The last time we checked in Sepp Blatter and associates, Sepp was jetting off to the Caribbean, while the rest of the world sat wringing it's hands in nervous anticipation of Brazil meeting stadium deadlines for next year's World Cup. But before Sepp catches a flight back to Zurich, he might want to stop for a chat with the fine folks from the CONCACAF region.
"When someone gives you hope, here it is on a plate, there it is. Here is the price. You'll pay it. They'll profit. It's disillusionment. Total disillusionment."
For all the pride that African footballers such as Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Samuel Eto'o have instilled in their respective nations, their successes have come with a cost.
Guyana's football association...was given $800,000 in grants for a training centre between 2002 and 2006, but has yet to start any building work. The football federation in Montserrat...got $788,139 from FIFA in the early 2000s for what it said would be a "complex" with floodlights and fences, but what Google Earth suggests is just a forest clearing.
A Singaporean national at the core of a global soccer match-fixing scandal provided key information that led to this week's disclosure by Europol that it suspects that as many as 680 games on four continents were fixed by Asian crime syndicates and their European helpers.
I don't know exactly why, but the heads of football's most prominent organisations – FIFA's
Sepp Blatter and UEFA's Michel Platini, respectively – often give the air of a deranged, despotic
dictator, bursting at the seams with outspoken controversy and just waiting for a popular revolt to
remove them from power.
During the recent FIFA committee meeting in Hungary, among other things discussed, was the stance
that FIFA should be more transparent and reduce corruption. "Hooray," said Sepp. "But don't make
it too transparent or any less corrupt." Several of the topics discussed was an age limit on
committee members, background checks on all senior members and create a hotline for whistleblowers
(like
We are back for another edition of Radio Cuju. Sure it's a day late, but we promise it was well
worth it. On this episode we cover some juicy headlines and come up with a great new t-shirt idea
of Bumpy Pitch. We breakdown the hiring of Roy Hodgson as the England manager, the wild week in the
EPL and FIFA's reported new ethics code.
A few months ago, we addressed the troublesome issue of the possible banning of alcohol at the
Qatari 2022 WC. What we didn't address are current legislation that bans the sale of alcohol at
Russian and Brazilian stadiums.In a recent, and something like 5th or 6th rebuke of Brazil's lack
of infrastructure improvements in recent months, FIFA addressed the issue of the banning of alcohol
sales.
These past few days with little actual football to be discussed, one topic has been dominating the discussions. No, not of (C)Ashley Cole on the verge of getting his 100th international cap. Depending on where you're from, it doesn't necessary have to be Paul Goscoigne's headfirst fall into doom. The one I mean is about corruption in football, or to be more exact, match-fixing.
I have often said "the referee is bought" during football games to the amusement of many friends. It is funny, but I have always meant it as only half a joke; there is no doubt that the bribing of referees in football matches has happened at the highest level. Notable examples are the semifinal of the UEFA Cup in 1984, where Anderlecht had paid the referee, who gave them a dubious penalty and
Thai FA chief Worawi Makudi plans to file a countersuit against a South Korean company which is
sueing him for fraud.
Daihan 21 (now Daihan Yonhap) yesterday filed a lawsuit with the Criminal Court against the
Football Association of Thailand and its president Worawi claiming that they tricked the company
into joining a business to oversee the commercial and broadcasting rights for the FAT from
2007-2011.
Ricardo Teixeira, the CBF president for 23 years and the man behind Brazil's 2014 World Cup bid
stepped down citing health concerns. It was a great day for football.
Romario, the former footballer and now elected official who campaigned on reforming football
reacted: "Today we can celebrate," Romario posted on his Twitter and Facebook pages.
From the moment it was first mooted I thought it unlikely (although as many correspondents to
this blog point out, what do I know?), and followed Mr Wenger's vision that RVP would not fancy
Italy. He didn't say, "too much corruption" but he sort [.
Our global team of trading professionals are aware of 11 English referees whose performances on the
field of play (and off it in certain cases) are problematical in the department entitled
'Integrity'.
Actually we know of another but Red Walton has retired and been rewarded for his 'alleged' bias in
favour of Manchester United by being appointed as general manager of the Professional Referee
Organisation (PRO) in North America - a gift from the Glazers one should assume.
Who claims that refereeing decisions 'even out over the season'?
Who says that the referees don't determine systemic outcomes?
Our databases include analyses of refereeing inputs to all teams in all territories that are traded
- we examine penalties and sendings off (given and not) and fouls/booking ratio etc.
According to reports Tom Adeyemi who plays for Oldham, on loan from Norwich City, was racially
abused by one or more Liverpool fans at the Anfield ground last night. He gave a statement to
Merseyside Police in which it is understood he claimed to have been racially abused twice by a
supporter.
