter resign?

    • No
      16
    • Yes
      89
  2. 2. Should the elections for 2018 and 2022 be repeated?

    • No
      22
    • Yes (both)
      39
    • Yes (only 2018)
      0
    • Yes (only 2022)
      41
    • No, but the country, which bidded but lost, should host the next ones
      3
  3. 3. Should the bribery scandal be investigated by public authorities?

    • No - the FIFA ethic council will handle that perfectly
      7
    • Yes - the FIFA isn't able to handle it "in the family"
      98


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True Faster, but there are a few small glimmers of hope which might get through Blatter's defences:

1. The Swiss don't like the battering their reputation has taken and are looking to delve deeper into what FIFA is doing in their country. Jennings revealed in his last documentary a few weeks ago that there is a document in Zug which reveals the bribes FIFA members were forced to repay by the Swiss courts. He believes it's only a matter of time before the Swiss Parliament makes this document public and he thinks it will be explosive enough to bring down Blatter.

2. The EU are getting interested; are FIFA to suspend Europe from competing if their interest comes of anything?

3. There is a global coalition gathering pace:

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR THE REFORM OF FIFA

Damian Collins MP, England

Senator Nick Xenophon, Australia

Ivo Belet MEP, Belgium

Piotr Borys MEP, Poland

Øyvind Korsberg MP, Norway

Eoghan Murphy TD, Republic of Ireland

Cecilia Keaveney, Republic of Ireland

Simon Hart MP, Wales

Jim Sheridan MP, Scotland

Ian Paisley MP, Northern Ireland

Richard Ashworth MEP, England

Syed Kamall MEP, England

Emma McClarkin, MEP, England

Adrian Sanders MP, England

http://www.damiancollins.com/2011/05/fifa-reform-agenda/

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  • 2 months later...

Not that I have much confidence in Sepp's or FIFA's ability to clean up its own act ...

Blatter promises FIFA reform details in October

ULRICHEN, Switzerland (AP) — After a year of scandal that has rocked world soccer, FIFA's president said Sunday that he will present detailed anti-corruption reforms in October.

Sepp Blatter told The Associated Press he will announce his reform agenda after an Oct. 20-21 meeting in Zurich with his executive committee colleagues — several of whom have been under suspicion.

"I will announce a road map of where we go and when we go," Blatter said, on the sidelines of his charitable foundation's annual soccer tournament.

Blatter promised to clean up the sport when he was re-elected unopposed in June for a fourth and final four-year presidential term.

His former election rival Mohamed bin Hammam withdrew amid allegations he tried to bribe Caribbean voters. The Qatari is appealing a lifetime ban imposed by FIFA's ethics committee.

The bribery scandal also exiled FIFA vice president Jack Warner, the Trinidad and Tobago government minister who resigned rather than face any punishment.

FIFA also is investigating 16 Caribbean officials for allegedly accepting $40,000 cash payments and has warned that more cases could follow.

"I'm very disappointed and very sad," Blatter said of the Caribbean region's damaged reputation. "They are part of FIFA and I'm very concerned about that."

Two more FIFA executive members, Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii, were suspended last November after allegations of vote-trading in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid races.

Several more of Blatter's colleagues, who will vote on approving his reforms, have survived unproven allegations concerning bribes, unethical favors and vote-trading deals.

"It was a very difficult year," Blatter acknowledged, seeming relaxed and assured on a sunny day in his family's ancestral Alpine village, where the charity event was decorated with discreet "Bravo Sepp" banners.

"Now I am working on different items and I will present to the executive committee of FIFA during the meeting," he said.

Blatter chairs the 24-man panel which can change some anti-corruption rules, though altering FIFA's statutes must wait for approval from 208 national members at their Congress next May in Budapest.

Blatter sought advice from global anti-corruption group Transparency International, which published a comprehensive program it believed FIFA could and should follow.

Report author Sylvia Schenk called on FIFA to investigate past allegations of kickbacks and ticket scams, and create an independent oversight panel that included fans, sponsors and media members.

Schenk also recommended that FIFA protect whistleblowers, impose two-term limits for elected officials and publish details of all salaries and bonuses. Blatter's own financial package has never been revealed.

