Sepp Blatter Quits

[Renegade]

FIFA have announced his successor....a little known Swiss administrator called Bepp Slatter who is distantly related to Blatter, by envelope.

Sepp Blatter

Bepp Slatter

Michel Blatini is waiting in the wings.

 

[adamrobertk]

We can celebrate, we can gloat etc but this has me worried. Look for as much as Blatter has done bad for the game (the corruption etc) he has done good. He took a world cup to Africa. He oversaw the development of the minor nations that has saw the world game strengthen as a whole. More importantly, he has done this while allowing the european game to become the economic power house it has become.
The best thing at the moment for the world game is for Europe to remain as strong while the rest of the world slowly develops. Under Blatter we were fairly assured of that. He was European after all.
The key is who is next. And please seriously think about this. Europe is hated by the world in football because they believe the money should be shared. What if we get some African/Asian numpty whose sole intent is equalizing the world. Europe ends up with less places in the world cup, europe gets progressively sick then worst case scenario, the top european clubs break away and form the european super league that kills domestic football and international football.

Blatter going is the right move if the replacement is the right man. If we end up with an Asian Blatter with an anti europe agenda, the world is screwed....

 

[thespus]

Hmmm

Are you disputing that America isn't the biggest immigrant attraction in the world? Citizens from impoverished countries risk death, and sometimes die, in an attempt to make it across the border. There are millions of undocumented immigrants. In 2013, the UN estimated the legal immigrant population at 45 million people.

Like some one said on Twitter:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/why-we-call-soccer-soccer/372771/ #BritishHipsterism

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Confirmed that he's under investigation (which I'm sure will surprise precisely no one) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32986950

 

[DarkSithLord]

A coward right to the end!

https://vine.co/v/ehtx6ULOqxv

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Are you disputing that America isn't the biggest immigrant attraction in the world? Citizens from impoverished countries risk death, and sometimes die, in an attempt to make it across the border. There are millions of undocumented immigrants. In 2013, the UN estimated the legal immigrant population at 45 million people.

Maybe I misread it, but it seemed like you were suggesting that the majority of the world's population would love American citizenship.

 

[SALTIRE]

FBI has a 93% conviction rate.

Also, "despicable" should be reserved for countries that enslave people, commit genocide, etc. The USA, not without its own flaws, is a wonderful country to live; citizens from the majority of the world would love to become American citizens. People should stop drinking the damn yankees juice.

I'm not going to get into the morality or lack of, of the USA and how fucked up they are; but as I said, they are like a dog with a bone when it comes to investigating serious crime as they have resources all other countries can only dream of, and for a change, they are pursuing a just cause.

 

[mnb089mnb]

Maybe I misread it, but it seemed like you were suggesting that the majority of the world's population would love American citizenship.

Sepp Blatter doesn't.

 

[SALTIRE]

We can celebrate, we can gloat etc but this has me worried. Look for as much as Blatter has done bad for the game (the corruption etc) he has done good. He took a world cup to Africa. He oversaw the development of the minor nations that has saw the world game strengthen as a whole. More importantly, he has done this while allowing the european game to become the economic power house it has become.
The best thing at the moment for the world game is for Europe to remain as strong while the rest of the world slowly develops. Under Blatter we were fairly assured of that. He was European after all.
The key is who is next. And please seriously think about this. Europe is hated by the world in football because they believe the money should be shared. What if we get some African/Asian numpty whose sole intent is equalizing the world. Europe ends up with less places in the world cup, europe gets progressively sick then worst case scenario, the top european clubs break away and form the european super league that kills domestic football and international football.

Blatter going is the right move if the replacement is the right man. If we end up with an Asian Blatter with an anti europe agenda, the world is screwed....

He is the Bernie Ecclestone of football; he helped expand FIFA from the insular and backward institution it was, to become a global organisation, and has helped many smaller countries achieve influence in football, that otherwise wouldn't have happened. He has also done a lot for African football outside of finally getting a World Cup there. Many of these things are very commendable.

However, he has also let fester a policy of backpatting, bribery and corruption exist and though he so far seems not to be directly involved in it, to let that happen is inexcusable and made the image of football around the world a laughing stock with the antics of him and his cronies.

 

[thespus]

Maybe I misread it, but it seemed like you were suggesting that the majority of the world's population would love American citizenship.

