The International Football Federations Thread

[Matt]

London will take it.

You know it wouldn't be the worst idea. I imagine a lot of players play in Europe anyway. You'd probably get some decent sized crowds too.

Plus it'd piss Britain First right off

[Gazz]

Bloody Africans, coming over here and staging football tournaments and contributing to the economy.

[Lineker]

FIFA confirm a statement on the Garcia report into the bidding for the 2018 & 2022 World Cups will be published tomorrow at 9am.

[stokeriño]

Shockingly, not only does the report into corruption say that everything is A-OK in FIFA, but then takes time out to criticise the English FA specifically.

Subtle.

[Gazz]

I am shocked.

[hugobomb]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30037729

The lawyer who conducted the two year investigation has already spoken out against FIFA's conclusions

[stokeriño]

That's hilarious.

I'm almost impressed by the new ways FIFA manage to find to be sleazy as all hell.

[Adam]

Apparently the FBI are doing an investigation now.

What a joke FIFA is. Subsequently, it makes the whole sport a joke. Sepp Blatter will hopefully be remembered as a scurge on this sport who presided over a dark period in the governing of football.

[Lineker]

A day late, but

[Lineker]

Reuters are reporting that Equatorial Guinea will host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

[Lineker]

News line #1: German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert tells the BBC that he is "surprised" by public criticism from Fifa counterpart Michael Garcia over the report on the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

News line #2: The man who led the technical bid inspections into the 2018 and 2022 World Cups is under investigation by Fifa for alleged breaches of its code of ethics. Harold Maynes Nicholls, a Chilean considering standing against Sepp Blatter in next year's Fifa presidential election, faces being charged by the world governing body for emails he sent to the director of the Qatari sporting academy "Aspire". Mayne Nicholls is also being investigated for seeking to arrange unpaid internships for his son, nephew and his brother-in-law who works as a tennis coach. He denies any wrong-doing and insists that neither he nor representatives from Chilean football ever travelled to Aspire.

[stokeriño]

The only allegations FIFA ever investigates are against those looking to stand against Blatter in upcoming elections. Pure coincidence, of course.

[Gazz]

Apparently the FBI are doing an investigation now.

What a joke FIFA is. Subsequently, it makes the whole sport a joke. Sepp Blatter will hopefully be remembered as a scurge on this sport who presided over a dark period in the governing of football.

The FBI investigation has been going on a while, they apparently lent on Chuck Blazer and 'persuaded' him to covertly record his conversations with senior FIFA officials. Leaked details suggest that Blatter and his ilk are more bent than Katsuya's last birthday party.

I saw a statistic too that of the 24 people who cast the votes in 2010 for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, 12 of them have left FIFA over corruption investigations / convictions.

[Whisper]

Which makes it all the more hilarious that England were criticised.

None of them voted for us!

[Matt]

I read somewhere that Japan admitted to a voting alliance/agreement with Russia which FIFA decided to say never happened because they queried the Russian FA and they claimed no knowledge of it

[TCO]

FIFA have really gone past the point of it even being funny. Something has to give soon. I don't know what but surely somebody will pull them up?

[stokeriño]

^ I honestly don't think any change will come from within. It seems like the national FAs are all either in on it, resigned to it, or marginalised if they speak up. If it were to come about through commercial pressures (due to bad image etc.), then surely we would have seen even a tiny hint of movement by now.

I think the most likely way it will go anywhere is if some law agency manages to figure out a jurisdiction wherein they can start charging people. I don't know if there's really anything in the FBI stories, but I can only hope there is.

[Szumi]

Just tell the FBI that FIFA is run by a bunch of socialists or terrorists. Then we'll fix your Soccerball real fast.

[stokeriño]

German football league president Reinhard Reuball calls on FIFA to make report available in full:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/11233973/Germany-warns-that-Uefa-may-quit-Fifa-if-World-Cup-bid-report-is-not-published-in-full-and-made-public.html

Nice to at least hear someone who FIFA can't disregard as "bitter Englishmen" saying something about it for once...

[The Lusophone]

I'm hopeful UEFA does pull out of FIFA if they don't make the report available.