12/18/24
June 01, 2011
Blatter set for re-election, vows reform : FIFA president Sepp Blatter was set to be re-elected as head of world football on Wednesday after attempts to force a postponement of the scandal-tainted ballot ended in a crushing defeat.
Hopefully this becomes FIFA's watershed moment and their process becomes much more transparent. I will not be surprised if they carry on with business as usual though.
posted by Ricardo at 12:26 PM on June 01, 2011
Blatter must figure that if the Catholic church could investigate itself and find no wrong doing, then FIFA could do the same and people would believe them too. Maybe he has a point, FIFA does have less of a history of letting people by their way into or out of things than the Catholic church does
posted by Demophon at 03:01 PM on June 01, 2011
Blatter is a genius. It's nice to see Blatter replacing Mosley as biggest sports douche on Earth.
FIFA needs to be destroyed and rebuilt.
Highly recommend Andrew Jenning's book "Foul" to read just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
I love how in a FIFA election, abstaining is NOT a vote against Blatter. The various federations COULD vote against him. But no, they "abstain" to make it look like they're making a stand when they really aren't. 1 vote and 200 abstentions = Blatter is president.
posted by Drood at 05:28 PM on June 01, 2011
When I see Blatter, why do I imagine Officer Barbradie from South Park? ("Move along, people; there's no crisis here!")
posted by jjzucal at 10:13 PM on June 01, 2011
Dictators may tumble, but heads of corrupt international sporting bodies go on forever.
posted by etagloh at 11:28 PM on June 01, 2011
What's needed is the 200 + national associations to have their own Football Spring.
The trouble is, financial revenue from World Cup TV rights is so centralised around Geneva that Sepp and his cronies hold all the purse strings. While the big national associations are financially viable (Germany, England, Italy, Spain etc), the great majority, a lot of which are tiny operations but also some of the large ones with organisational problems, need FIFA's money.
posted by owlhouse at 12:17 AM on June 02, 2011
Fox wins leadership of chicken coop. Promises chicken in every pot.