The football industry is corrupt. You know this, we all know this. The nature of the institutions who govern the sport, combined with the enormous amounts of money the industry is now worth, is a toxic cocktail.
A few minutes ago the Fifa Ethics Committee provisionally banned Fifa president, Sep Blatter, Uefa president (and Fifa vice-president) Michel Platini, as well as Fifa Secretary General, Jermoe Valcke, for 90 days pending an investigation. Former Fifa VP, Chung Moon-joon has been banned from the game for 6 years and fined. Chung and Platini both remain candidates to succeed Blatter as Fifa president – yes, it’s that dysfunctional.
This may be the beginning of the end for football’s great Oligarch Administrators, who lived like Saudi princes, paid for by the money which slushes around the game, but it is far from assured that football is now on the right path. Blatter, the embodiment of everything which is wrong with sport and business to many, remains a hugely popular figure. Some of the games administrators, themselves untouched by corruption, shed tears when he recently announced his decision to retire.
The core problem is one of democracy. Fifa is a democratic organisation, which on the face of it sounds like a good thing, but democracy has its drawbacks. One member one vote affords the British Virgin Islands the same weight when it comes to exercising ultimate control as Germany. Apart from hosting the World Cup once every 40 years or so, Fifa can offer Germany little tangible support, but the governing body can metaphorically pave the streets of tiny nations with gold.
Fifa executives, and Blatter in particular, have enormous patronage under their control. Blatter is personally responsible for the decision to ‘support the game’ in many small nations and protectorates, by funding the construction of expensive stadiums and facilities. These amenities are great for the recipient nations, often well beyond anything the local FA or government could afford. Blatter has been The Great Facilitator to many far-flung entities. That patronage buys loyalty and genuine affection.
The problem is not limited to the Fifa executive. Administrators at all levels of the senior game enjoy control over a degree of patronage. Merely becoming an office holder at your FA makes you a dignitary of some sort. There will be an expense account, doors will open, facilities made available.
Football’s problem is that its structure made it inevitable that corrupt individuals would eventually take control. Cutting the head off Fifa will not be sufficient to change that, the way football funds itself also needs to change – and that would inevitably mean less money going to poor places in the world. If accountability replaces patronage, Blatter’s largess to underfunded Associations would end. The game would be cleaner, but there are 100 FAs with skin in the game who stand to lose, so assume nothing.
Take a look at the work of Joseph Gormley, a Scots-born artist in the US, who has raised over $170k for various charities. His is another great tale in the story of the Celtic support.
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HH
GOING FOR MY FIRST BET
This monkey’s gone to heaven
Ban the lot of them.
Platini made a fortune as a player.
More than enough is never enough.
When are the going to look at the SFA .
hh
The -They
BRTH.
Thank you for sharing the information about the sleep out charity event. I visited the website potentially to register but was surprised to note in the terms and conditions that over and above the entry fee of £30′ participants must pay at least half of the minimum level of sponsorship money of £125 two weeks in advance of the event. This means that each participant has to hand over at least £92.50 before the event even takes place.
Over the years I have participated in a number of charity events and have raised significant sums of money, usually cycling related. I use Just Giving as the means for people to register their sponsorship and they would then settle with the nominated charity.
I have never seen a pre payment clause in any event I have taken part in before. Do you know if this is common practice for foundation events, and if so why do they do this? I appreciate you may not know the answer to this and indeed this may be normal and its me who’s out of step, but I would like to understand the reasoning.
I’m also not aware of any mechanism that allows organisations like Just Giving to pre pay funds raised.
I suspect others may have the same question, therefore some clarity might encourage more entries.
Thanks
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/griffiths-understatement-nailing-detractors/comment-page-10/#commen
PAUL67
I think you are leaning towards ‘weighting’ in the control of FIFA.
Also a bad move. Think about the weighting of a few dominant countries.
Think about how each country casts its vote via one person.
Think about how easy it is to corrupt a few.
No easy answers,mate.
