Very true. I've met a dozen or so MPs and MPPs who ran just for this perk. If you have a representative in your riding who does absolutely nothing, this is why.Originally Posted by jloome
Very true. I've met a dozen or so MPs and MPPs who ran just for this perk. If you have a representative in your riding who does absolutely nothing, this is why.
And from reading all the links - thanks to Tobor for posting all of these - I dont know what to think. Will there be change? The bickering seems to be going around but nobody seems to be breaking the gentleman's agreement.
To me, most political institutions (Canadian and American included) are either broken or otherwise have corrupt entities. So for FIFA to be corrupt, I'm not overly concerned. Yeah, I would've preferred a World Cup in the US as opposed to Qatar, but not high on my list of priorities to be honest.
What does concern me is if, and how deep, the relation goes from corrupt executive members to shoddy officiating. For example, since England and the US have taken a leadership role in rooting out Blatter (Swiss) and Warner (Trinidad) corruption, is there a higher propensity of biased Swiss and Trinidad officiating of the England & US matches? If this connection can be made (corrupt executive members force their officials to make biased decisions on the pitch) then the world will take notice and lose their shit.
There are some great people doing a lot of digging out there... ChangeFIFA provides the link to the original deal between JDI and Sportsmax here : CFU, SportsMax sign multi-million dollar TV deal - it doesn't exactly come out and say that Teflon Jack owns JDI, but...
andAustin 'Jack' Warner (CONCACAF president) in his capacity as president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) signed on the behalf of the regional body, while Jamaican and IMC chairman Patrick Rousseau signed for the media group. The signing took place in Trinidad and Tobago.
doesn't leave much up to the imagination.Football continues to enjoy significant popularity and growth in the Caribbean. The JDI'S objective is to ensure that we utilise the best technology and platform available to bring the beautiful game to our football-loving television audience across the entire region," said FIFA vice-president Warner, who negotiated the deal on behalf of JDI.
Last edited by TOBOR !; 09-09-2011 at 10:51 AM.
a ha ha heh he hoo.. ha
... oh, and you will laugh when you read this one. There's a bit of incredulity out there in the 'FIFA Corruption Investigation' community over how they have just now discovered Jack Warner's impropriety... here's a document hosted by playthegame.org and written by Andrew Jennings. The entire document is interesting, but for now quickly flip to pages 6 and 7 : 2018 : England in the iron grip of Jack Warner
Last edited by TOBOR !; 09-09-2011 at 02:29 PM.
... this passage (from here) makes me think that FIFA is trying to kill three birds with one stone :
FIFA said in a statement to the Press Association: "The CFU was a media rights licensee for FIFA events in selected territories in the Caribbean.
"However, CFU is no longer a media rights licensee of FIFA. FIFA has secured good coverage in the region directly, but has still not finalised any announcement."
- Throw Jack Warner even further under the bus (not that he doesn't deserve it)
- Recover TV rights in the Caribbean region (to resell ?)
- Screw the CFU further
Last edited by TOBOR !; 09-09-2011 at 10:50 AM.
oh, by the way, there's another front open in the FIFA v Corruption Charges War.
Read about it here : Another fine FIFA headache
This is a tale of how Worawi Makudi, another FIFA executive committee member, resold tickets obtained at no cost, for aprofit. Plus, there's more about how the land chosen to build Thailand's National Football Training Center belongs to him... hmmm...
also...
There's another story (via a click through in the article above) about how FIFA has failed to investigate corruption allegations in the Sri Lankan game as well. You can access it directlyhere. FIFA has donated over $7M for the development of football in Sri Lanka over the past decade - all of it unaccounted for.But it gets murkier. What of the plans of Qatar’s Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence to build a satellite academy in Thailand?
The Thai FA isn’t saying where precisely it will be built and Worawi has denied knowing anything about it even though it’s commonly understood he voted for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup and bid documents from 2009 said the Middle Eastern emirate was looking to “build a football academy in Thailand”.
And before I go, here's a deconstruction of The Review of Allegations of Miscondunct in relation to The FA's 2018 World Cup bid : FIFA Crisis: The FA report deconstructed
The actual review can be found here : FA report by James Dingemans QC into the Triesman allegations
Mind-expanding.
