What shall FIFA do now?

[Bezzi]

Anderson is the man and I’m sure he will be upset to know that female statues did not get the same treatment the dudes’ statues had in that exhibit in Doha. For the record, there are statues of female goddesses with naked breasts that got to avoid the black cloth. And there are people who claim that women are mistreated in the Middle East!

Actually, there is a growing war against handsome men in the Arabian Peninsula. You don’t believe it? Read this:

Saudi Arabia Reportedly Deports Men for Being ‘Too Handsome’

So i think i can't go to Saudi Arabia

[MrCatra]

Apologies. It seems that the link is not working. I'm reposting it here.

Damn, I wish I'd be on such a list. "Hey Mr., you're to pretty to enter our country. Pretty badass! But I'm a black jew lol, I wouldn't be allowed to enter even if I was handsome.

[Bezzi]

FIFA approved some changes in the congress yesterday. Here is the main change:

"Congress to decide on the venue for the final competition of the FIFA World Cup based on a shortlist consisting of up to three bids submitted by the FIFA Executive Committee, with the stipulation that Congress shall not award the hosting rights to more than one FIFA World Cup™ at the same meeting"

http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/bodies/congress/news/newsid=2089615/index.html?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_media_statements

The bids will be more expensive because they will have to buy much more votes to win

[baron-pierreIV]

Hmmmm... no mention of redoing 2022? So, it looks like they're stuck with that...and they'll just have to suck it in!

[Gangwon]

Too little, too late.

[world atlas]

Fifa head of ethics to gather World Cup 2018 and 2022 bid evidence

The Guardian, Tuesday 1 October 2013

Michael Garcia, the head of the investigatory arm of Fifa's ethics committee, will begin a global evidence-gathering tour within the next fortnight to visit every country involved in the convoluted and controversial dual race to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

According to France Football magazine, which will on Tuesday publish the latest in a series of in-depth investigations into the awarding of the 2022 tournament to Qatar and the ongoing fallout, Garcia's tour will begin in London on 9 October.

Garcia, who has stressed his independence from the Fifa executive, has confirmed he will conduct interviews with those involved in a race that was ultimately won by Russia for 2018 and Qatar for 2022, but refused to comment on the specifics. The process of gathering new witness statements will be seen as a major escalation in an investigation that some senior figures within world football believe could yet lead to a re-vote for the 2022 World Cup. Garcia is expected to deliver his conclusions by March or April.

Fifa's president Sepp Blatter last month admitted for the first time that there was "direct political influence" on the members of the Fifa executive committee who made the decision to vote for Qatar and conceded a vote-swapping pact existed between Spain and Qatar.

Others, however, are equally insistent that while Qatar may have spent unprecedented sums to promote its bid and used its political and economic influence to garner votes, there is no smoking gun and they did not break any of Fifa's rules on campaigning.

Among those Garcia is likely to seek out are the executives involved in England's bid for the 2018 World Cup, which cost the Football Association £21m but garnered only two votes. The other losing bidders for the 2018 tournament were Belgium/the Netherlands and Portugal/Spain. Australia, Japan, South Korea and the US lost out to Qatar for 2022.

The former New York attorney and Interpol vice-president has no powers to compel those involved in the bidding process to speak to him but is said to be encouraged by the information he has received so far as he gathers evidence.

Fifa's executive committee will vote on Friday on whether to agree in principle to a controversial motion to move the Qatar World Cup to winter, which has provoked a furious backlash from some professional leagues, including the Premier League, as well as broadcasters and losing bidders.

Australia's bid leader Frank Lowy has already said that he will press for Fifa to compensate the country for the £25m in public money that was spent on the bid, while Fox and NBC have already held meetings with Fifa to signal their opposition to a switch to winter that would clash with the NFL season.

The International Olympic Committee is also keeping a watching brief and is keen to ensure that any switch to winter would involve playing matches in November and December 2022 and not January and February, which would clash with the Winter Olympics of that year.

