FIFA Bureaucrats Arrested, to be extradited to US

Legal 16?

 

It will be interesting to see if the "chain" from the US banks that were used leads to Swiss banks (likely) and if those Swiss banks (not wanting to be implicated in money-laundering) then open up their transaction logs - and to what degree. The Swiss have historically not done this a great deal, but have been much more willing lately as a result of multiple scandals. If that Pandora's box opens, Sepp might need to take up residence someplace without an extradition treaty with the USA.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/06/11/best-countries-no-extradition-edward-snowden-prism-nsa/

 

Perhaps we should let them host the 2018 World Cup as a thank you? With the added bonus that it'll be sticking two fingers up at the Russians.

 

As a few others have mentioned the USA plea bargaining system might be the best thing to come out of this?

Because if the USA offer the seven who have been arrested immunity from prosecution for their testimony against the alleged corruption in FIFA, they might have enough information between them to bring the real Mr Big's in the FIFA set up down and hopefully the whole damn shower of an organisation!!!

 

This is truly an extraordinary development. Who'd have thunk it possible? Certainly not me.

 

SSN are saying that the Swiss government has announced that all Swiss nationals that are employed by FIFA must not leave the country until further notice, this would apparently include Blatter, the plot thickens

 

Some poor fellow photocopying in a FIFA office will mean he can't go on holiday this summer.

 

Some poor fellow photocopying in a FIFA office will mean he can't go on holiday this summer.

shredding more likely

 

The pressure will continue on the underlings until someone rolls over on the big fish....

Corruption, bribery, child labor... to the Swiss - meh.

But when you start Money-laundering!!!! Those bankers get verrry unhappy. They're still paying off the gold teeth and stolen art reparations from the Nazis. Sepp needs to pull a reverse "Sound of Music" and head to Serbia... Bosnia...... Then on to Venezeula. They need cash there now and a little crime, especially crime that annoys the US wouldn't bother them at all.

 

Since watching the news tonight I now have a great affection for Switzerland and the US. God bless ya.

 

The worst part of it all is that they took bribes to give south africa the world cup. Their greed meant we had to tolerate vuvuzelas. Unforgivable.

 

Has there ever been a more appropriate time for this?

 

This would make a good film in a few years time, who plays blatter though and all the other candidates, Michael Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford are all old now but not fat enough, Danny Devito is too small. The guy from the sopranos died. If John Goodman will not shave his head, they're going to have to use CGI.

 

I own a vuvuzela. In fairness, it is a yellow and red one.

 

Some thoughts on all this:

1. The US can't simply go marching in demanding things of another western country. They must have used some sort of leverage. Given that the alleged crimes include money laundering (remember HSBC's and others' recent fall from grace) amongst other things, then I bet at some stage there was a conversation that went something like this:

US - Look, we've got plenty of dirt on your bankers and we'll bring them down too if you don't co-operate fully over this FIFA business.

Swiss - OK, we'll co-operate.

2. As has been said, the US modus operandi involves plenty of plea-bargaining and 'turning state's witness'. Those already arrested are very senior. When they start pointing the finger the allegations could easily go to the VERY top. You know who I mean.

3. Blatter and his corrupt organisation can't possibly survive unscathed this time. He/they may have been 'teflon' up until now but this is a whole order of magnitude more serious than anything they've faced before. Blatter and his cronies will be brought down irespective of whether tomorrow's election goes ahead or not and he wins it. They're going down but the final acts in his and their demise and fall are unpredictable.

4. Major sponsors are now very concerned too. Blatter built his reputation on bringing in the money. Now that's under threat too. Another nail in the coffin.

5. Nothing would make me happier in my dotage than to see Blatter and his mates languishing in some (not very nice) penitentiary (possibly with the exception of a Katie Hopkins drowning).

6. It is impossible to take someone called Chuck Blazer any more seriously than someone called Blaze Chucker. Apparently he has/had an apartment in Trump Tower in New York for the use of his cat. Enough said.

 

You weren't the "larger" gentleman in front of me in the rookery during the Sheff Wednesday game were you? If so, I hate you.

 

No. I am quite big and do blow my vuvuzela sometimes. Only at home though.

 

The US make the rules and US banks have been used but you're right they have leverage and would have even if it was just protection against terrorist threats.

Unfortunately neither Blatter nor Fifa will be brought down by this scandal, he's effectively just had a clear out.

 

Putin and Blatter. Separated at birth.

 

Good old Russia. Such sensitive souls, they're practically the Millwall of international diplomacy in constantly claiming no one likes them and that they don't care.

Eh, at least they're half right.

 

Well I'll happily go another tenner with you for the Nic fund re Blatter and FIFA. But then we'd have to define what Blatter and FIFA being 'brought down' might look like and what the timescale would be.

 

Ray Wilkins?

 

Inappropriate. Watford's colours are a lot of black and a bit of yellow.

 

There are geopolitical considerations here. If this US initiative means that Russia loses the World Cup, Putin is going to turn very nasty (imagine!). And the Qataris - misogynistic, slave-owning *******s but they're OUR misogynistic, slave-owning *******s - might reconsider their place in the world, which could be bad news.

And what about the sponsors? International companies don't like being associated with rampant fraud, but they will also recognise that FIFA has poured money into the developing world, sometimes even legitimately, and they won't want to lose business there.

 

Russia isn't losing anything. Very likely neither is Qatar. The end game here is a clear out in FIFA and new Swiss laws that make these sort of practices much more difficult.

 

Good analysis.

It would be rather ironic if the final nuclear holocaust was to kick off over a row over the World Cup.

Not that there'd be a lot of us left around to appreciate the irony.

 

The FBI has got the World Cup bids in their sights, and who knows what will come from that? Those boys don't mess around.

 

My thought is what happens if Blatter wins. Platini suggested earlier that UEFA could go its own way, I stated the same thing yesterday.

What will it take for UEFA to do that? I know the FA would recommend UEFA go through with it. Out of the 209 associations affiliated to FIFA it would only take most of the following 8 to jump the sinking ship to bring FIFA down: England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina and USA. A number of others probably would too but the weight of their actions would be less that those 8.

If this were to happen this would be more damaging to the CAF and AFC associations than by some of them breaking rank and voting for Prince Ali and getting rid of Blatter once and for all.

 

If UEFA we're going to go their own way, they would have today after Blatter refused to resign.

I suppose they could do a mass walkout tomorrow at the vote but sadly, I can't see it.

 

I disagree they could have walked out today. Wait until the vote, if Prince Ali wins then change can be initiated and the current sorry state of affairs can be dealt with accordingly.

 

Brazil and Argentina wouldn't pull out. Northern Europeans, US, Canada, Australia and maybe some other Europeans, that's all. But it might be enough. Depends on where the TV revenues come from.