Tough questions for Sri Lanka’s football godfather - Jesse Fink
The author gives us a little more insight as to the type of person Vernon Manilal Fernando (FIFA exco member / AFC) is :
A federation that has received over $10 million in donations during the past decade can’t find the money to pay for the upkeep of its own HQ?
SKY SOURCES: Mohamed bin Hammam's appeal against his FIFA life ban will be chaired by Francisco Acosta of Ecuador.
There's also some talk going on about how much money Australia paid for their failed bid to host the 2022 World Cup. For the most part you can put it down to stupid spending, but there are some shady characters lurking about that ought to be mentioned here :
Reynald Temarii - once head of the Oceania confederaton, asked the Australian bid organisers for "Hyundai vehicles for each of its associations apart from New Zealand and television rights for the broadcast of A-League and Socceroos games in Oceania". This, by the way, is the same fellow who, along with Amos Adamu of Nigeria, offered to sell his vote when approached by reporters posing as lobbyists for an American consortium.
Peter Hargitay - as Andrew Jennings puts it "Spindoctor to the World". Here's what PitchInvason had to say about Australia appointing him (and Fedor Radmann) to help with their bid : Paying Peter Hargitay: The Price Of A World Cup Bid. And here's a bit more from Andrew Jennings : Peter’s is bigger than mine – or yours
I have to believe that if FFA had spoken to Jennings before taking on Hargitay then they never would have.
And unsurprisingly, Mr. Jennings has the word on Fedor Radmann as well :
Billionaire Lowy hires another Bagman
^ A good read that. Learn about Radmann's involvement with ISL and his relationship with Horst Dassler. Shady goings on dating back to the days of Joao Havelange - when it all started... but then, we already knew that, didn't we ?
How did FFA get involved with these bad actors and still end up with only one vote ?
The Government of Sierra Leone is getting in on the game
FIFA states that while the Anti-Corruption Commission of the Government of Sierra Leone should be able to view receipts and books for donations they have made to the SLFA, they have no business reviewing how the money FIFA has given has been used.... because, say, if they were to get a look at those books and receipts then they might find that the money had gone missing, like, or furnished somebody's lavish lifestyle (Nahim Khadi ?)... just sayin'.The world football governing body, FIFA, has said that the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) is only accountable to FIFA not to the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone on any FIFA financial assistance.
Maybe this is why the Sierra Leone government is asking questions of the SLFA :
Nahim Khadi gone missing?
Apparently he's living it up in London these days, avoiding corruption charges at parties.It is a question the media, or committee members of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA), or the football Protocol Officer, Sorie Ibrahim Sesay, cannot easily give an answer to.
Allow me say it loud that the missing SLFA boss, Nahim Khadi, has abandoned his office for months without any official or acceptable reason to the football family in Sierra Leone.
His absence is of concern and eyebrows have been raised by football officials in the sub region.
Last edited by TOBOR !; 09-12-2011 at 03:24 PM.
... and if this doesn't make you larf :
@fifamedia FIFA Media
Hello everyone and welcome to the FIFA Media department's twitter account, where we will keep you updated on news about FIFA #fifa
They promise to tweet only during business hours.
Is this part of the new FIFA, the one with all the clarity that Sepp spoke of ? Or is it just their attempt at controlling the news ?
What do you reckon ? I know what I think.
In other news...
@richard_conway Richard Conway
Understand that FIFA continue to seek clarification from Thai Ex-Co member Worawi Makudi over issues surrounding development funding.
There's no information on this as yet. Let's all just be surprised that FIFA is looking into anything that anybody is doing... unless Makudi just steps down in order to avoid further investigation (pulls a Jack Warner).
edit - actually there's something really funny about that FIFAmedia twitter account. If you go and check out who's tweeted them back, you'll find this :
@barl90 ginomassari
@fifamedia@barl90 i need mediaguide send to me becuse i work for news690 media
Last edited by TOBOR !; 09-13-2011 at 01:14 PM.
Here's a link to a German article about FIFA's invetigation into Makudi.