Fifa's executive committee meeting will now also discuss the issue of mistreatment of migrant workers in Qatar amid a huge construction boom as the country prepares the infrastructure to host the 2022 World Cup.

A Guardian investigation last week revealed that dozens of migrant workers had died in recent weeks alone, forcing Fifa to add the topic to its agenda.

The sports minister Hugh Robertson has called the fiasco surrounding the Qatar 2022 tournament "a mess of Fifa's own making". He added: "I don't think anybody in the world of football thinks a World Cup in Qatar in the summer is a sensible or deliverable option."

But Robertson said he did not blame the Qataris for bidding to take the competition to the Middle East for the first time. "I don't blame the Qataris at all – they wanted the World Cup and every country is entitled to have that ambition and they entered the bidding competition in the way suggested by Fifa. I entirely blame Fifa," he said.

The Guardian

[baron-pierreIV]

Nothing will be settled next week -- other than it will NOT happen in June-July 2022. I think they are going to take this by stages. I am amazed that Michael Garcia is only starting his face-to-face fact-finding tour now. At most, Qatar will be warned to fix the labor abuses going on now--regardless of whether 2022 happens there or not.

[gotosy]

Sepp Blatter: Fifa president could be succeeded by Jeffrey Webb

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has indicated he could be replaced "in the near future" as the head of football's world governing body by Jeffrey Webb.

Webb, a Fifa vice-president, is leader of the confederation for North, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf).

The comments to a football conference in the Caribbean are another hint that Blatter does not want Uefa president Michel Platini to succeed him.

Blatter, 77, has led the Zurich-based governing body since 1998.

Speaking off-the-cuff before a speech to mark the opening of a Concacaf sport summit, the Fifa boss was introduced incorrectly to an audience of regional political leaders and confederation delegates as "Fifa's vice-president" by a local media officer.

Blatter stepped up to the lectern and replied to the mistake by telling the media officer and assembled guests: "I think you're a prophet."

"[There may be] a new Fifa president in the near future and this president could be Jeffrey Webb."

After receiving applause, he added: "This would not mean I would be vice-president. Once you have been a horse you don't go back to the stable."

Sources close to Fifa have told BBC Sport that the comments should not be taken as a decision by Blatter that he will not stand as a candidate in the next election, scheduled for May 2015, and that all options are still open to him.

Blatter told Uefa delegates in 2011 that this would be his final term of office but has this year given strong indications that he may seek a fresh mandate.

The comments are the clearest indication so far that Platini - considered by many observers to be his most likely successor - is not the man Blatter wishes to see in power after he has left the role.

Platini has yet to decide if he will stand in the 2015 election saying recently that he wanted more time to consider the matter.

That leaves Jeffrey Webb - who is also yet to indicate any intention to stand in the ballot - as Blatter's anointed executive, having already been appointed by him earlier this year to lead Fifa's anti-discrimination and racism task-force.

Webb, 49, is from the Cayman Isles and was elected president of Concacaf in May 2012 following the acrimonious departures offormer president Jack Warner and general secretary Chuck Blazer.

Now one of seven Fifa vice-presidents, Webb started his time in football governance as president of the Cayman Islands Football Association in 1991.

BBC

[krow]

"This would not mean I would be vice-president. Once you have been a horse you don't go back to the stable."

yeah, usually it's straight to the glue factory, sepp.

[Rob2012]

British actor Tim Roth is to star as Fifa president Sepp Blatter in a film about football's governing body.

Provisionally titled F2014, Gerard Depardieu will also appear in the movie as Jules Rimet - one of Fifa's founders and its longest-serving president.

In a video published on Fifa's website, Blatter said Roth's casting was "well done" and they had "common qualities".

The film is due for release next year, to coincide with Fifa's 110th anniversary and the World Cup.

Production will take place in France, Brazil and Azerbaijan.