What on earth is wrong with ref Probert? Last year I wrote an article after the Wigan game which
was also a Christmas game only 2 days after a previous game. He then screwed us over with not
giving a blatant penalty for handball in the last minute. And that after he [...]
Monitoring the evidence being given by Rebekah Brooks to the Leveson Inquiry is more than
entertaining...
... the collusion in corruption between power and insiders is evident.
In the dim and distant past, I undertook a Ph.D in Economics - the title of my thesis was "The
Impact of Conspicuous Money on Outcomes in British Horseracing Betting Markets".
The final call of the charlatans when dealing with corruption in football is that such shenanigans
even out over the season.
Really.
Below are the tilts in the decisions of referees in the Premier League for season 2011/12 based on
the following formulation.
We'll call it the Referee Index.
Well that couldn't look any more damning could it. Disgusting is the word for it. The Conservative
party treasurer (not some rogue underling or eager young loose cannon fundraiser) telling foreign
businessmen, who aren't legally allowed to donate to uk political parties remember, to pay 250k for
shady private dinners with David Cameron at 10 Downing Street.
The blogosphere is having a field day with Charlie Brooks column in the Telegraph today ahead of
the Cheltenham Festival "The happiest moment of my year is about three hours before the first race
at Cheltenham on Tuesday" says Charlie...unlucky Sir. He was arrested along with Rebekah Brooks as
part of the corruption enquiry lead by Lord Leveson
The BBC have put together this useful chart of all the players in this sordid mess.
Lionel Messi scored his first international hat trick in Argentina's 3-1 win against Switzerland
on Wednesday and he is crediting the breakthrough to the intense hatred football fans have for
FIFA's Swiss president, Sepp Blatter.
Though Messi has scored six hat tricks for Barcelona this season and a total of 13 over the last
three years for the Catalan club, he had never been able to score three goals in one match for his
country.
There have been incidents of crowd disorder at the Benteng Stadium in Tangerang over the last few
years despite the fact that the two tenents, Persita and Persikota, haven't met for a good
while.
When one team plays the other boys come over to lob bricks and vice versa and no one seems able to
stop it despite the police clamping down on girls wearing short skirts to games.
There have been incidents of crowd disorder at the Benteng Stadium in Tangerang over the last few
years despite the fact that the two tenents, Persita and Persikota, haven't met for a good
while.
When one team plays the other boys come over to lob bricks and vice versa and no one seems able to
stop it despite the police clamping down on girls wearing short skirts to games.
For over 20 years, Anne Williams has fought in vain for a new inquest into the death of her son
Kevin, who was one of 96 Liverpool football fans killed in the Hillsborough stadium disaster. Mrs
Williams believes the original inquest into Kevin's death was 'riddled with corruption', and that
'vital evidence' was suppressed: "I want a fresh inquest for Kevin and I want it to run up until
4pm when
The Asian Football Confederation plans to elect a president next April to end theuncertainin football's Asian body following the suspension of Mohamed bin Hammam on corruption charges in May 2011. In a statement released after its executive committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, the AFC, said the election would be subject to the advice of its LegalCommittee.
Terrible officiating, cynical play, and the Union didn't finish the few chances they created:
recaps, reaction and quotes from a hard ending to a great run. More FIFA corruption - hurray!
The choice of the officials in this Birmingham/Blackpool event is akin to a rigged horserace.
Penalty denial against Ince and an offside goal for Zigic.
But fuck you ######### with your fake degree and your match rigging - the Pool will not be
denied.
What I enjoy about following soccer is not limited to the actual, physical sport. I find the
social, political, and emotional facets of the sport fascinating as well. Franklin Foer covers
those aspects in his book, How Soccer Explains the World, under an umbrella of a discussion on
globalization.
Sports betting is a multi-million dollar business. Betting on Football results, goals & what not
drives thousands of punters into a betting frenzy every weekend in order to make a quick buck,
pound or euro. It seems SPANISH FOOTBALL is not immune to the "side-effects" of a business which
operates on the thin line between good & evil.
Maurizio Galdi, who follows football corruption for sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, said
up to 12 Serie A sides, representing more than half the division's 20 teams, could be implicated.
"About 75 matches since 2009 are now being investigated and at the end of all this we could see
around 50 players sent for criminal trial," said Roberto Pelucchi, who also writes for the
paper
Serie A players in fear as fan violence and spectre of match-fixing return | Football | The
Observer
Good morning to you and welcome to 2012. Let me first throw out a business idea for someone.
'Dial-a-breakfast'. Right now I would pay cold, hard cash to someone who would deliver a fried
breakfast to my house. Eggs, bacon, sausage, pudding (black and white) as a base with various
assortments of other stuff as optional extras.