I used MicrosoftTranslator on it, but it's still difficult to read. If your German is up to snuff, have a gander. Otherwise I'll post up an English version as it becomes available.
Either way, the idea of FIFA investigating itself doesn't fill me with hope.
I find Google Translate does a much better job - http://translate.google.com/
If your using Google Chrome as your web-browser it offers to do it on the fly.
^ pretty much the same. The words are English, but language rules aren't applied.
Still, the upshot is pretty much what's been covered already. The standard of football in Thailand hasn't improved a lick in a decade and Makudi has amassed all sorts of wealth. I think it goes on to say that if found guilty - by FIFA - he'll be brought before the FIFA Ethics Committee.
Honestly. Why do they even bother ?
Well if the Ethics Committee doesn't do their job, they won't get their cut of the $.
Hey-o ! Tomorrow's news today - 'cause it's coming out of Australia.
Championing the game, not FIFA officials - Bonita Mersiades - Sydney Morning Herald.
An opinion piece by the former head of corporate and public affairs at FFA, in charge of the Aus. WC bid.
The Four Corners piece on ABC can be found here : Own GoalWhile I hope a future generation may aspire to host the World Cup in Australia, we should not bid again until FIFA becomes an organisation that is more responsive to the many millions of people who play the game and the billions who are fans, and more befitting of the stewardship of its billion-dollar turnover. We should demand of FIFA the same level of transparency and accountability that we expect of our governments, major institutions and organisations.
There's a link there for the transcript if the player won't work for you.
Last edited by TOBOR !; 09-13-2011 at 07:12 PM.
Meet Damian Collins, he's the current MP for Folkestone and Hythe (UK). He is also a member of the House of Commons Select Committee for Culture, Media, Sport and the Olympics.
He's been busy putting together a FIFA reform agenda.
I think we (Canada) ought to get on board with this.When a global institution of great importance loses its way, it is the duty of those entrusted with its care to chart a course of correction. When the leaders of such an organisation lack the credibility that is required to do so, a valuable function of parliaments and governments is to offer sound and independent intervention and support.
Kinda like the Mafia investigating itself.
TORONTO FC, 2017 MLS CHAMPIONS!!! (Still the greatest in league history!)
The world needs an independent authority fighting corruption
Swiss journalist Jean François Tanda looks at the recent problems in FIFA and argues that the main problem is the lack of willingness to investigate corruption inside FIFA.
Jack Warner, former FIFA vice president from Trinidad and Tobago, left FIFA before its Ethics Committee ended the investigation against him for alleged bribery. FIFA stopped its investigation saying it would be a “legal consequence of Swiss association law” given that Warner was no longer part of FIFA. This is what General Secretary Jérôme Valkce explained to the English parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee on July 20, 2011.
Valcke is wrong. Swiss association law does not prohibit FIFA from continuing its investigation of Warner. FIFA, of course, could have finished the investigation and could even have sanctioned Warner if the findings were strong enough under FIFA’s rules.
English version : Fifa executive committee member Worawi Makudi could face investigation for use of development funds
I guess it's okay to be an everyday criminal, but things start to go wrong for you when you break FIFA laws.Fifa has written to Worawi Makudi, the general secretary of the Thailand FA, asking him to respond to allegations that grants from Fifa’s GOAL project were used to build a training centre on land he owns. It is also alleged that there is a mortgage on the property, potentially a breach of GOAL project regulations.
Walter De Gregorio appointed as new Director of Communications & Public Affairs
As of 1 October 2011, Walter De Gregorio, 46, will join FIFA as Director of Communications & Public Affairs. Nicolas Maingot, who had been Acting Director, will be his deputy. De Gregorio studied history and political philosophy, and over the last 20 years he has worked as a journalist, a columnist, and in management positions for various national and international newspapers. De Gregorio has dual Swiss-Italian nationality, has two children and lives in the Zurich area.
@martynziegler Martyn Ziegler
Walter De Gregorio, whose PR firm WDG worked for Blatter on election campaign, appointed FIFA communications director.
De Gregorio also a sports journo who did 1st interview with Blatter after 2018/2022 WC vote controversy where he called England 'bad losers'.