The video showed Blatter meeting with Roth for the first time in Zurich, which Blatter said was "a very interesting get-together".

"I had read a lot of the CV and all the [films] that Tim Roth has made [and] I was very eager to meet him," the 77-year-old said.

The movie is being made by French production companies Leuviah and Thelma Films.

Blatter has run Fifa since 1998 amid a series of controversies including allegations of corruption.

In 2004 the Swiss was criticised for suggesting female footballers should wear tighter shorts and low cut shirts to attract more male fans, while in 2011 he insisted there was no racism in football and any incidents could be settled with a handshake.

He was also at the centre of allegations of bribery resulting in Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid and was criticised for saying gay football fans should not have sex while in the nation, where homosexuality is illegal.

He has since apologised for his remarks.

Roth, 52, will soon be seen on the big screen as Prince Rainier of Monaco, opposite Nicole Kidman in Grace of Monaco.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24669147

[baron-pierreIV]

How does Tim Roth get all these parts that don't look anything at all like him? I mean, Nicole Kidman as Princess Grace is a casting coup...but Roth as her dream prince, Rainier?? I wonder how Albertito feels about the casting.

[ofan]

Blatter saying that Roth and him have similar qualities has got to be one of the greatest insults of all time.

[baron-pierreIV]

I want Blatter to go into acting after his FIFA term!!

[Roger87]

How does Tim Roth get all these parts that don't look anything at all like him? I mean, Nicole Kidman as Princess Grace is a casting coup...but Roth as her dream prince, Rainier?? I wonder how Albertito feels about the casting.

Well, Olivier Dahan and Harvey Weinstein are having a feud for the film. And with the recent news of release date (In March) and problems of the editing, it won't end well. Maybe Kidman will unite at the same fate as her friend Naomi Watts is having for playing Princess Diana -And the declarations of speaking with the ghost of Diana -

By the way, Depardieu didn't play Dominique Strauss-Kahn in an Abel Ferrara's film?

[Sir Rols]

I want Blatter to go into acting after his FIFA term!!

Just what we need - the "new" Danny de Vito!

[gotosy]

Champagne launches bid for FIFA presidency

(AFP)

London — Former FIFA deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne on Monday launched his bid to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of the organisation that runs the global game.

The 55-year-old Frenchman, who worked closely with Blatter between 2002 and 2005, announced his campaign to become football's most powerful man at a press conference in central London.

"I'm here to announce and launch my candidacy for the FIFA presidency in the elections in 2015," he told reporters.

Blatter, 77, is approaching the end of his fourth term in office and is yet to announce whether or not he will stand again in next year's election in Zurich.

Current UEFA president Michel Platini said late last year that he will announce whether or not he will stand for the post either during or after the World Cup in Brazil, which starts on June 12.

AFP

[Mr Tickle]

When will the election happen?

[gotosy]

When will the election happen?

Fifa's presidential election will be held in Zurich in June 2015

BBC

[Tony E Loves Architecture]

Fifa's presidential election will be held in Zurich in June 2015

BBC

As long as Blatter goes, I'm willing to see a new face as president to clear up his corrupt work.

[baron-pierreIV]

As long as Blatter goes, I'm willing to see a new face as president to clear up his corrupt work.

And if he doesn't, will you promise to post less than twice a week??

[Tony E Loves Architecture]

And if he doesn't, will you promise to post less than twice a week??

Please stop those type of comments. It's really annoying me, and it makes you look immature. Thanks.

[baron-pierreIV]

Please stop those type of comments. It's really annoying me, and it makes you look immature. Thanks.

LOL!!

[Mr Tickle]

Lets hope more folks step up to the plate this time rather than just an isolated FA making a stand

[Athensfan]

Please stop those type of comments. It's really annoying me, and it makes you look immature. Thanks.

HYSTERICAL.

[BethnalGreen]

Please stop those type of comments. It's really annoying me, and it makes you look immature. Thanks.

You are giving Baron way too much credit here lol