"I met her twice and people from my organization had good discussions with them," said the 75-year-old Blatter, who has led FIFA since 1998. "They have a lot of recommendations but in transparency, what shall we do more?"

Blatter suggested he had pre-empted Schenk by proposing an oversight panel of so-called "wise men," which could include former United States diplomat Henry Kissinger and opera singer Placido Domingo.

"I called it a solutions committee so it is not new," Blatter said.

Associated Press

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  • 1 month later...
Sepp Blatter ready to approve release of Fifa fraud trial documents

• Fifa president performs U-turn over embargoed papers

• Evidence relates to alleged payment of bribes to officials

The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, is this week expected to put pressure on his executive committee to introduce measures to convince a sceptical public that he is capable of meaningful reform, including the release of explosive documents that could provide proof that senior officials took bribes.

Blatter is preparing for the pivotal executive committee meeting in Zurich on Thursday at which he will advance a "zero tolerance" agenda that he hopes will convince Fifa's many critics that he is serious about reform. According to the BBC, one plan under consideration is to deal with the past by allowing Swiss courts to release the controversial documents. For more than a decade Fifa has fought against the details contained in the papers being made public.

But there is a growing acceptance in Zurich that Blatter's only hope of survival is to acknowledge the mistakes of the past, even at the risk of enraging those who remain on the executive committee who may possibly be implicated.

Last November, days before the vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the BBC's Panorama programme alleged that $100m (£63.65m) had been paid between 1991 and 2001 by International Sports and Leisure in kickbacks to officials in return for TV and marketing contracts. It alleged that the Fifa executive committee members Nicolás Leoz, Ricardo Teixeira and Issa Hayatou were among the recipients. All three denied the claims.

Teixeira, who is under renewed investigation from Brazilian police over money‑laundering claims related to the payments, was alleged to have received £6m in bribes via a company called Sanud that was registered in Liechtenstein, although he denies the allegations.

ISL was declared bankrupt in May 2001 but the fallout continued until June last year, when the second of two Swiss court cases ended with an agreement by lawyers acting for Fifa and the officials in question to pay 5.5m Swiss francs to settle the case.

Without naming the officials involved, the prosecutor in the canton of Zug said last year: "In the course of the proceedings, the accused did not deny the receipt of the monies, although they denied criminal liability." Corporate bribery was not a crime in Switzerland before 2001. At the time Fifa said: "It is important to recall that the decision was made on matters which took place prior to the year 2000 and that there has been no court conviction against Fifa. In addition the Fifa president has been cleared of any wrongdoing in this matter."

Allowing the release of the documents is one of a number of measures that Blatter is considering putting before the executive committee as he seeks to show he is serious about his reform agenda. Other plans include making the ethics committee more independent, introducing a "solutions committee" to oversee reform and reform of the executive committee itself.

The Guardian

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There are a few possibilities here:

1. He'll put it to the ExCo asking that the papers are released knowing full well they'll veto the proposal. Sepp can then say he tried his best but "FIFA is a democracy". :lol:

2. He wants rid of some of the old guard and whilst releasing the papers may be acutely embarrassing for him, if it's the means to an end maybe he thinks it's worth it. :mellow:

3. The Swiss Courts have tipped FIFA off that they're minded to release the documents anyway and Sepp is pre-empting this, a move which has the nice side-effect of making it look like he's interested in transparency <_<

4. Sepp Blatter is genuinley interested in transparency at FIFA. :lol:

Edited by RobH
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Blatter says FIFA to release financial documents that could name officials who took kickbacks

ZURICH — FIFA President Sepp Blatter says he will release documents that could name senior officials who took kickbacks in a 10-year-old financial scandal.

FIFA had been trying to stop a Swiss court from releasing documents confirming which officials took payments from the former ISL marketing agency, which collapsed in 2001.

Blatter said Friday that FIFA’s executive committee will examine the documents at a meeting in Tokyo in December.

Blatter said an independent body would decide how the case will proceed.

Blatter announced the ISL files would be opened as he detailed an overhaul of FIFA’s ethics bodies in the wake of the organization’s worst corruption scandal.