Looks like more another of Sepp's pals gets a cushy job if you ask me. First FIFA gets a Twitter account, and now they've got this guy to manage it... looks like they're getting ready for an onslaught on their image.
Last edited by TOBOR !; 09-14-2011 at 01:35 PM.
I don't know how much of a story this is. I was a little hesitant to post it, but if you're going to have an Ethics Committee at all then the people involved are going to need to be above reproach, I suppose.
Anyway, with that said, I give you this :
Fink: Turn FIFA spotlight on Murray
He was asked, in his capacity as editorial supervisor of sport at SBS, whether there was a "preferred editorial policy" to support Australia's failed World Cup bid. He said there was not.
"SBS [was a] supporter of the bid, but that never was allowed to interfere with editorial independence or editorial process," he told reporter Quentin McDermott.
"No, we had never declared any kind of editorial policy to support the bid." Yet as Four Corners' sister programme 7.30 proved in July, there was.
More insight into Walter de Gregorio's responsibilties here :
Tough Job Ahead for FIFA's New Communications Boss
As long as FIFA continue to hire from within their circle, skepticism will remain high and they'll continue to be under the microscope.His first major job will be to manage the FIFA press conference on Oct. 21 that follows the FIFA Ex-Co meeting at which Blatter will reveal his much-anticipated anti-corruption reforms.
Under-fire FIFA Ex-Co Member Makudi Denies Grant Use Allegations
No-one's surprised, are they ?
"It is long, long ago and so many things have been done after that," Makudi said, apparently referring to developments at the Thai FA in the years since it was awarded two GOAL project grants totalling $860,000 in 2004 and 2007.
two notes about Bin Hamman from the Twitterverse:
FIFA aren't disclosing the name of the Appeals Committee Chair hearing the case today, in order to avoid putting undue pressure on them.
As well as (purportedly) the fact that Bin Hammam isn't even going to waste his time showing up.
I don't see how that second bit works in his favour (as regards to his case).
This just in :
@skydovaston
Now we await official word.Bin Hammam loses appeal over life ban to FIFA. Appeal committee confirms ethics decision he tells me.
Last edited by TOBOR !; 09-15-2011 at 11:34 AM.
and here it is :
Appeal Committee confirms Ethics Committee decision on Bin Hammam
With this step out of the way Bin Hammam is now clear to pursue his case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Unfortunately for FIFA, this will mean more outsiders digging through their cupboards - something I'd've thought they'd wish to avoid.The appeal made by Mohammed bin Hammam has been rejected and the decision of the FIFA Ethics Committee confirmed. The sanction of being banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for life has therefore been maintained.
Here's what MBH has to say about things (from his blog) :
World Football Insider proposes a potential timeline for the case to be heard by CAS :A friend of the media asked me how I feel after the decision of the Appeal Committee. I replied, "somehow I feel relieved because for the last three (3) months, I felt helpless and was sure that all the efforts, time and money I am spending was just a waste."
Of course, today’s outcome from the Appeal’s Committee was not unexpected or surprising. To be fair to the Appeal Committee members though, as a consequence of our experiences with the Ethics Committee, we didn’t make serious efforts to prove my innocence this time around.
We even thought to write to FIFA to ‘skip’ the appeals procedure and to have a directly guilty verdict from the Appeal Committee in order for us to go directly to CAS.
Anyhow, I can now see, at last, light at the end of the tunnel and I am heading confidently towards it. My next step is to go to CAS where from now on, I will be equal to my rival.
Bin Hammam Upbeat Despite Losing FIFA Appeal; Lengthy Legal Battle at CAS
So expect to go a bit quiet on the MBH front for a while... in the meantime Worawi Makudi's name is coming up on just about everybody's radar, so expect his name to go to the top of the charts for a bit.Assuming FIFA's written decisions arrive in Bin Hammam's hands by the end of September, the very earliest Bin Hammam's case would be heard at CAS is the middle of November.This seems optimistic. With the possibility of extensions being granted at different stages, further delays to Bin Hammam's day of judgement are to be expected and the case could easily roll into 2012.
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