Always have in the back of your mind the artillery than is trained on FIFA.
These guys are looking and sounding guilty as sin and bent as nine bob notes..
But
Blatter has been adamant that the World Cup would forever be free to view TV, he was also determined to take the game to the poorer countries.
Just think how much THAT gets up the nose of the Capitalist worldview.
The football industry is corrupt. You know this, we all know this.
Think the Sevco don’t think that way.They will never think that way.
Boom to the lot of them.
HH
This guy back up again, one thing about him is that he’s consistent. Phil’s alter ego ?
https://johnjamessite.wordpress.com/
Butsybhoy: I’d bet on a last minute goal for Ireland scored by John O Shea. And final score 4-1 to the Germans.
notoptimisticcsc
BMCUW
Enjoyed yer post on the last thread.
Well said!
How’s the gardening?!
I think we should have a hootenanny in Dundee asap.
Enjoy the Ayrshire Tims night, tonight.
HH!!
The game is no doubt screwed and corruption in FIFA abounds – but is one nation one vote necessarily all that bad?
If UEFA was similarly “democratic”, we might get away from the idea where rich and powerful countries get 4 teams in the Champs League while the actual champions of “lesser nations” get excluded.
If you dont have one nation one vote – don’t the rich just get richer? – and isn’t that just another tributary for corruption to follow?
Football and corruption?
Never happen in Scotland.
Integrity is paramount here.
Afternoon all…. two black lab pups later and I’m still chained to the house with them, will I get oot tonight to watch the fitba…?
Who knows aye Sepp Blatter can pull something out the hat for me.
Shep Shep come bye….!
Ayrshire is Green and White
Butsybhoy
Another first – you should go for 10 in a row and break the record. :o)
HH
Football is corrupt.
Not in Scotland where integrity is paramount
Bmcw
You think I bother what you care, or if you respond to my posts? Lol, aye right don’t flatter yourself man.
I post some stuff from other blogs, I have opinions on what people post in here, as the majority of people do who are members here, I may not dance to your tune, and prob. Never will, and that’s why ? Surprise surprise, a blog.
It’s not a popularity contest ffs, it’s a blog.
But great effort on the Drama queen rant.
PS just giving back what you dished out in the last article.
TONYDONNELLY
No,mate. You’re the drama queen. You’ve spent the last ten days or so trolling every point made,dissing every opinion,about something that is important,not only to us as Celtic supporters,but to us as citizens of a country,who expect fair treatment.
Your problem with it is that you seem to take it as a criticism of Celtic FC,and by extension,Peter Lawwell.
It’s not.
The criticism of their part in OBAF is incidental,history. We are dealing with here and now.
How any feels fit to call themselves a Celtic supporter and state opinions like yours,in the face of the evidence you have seen,is beyond me.
You keep on keeping on,mate. Keep on brown-nosing a multi-millionaire who wouldnae recognise you if he fell over you,nor piss on you if you were on fire.
Keep on trolling,too. Your stock on here is rising by the minute.
TALLYBHOY
Most of their wives have dragged them out of the country,and I’m beginning to think this isnae a coincidence!
Some light relief in a week when Celtic players do not pull on the hoops..
http://wp.me/p6DYht-49
If you think Principal Skinner meets David Brent ..
One episode of Mr D, set in a High School in the Toronto area..
He’s also Tony’s Uncle Gerry…
No One Walks Alone
NOWA
Bmcw
No you see your spin on it doesent work with me.
We have grown men here grooming kids here, and getting them into trouble with the law of the land, that’s the thing your avoiding and body swerving, you can’t bring PL and the CFC board into that,
Are you serious?
.
Modren CQN’r Drama Queens is Most Definately Ruttish..【ツ】
Summa of SamanthaFoxCSC
Stop this grooming, let the kids support and enjoy watching Celtic , what’s wrong with that?