Blatter says FIFA as an institution is “not corrupt.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/blatter-says-fifa-to-release-financial-documents-that-could-name-officials-who-took-kickbacks/2011/10/21/gIQAf51P3L_story.html

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Tweet from Andrew Jennings this morning:

"Great decision for BBC from Zug prosecutor on Zug file. It is not legally complex. It is very simple. Blatter wise to resign now."

http://twitter.com/#!/AAndrewJennings

I don't know what this "decisions" is he is referring to, does anyone else?

Edited by RobH
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I'm not defending MaFIFA and its people. Well-known they are not good people and bribery and other crimes have been done inside FIFA for long time...

But this BBC campaign started only after England losing the right to host some World Cup (2018 and 2022) and it will always sound to me BBC is acting like bad-losers.

Why not start this "campaign" against FIFA before 2018-2022 vote???

Anyway, hope FIFA can clean up itself as soon as possible.

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I'm not defending MaFIFA and its people. Well-known they are not good people and bribery and other crimes have been done inside FIFA for long time...

But this BBC campaign started only after England losing the right to host some World Cup (2018 and 2022) and it will always sound to me BBC is acting like bad-losers.

Why not start this "campaign" against FIFA before 2018-2022 vote???

Anyway, hope FIFA can clean up itself as soon as possible.

To be fair, Danny, the BBC Panorama show that started off the whole drama was produced and shown before the vote.

That said, I am conscious of the fact that it's easy to label any criticisms I make of FIFA and the 2022 bid can be construed as sour grapes and bitterness. My answer to that, though, is that I don't think the Australian FA, or the English, were totally "clean" in how they played the campaign either. I'm sure they knew what they were getting into.

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To be fair, Danny, the BBC Panorama show that started off the whole drama was produced and shown before the vote.

That said, I am conscious of the fact that it's easy to label any criticisms I make of FIFA and the 2022 bid can be construed as sour grapes and bitterness. My answer to that, though, is that I don't think the Australian FA, or the English, were totally "clean" in how they played the campaign either. I'm sure they knew what they were getting into.

But the big buzz comes with the England loss...

Indeed, from the british members here...

It's a matter of media convenience... Like TV Record here in Brazil pushing a lot of pressure over Brazilian FA because they lost the TV rights over Brazilian football (again).

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But this BBC campaign started only after England losing the right to host some World Cup (2018 and 2022) and it will always sound to me BBC is acting like bad-losers.

Why not start this "campaign" against FIFA before 2018-2022 vote???

There have been THREE documentaries on the BBC about FIFA corruption. The first was in 1998, the second in 2006, the third in 2010. ALL before the 2018 vote.

Further, Sepp Blatter specifically warned about "the dangers of the media" prior to the 2018 vote, in reference to the campaigns by the BBC, the Times and others.

Here's a clip from the most recent BBC programme, which includes footage of the 1998 BBC investigation:

So, you couldn't be more wrong in truth. The BBC have been on this case for nearly a decade and a half, and I note Andrew Jennings has been talking to the Brazilian Senate in the last few days regarding his and the BBC's findings during this time...

FULL TRANSCRIPT

But the big buzz comes with the England loss...

Indeed, from the british members here...

It's a matter of media convenience... Like TV Record here in Brazil pushing a lot of pressure over Brazilian FA because they lost the TV rights over Brazilian football (again).

All of us regulars here have been writing about FIFA corruption for years, not just after the vote. It's only in the last year that the worst of it has come out, so of course there's been more "buzz" during this time. It's only in the last year we've had FIFA members suspended (prior to the vote, but after the Times' journalism). It's only in the last year the the FIFA General Secretary said he couldn't be bought "like Qatar bought the world cup" - no British involvement in that one. It's only in the last year that Jack Warner has been ousted, that Blazer has been acting as whistleblower, that some FIFA members have induldged in gross xenophobia, that Texiera has been hanging by a thread, that the CFU bribary scandal has hit, that Blatter was "coronated" as FIFA President and, most recently, that new ISL documents have been uncovered. Few of these things had British involvement and ALL were reported WORLDWIDE. And, subsequently, all have been written about on this forum.

