PeterRS Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago Sepp Batter was once a salesman of ladies undergarments. "Knickers" they were known when he was appointed President of FIFA in 1998. The World Cup is a massive money spinner for FIFA. Blatter was to become as corrupt as they come and led an organisation that was just as corrupt considering the number of executives around the world who were indicted for corruption. The marketing organisation for FIFA with its huge sponsorship revenues was handed to his incompetent nephew. It quickly went bankrupt. Not surprising, though, that Blatter was re-elected to the President's position no less than four times! Money spread around voting members talks. Surprisingly, perhaps, he was ejected from his post in 2015 and then had to serve not one but two six-year bans from any activity with the sport. He also loved his position where he could mingle and be courted by the world's elite, including President Putin and Sheik Tahim Bin Hamanal Talmi of Qatar. So he unilaterally changed the FIFA bidding procedures to favour his cronies. Where in the past only one location for a future World Cup following the next one had been announced, he decided to announce two at once. 2018 would be held in - wait for it - Russia, and 2022 - wait for it - in Qatar. Russia was much less of a surprise since it was already a football mad nation. Qatar though was sheer madness! It was not a footballing nation. It had one stadium when the World Cup needs eight. The World Cup is held at the height of summer when temperatures in Qatar for players and spectators alike would be impossibly high when trying to play 90 minutes of football - or 120 minutes in the event of a drawn match. The possibility of the death of a player rose like a spectre no one in the footballing world could ignore. 90%+ of the footballing world screamed corruption. But FIFA pays no attention to the rest of the world. It is its own profitable little kingdom. In the event, both Russia and Qatar were successful events, even though the dates for Qatar had to be moved to winter months forcing football associations around the world - the very constituents FIFA should be looking after - to change their entire schedules. Now, though, Blatter cannot keep his hands - and his mouth off the organisation he no doubt believes he should still be running. At the age of 89, he has warned soccer fans around the world to boycott the World Cup in the USA this summer. As Blatter's lawyer has just said - “For fans, just one piece of advice: avoid the United States! You’ll get a better view on television anyway. Upon arrival, fans should expect that if they don’t behave properly with the authorities, they will be immediately sent home. If they’re lucky …” Splitting the 2026 World Cup between Canada, the USA and Mexico was already a lousy idea for fans. Those football fanatics who just have to be there will have to spend a fortune, not only to get to North America, not only for the outrageous price of match tickets, but also for the clearly (to be) increased cost of shuttling by air between countries. It really is time that some organisation tackled the problem of FIFA and its propensity for corruption on a massive scale. Quote