I worded it funny, so it's understandable. My intentions were to demonstrate the absurdity of SALTIRE's insistence that America is some sort of blight on the world when people from dozens of countries dream of living in a country like the United States (or Canada/Australia/Germany/etc). The city I emigrated to hosts tens of thousands of Bosnian immigrants who escaped truly terrible situations. Central Americans eagerly risk their lives to work (undocumented) jobs making less than minimum wage which they still find preferable to their situation at home. The best scientists in the world move to work at the academic medicine universities. I think he's confusing his distaste of some American cultural norms with it being a "despicable country". Not the place for this debate, however. I digress.

 

[CEngelbrecht]

why-we-call-soccer-soccer

It still sounds like sexual innuendo. Which they're otherwise very much against in America these days.

He is the Bernie Ecclestone of football; he helped expand FIFA from the insular and backward institution it was, to become a global organisation, and has helped many smaller countries achieve influence in football, that otherwise wouldn't have happened. He has also done a lot for African football outside of finally getting a World Cup there. Many of these things are very commendable.

However, he has also let fester a policy of backpatting, bribery and corruption exist and though he so far seems not to be directly involved in it, to let that happen is inexcusable and made the image of football around the world a laughing stock with the antics of him and his cronies.

That's the best case rendition of Blatter in all this. That his aim originally was to spread the game beyond Europa and Latin America (which is in every way congenial), but in the midst of all the money and whatnot he lost all control with the rampant culture of corruption and gross flouting of human rights that aparently exists in too many corners of the world. Then at best he's a naïve fool, and hell, maybe now he finally got the point; that he isn't the man capable of stopping this runaway train.

 

[liu]

Whatever Blatter has done, it is the whole football world that kept him as the leader for such a long time should take the responsibility. A new chairman won't necessarily bring any change. But, if more and more countries can realize that we need to run football in a different way, we will see something different.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

I am very disappointed now that we do not all get to play beach soccer once the good ship Fifa comes back to land......oh well, clearly the SS Fifa has hit its iceberg and is sinking.

On a serious side it worries me because he hasn't resigned as he wants to, he is clearly in the 'f*ck them' attitude so its been forces, but why???

Is it:

A: sponsor pressure
B: FBI pressure
C: A Scheme to keep hold of power with someone pretending to run show with others actually running it as usual

or something else.

 

[Super_horns]

Trouble is will he just encourage his mates to get the votes and still carry on as usual?

 

[WhiteRussian]

On a serious side it worries me because he hasn't resigned as he wants to, he is clearly in the 'f*ck them' attitude so its been forces, but why???

Is it:

A: sponsor pressure
B: FBI pressure
C: A Scheme to keep hold of power with someone pretending to run show with others actually running it as usual

or something else.

Is it because if he hadn't resigned he would have had to go to America for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and once there, the nice men from the FBI might well have kept him there for a little while, like the rest of his life?

 

[thespus]

In the words of American late night television host, Jimmy Fallon, "Never trust a seventy-nine year old Blatter."

 

[Habbinalan]

He is the Bernie Ecclestone of football; he helped expand FIFA from the insular and backward institution it was, to become a global organisation, and has helped many smaller countries achieve influence in football, that otherwise wouldn't have happened. He has also done a lot for African football outside of finally getting a World Cup there. Many of these things are very commendable.

However, he has also let fester a policy of backpatting, bribery and corruption exist and though he so far seems not to be directly involved in it, to let that happen is inexcusable and made the image of football around the world a laughing stock with the antics of him and his cronies.

The thing is, his power base and votes from Africa, Asia, etc comes from individuals who were top slicing that cash that was supposedly going to support football development in smaller countries. The bribes and favours involved in capital projects in many developing countries, combined with paid jollys and expenses, mean that the percentage of available cash that went into kids playing football and players developing was and is tiny.

He's involved in it, it's the basis of his powerbase, even if he didn't get his hands directly dirty - which in itself will be credit to his ability not to get caught, not his commendable motives.

Any replacement has to have the full range of members onside but even though he's gone, many of the existing national representatives will be prioritising their personal financial interest and avoiding problems at home, as much as representing their countries, when they decide who to support.

 

[George Reilly's Hairpiece]

Saw a great pun on Twitter:

"Wake me up when Sepp's Tenure Ends"

 

[Stagat]

Saw a great pun on Twitter:

"Wake me up when Sepp's Tenure Ends"

Reckon this was my favourite Blatter related tweet.

https://twitter.com/BipartisanSport/status/605807540274798593