Official Football Thread

Maybe it's just power games. I find it hard to believe that politicians from all over the world weren't involved in FIFA schemes. Blatters for sure got leverage on some of it.
 
I don't like Platini either, he has all these crazy ideas about changing the rules of the game and the cups. I liked the idea of Prince Ali being the president because him and his family are already rich as fuck and couldn't possibly be bribed.
 
Of course politicians are in on it. Russia and Qatar are not known as shiny examples of corruption-free governance.
 
Platini voted for Qatar. I hope he won't be the new one.

The FA’s chairman, Greg Dyke: “Something has come out of the events of last week that has caused Mr Blatter to resign … He’s gone. At long last we can sort out Fifa. We can go back to looking at those two World Cups. If I were Qatar right now I wouldn’t be feeling very comfortable.”


Here is the full transcript of Sepp Blatter’s statement:
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I have been reflecting deeply about my presidency and about the 40 years in which my life has been inextricably bound to Fifa and the great sport of football. I cherish Fifa more than anything and I want to do only what is best for Fifa and for football. I felt compelled to stand for re-election, as I believed that this was the best thing for the organisation. That election is over but Fifa’s challenges are not. Fifa needs a profound overhaul.

While I have a mandate from the membership of Fifa, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at Fifa. Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as Fifa President until that election. The next ordinary Fifa Congress will take place on 13 May 2016 in Mexico City. This would create unnecessary delay and I will urge the Executive Committee to organise an Extraordinary Congress for the election of my successor at the earliest opportunity. This will need to be done in line with Fifa’s statutes and we must allow enough time for the best candidates to present themselves and to campaign. Since I shall not be a candidate, and am therefore now free from the constraints that elections inevitably impose, I shall be able to focus on driving far-reaching, fundamental reforms that transcend our previous efforts.

For years, we have worked hard to put in place administrative reforms, but it is plain to me that while these must continue, they are not enough. The Executive Committee includes representatives of confederations over whom we have no control, but for whose actions Fifa is held responsible. We need deep-rooted structural change. The size of the Executive Committee must be reduced and its members should be elected through the Fifa Congress. The integrity checks for all Executive Committee members must be organised centrally through Fifa and not through the confederations. We need term limits not only for the president but for all members of the Executive Committee. I have fought for these changes before and, as everyone knows, my efforts have been blocked.

This time, I will succeed. I cannot do this alone. I have asked Domenico Scala to oversee the introduction and implementation of these and other measures. Mr Scala is the Independent Chairman of our Audit and Compliance Committee elected by the Fifa Congress. He is also the Chairman of the ad hoc Electoral Committee and, as such, he will oversee the election of my successor. Mr Scala enjoys the confidence of a wide range of constituents within and outside of Fifa and has all the knowledge and experience necessary to help tackle these major reforms. It is my deep care for Fifa and its interests, which I hold very dear, that has led me to take this decision. I would like to thank those who have always supported me in a constructive and loyal manner as President of Fifa and who have done so much for the game that we all love. What matters to me more than anything is that when all of this is over, football is the winner.

- - - - - - -
 
Carlo Ancelotti rejected Milan's offer, will take a sabbatical :(

Either way, Inzaghi needs to be sacked asap.
 
Maybe it's just power games. I find it hard to believe that politicians from all over the world weren't involved in FIFA schemes. Blatters for sure got leverage on some of it.
FBI (investigation) pressure. They're getting closer and closer. Today it was in the news that his right hand, Valcke, is accused of paying 10 million bribes.

Thank you America! In Europe, politics/police hadn't done much. America(n) (law) has made the difference.
 
FBI (investigation) pressure.
Yep: this's gotta be why:
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/fifa-p...nation/story?id=31473282#.VW3zEHtCoJU.twitter
... This comes as sources familiar with the case told ABC News today that Blatter is being investigated by the FBI and U.S. prosecutors as part of the probe that led to last week’s stunning indictments....

... Days before the election, the U.S. Department of Justice accused 14 people of corruption and racketeering conspiracy in a 47-count indictment released last Wednesday. Nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives were indicted, including two current FIFA vice presidents and the current and former presidents of CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football), Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner. ...

The FBI declined to comment because Blatter has not been publicly identified as a target of the investigation. The sources said the feds are conducting the FIFA probe the same way they would handle an old-school New York-style racketeering case.

“Now that people are going to want to save themselves, there’s probably a race to see who will flip on [Blatter] first,” one sources said, explaining how the feds typically try to get people to inform on their superiors.

“We may not be able to collapse the whole organization but maybe you don’t need to,” one of the sources said.
 
ruqM7Ux.jpg
 
Milner signs for Liverpool, I guess he had enough of Premier League titles and playing in Champions League :D
 
My local team lost in the final round of the Promotion Playoffs for the second consecutive year. This time on penalties. Losers.
 
Norway beat Thailand 4-0
Germany beat Ivory Coast 10-0 in a game that had every sports journalist thinking (but not writing) the word blitzkrieg.
 
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