Thanks to Blantyre Kev earlier this morning for correcting me over my scenarios for Scotland to finish 3rd. Been thinking even more and here are a couple of further options –
If Scotland and Ireland both win their remaining 2 games Ireland finish at least 2nd and Scotland are 3rd
Ireland can finish 2nd without taking anything from tonight’s game by beating Poland on Sunday, provided we beat Poland tonight
If Scotland win tonight and Ireland lose Scotland are guaranteed 3rd spot – PROVIDED WE BEAT GIBRALTAR!
No offence to any of our Polish posters or lurkers ;-)
Back to work…
.
Pics You didn’t expect to see on Instagram Part 1967..Vol CQN..Stornaway Div..
A Very Young and Handsome Bonny Prince HebCelt..【ツ】
Happy Anniversary to You and the Guid Lady..
001
Jobo,
Screw the poles.
What have the Polish ever done for us? :p
HH
I just cant get excited about International Football so I wont watch tonights game as I consider it a waste of time .Good Luck to any of you Bhoys who are interested. H.H.
Hi Paul67,
Very salient piece on a huge and difficult issue for the beautiful game.
Democracy is not perfect, as a wiser man than me once stated…
“Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…”
Yet I don’t see it as the key to the issues FIFA face. In fact Football has a much better track record of keeping Politics out of Sport than the Olympics.
Maybe the constitution has helped in that regard. Yet it seems to have catastrophically failed in accountability of the governing institutions and self serving apparatchiks.
So as the ethics committee have finally acted… We have to ask why now? Was this due to their diligence to ensure the equitable and moral conduct of FIFA’s officers or the fact that all the major sponsors (the money) have eventually spoken out against the corruption and said enough is enough.
Ethics – Moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity.
Seems an odd name for this committee, we need something more in line with the aims of the committee in support of FIFA…
Financial self interest that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity.
How about the Unscrupulous committee.
The whole organisation needs purged from top to bottom.
Hail Hail
bmcw
I’m a happy Celtic supporter, happy with everything that is Celtic, that make me a brown noser, a troll, in your book? Fine by me,.
Today’s events emphatically endorse,that bastion of Corinthian Fair Play,Stuart Regan’s call for transparency,amongst FIFA’s top table.
#brassneckandblowtorchcometomind
west End of east End Re John James
it is interesting this proliferation of articles coming out from the pen of ‘john james’
‘The Trial’ being the latest redaction of history
no mention of Liquidation
no mention of SFAs role during said liquidation
no mention of transfer of membership under rules designed to prohibit said transfer
no critique of Sir Div except for this cracker which i hope is expanded on by old club historians
‘When it came to running the club without putting a hand in his own pocket, no-one did it better than SDM.’
a stunningly arrogant piece due to its myth preservation,and serves to highlight the only thing continious out of ibrokes is behaviour of a criminal slant.So long as the gullible xxxxxxl’s know who to harass and post their bullets to they dont mind.
==============================================
fourgreenfield
ttps://commonspace.scot/articles/2623/liberty-police-scotland-shouldn-t-be-interfering-with-anti-offensive-behaviour-act-protests
interesting articles i used as the basis for my letters to msps.
hail hail Celts
FGF
https://commonspace.scot/articles/2623/liberty-police-scotland-shouldn-t-be-interfering-with-anti-offensive-behaviour-act-protests
Good stuff.
It’s anathema to the smaller nations to see the ‘big’ countries in world football dominate the running of the game. Sir Stanley Rous was ousted as FIFA President in the mid 70s on the back of carefully cultivated support from nations outside UEFA. Patronage (and cash) has flowed to those associations ever since in the way that you describe Paul, and it is in too few of their interests to see structural reform happen.
This could get very messy.
Here is my piece about Platini’s promises of transparency and good governance, written the day the SFA backed him to become FIFA President.
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/how-are-you-getting-on-monsieur-platini/
Have a great day!
An Tearmann
Thanks mate , read the article yesterday and saved it for future reference.
HH
The Great Facilitator and The Great Administrator………….
what do they have in common?
pop ups on mobile………….first time,Samsung Galaxy 4…..