Sorry, but believing Blatter's line that the BBC and the media in the UK are against FIFA because of the 2018 loss flies in the face of all the facts. It completely disregards the fact that the Times and the BBC journalism came before the vote (in the BBC's case as far back as '98), and also completely ignores the fact that most FIFA scandals in the last year have no British involvement but have simply been reported by UK newspapers (I don't think Sepp likes this).

Edited by RobH
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Tweet from Andrew Jennings this morning:

"Great decision for BBC from Zug prosecutor on Zug file. It is not legally complex. It is very simple. Blatter wise to resign now."

http://twitter.com/#!/AAndrewJennings

I don't know what this "decisions" is he is referring to, does anyone else?

I'll answer my own question, with reference to Andrew Jennings' extroadinary presentation last week to the Brazilian Senate on FIFA Corruption:

Swiss Magistrate Thomas Hildbrand discovered enough evidence to prove that 2 FIFA officials took ISL bribes – and that Blatter had covered it up. In May 2010 he announced that the case had been settled. Who were the accused? They are Blatter, Teixeira and Havelange. They have paid a small fortune to have their names kept secret.

But they cannot. The BBC and several Swiss newspapers are fighting a legal battle to have Hildbrand’s report published.

Last week the Public Prosecutor in Zug rejected the arguments of Blatter, Teixeira and Havelange.

The big question now is: Will Blatter, Teixeira and Havelange continue to fight for suppression?

Our lawyers say it is inevitable that the Swiss Supreme court will order disclosure in the public interest – although it may take another 12 months.

Then you will have a massive international scandal hanging over your world Cup. Two Brazilians and President Blatter.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Edited by RobH
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He's spent two decades investigating FIFA, nearly bankrupted himself in the process, has written (I think) two books about FIFA corruption, made three documentaries, been asked by your country's senate to speak as an expert, been awarded the Football Writer of the Year award, and recently been awarded the 2011 Play the Game award along with a German journalist doing similar work.

And, for FIFA's part, he's been banned from all their press conferences and international meets. Strange thing to do to a man who "doesn't know ****" don't you think?

If anything, the past year shows he has probably UNDER exaggerated the problems in the world body!

If you think uncovering genuine corruption is arrogant or some kind of crusade, rather than a noble thing for a journalist to be doing, and if that attitude is common in Brazil, then perhaps that explains rather well why your nations's World Cup preparations have been a bit of a mess. :rolleyes:

Whatever the case, it is interesting that the Swiss Courts now think these papers should be published in the public interest. And if Jennings is right about their contents it does sound like the two most important men in world football (namely the head of the organising committee for the next world cup AND the head of FIFA) will be mired in an almighty scandal in 2012/13. I don't know why you seek to shoot the messenger.

Edited by RobH
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He's spent two decades investigating FIFA, nearly bankrupted himself in the process, has written (I think) two books about FIFA corruption, made three documentaries, been asked by your country's senate to speak as an expert, been awarded the Football Writer of the Year award, and recently been awarded the 2011 Play the Game award along with a German journalist doing similar work.

And, for FIFA's part, he's been banned from all their press conferences and international meets. Strange thing to do to a man who "doesn't know ****" don't you think?

If anything, the past year shows he has probably UNDER exaggerated the problems in the world body!

If you think uncovering genuine corruption is arrogant or some kind of crusade, rather than a noble thing for a journalist to be doing, and if that attitude is common in Brazil, then perhaps that explains rather well why your nations's World Cup preparations have been a bit of a mess. :rolleyes:

Whatever the case, it is interesting that the Swiss Courts now think these papers should be published in the public interest. And if Jennings is right about their contents it does sound like the two most important men in world football (namely the head of the organising committee for the next world cup AND the head of FIFA) will be mired in an almighty scandal in 2012/13. I don't know why you seek to shoot the messenger.

why you mad sir?

because your FA wasted 50million of the britties money and now you have to blame someone for it?

Anyway, the World Cup preparations in Brazil are as good as it can be lol. Better than the 2018 world cup preparations in your nation :rolleyes:

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