Fourteen Get FIFA Badges

Kicking Back Comments: I can only imagine there is no greater thrill than to be a pioneer in a new land. Congratulations to these referees who will now serve as Tanzania's finest.

FIVE local referees and nine assistant referees have been awarded FIFA badges for the 2011 year by the world soccer governing body.

The list comprises four men referees and seven assistants, while there is also one women referee and two assistant referees.

The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Acting General Secretary Sunday Kayuni named those who have been awarded the full referee badges as Ibada Ramadhan Kibo, Mbaga Oden Charles, Israel Nkongo, and Waziri Sheha.

Bulali Josephati Deu, Hamis Chang'walu, Kanyenye Rongional John, Clemence Erasmo Jesse, Kombo Ally, Maswa Hamisi, Mpenzu Samuel Hudson are the assistant referees considered.

Gamba Judith Andrew is the only full woman referee considered, whereas Makame Mwanahija Foum and Tibabimale Saada Hussein have secured women assistant referee badges.

Source: allAfrica.com.

“The most annoying player”

So says Claus Bo Larsen, FIFA referee since 1996, of Cristiano Ronaldo from a goal.com article here.

Take a look at the article however as it goes on to say that:

“Cristiano Ronaldo is given a clean slate at the start of every game, but when he would lie down after failing to win a free-kick, he would smile at me because he knows I don’t fall for his theatrics.”

Now *THAT* is refereeing at the highest levels. Know what is coming, talk with the players, and react (not prejudge) when an incident occurs.

Another outstanding FIFA refereeing talent retiring this month.

Homosexuals need not attend 2022 World Cup - Blatter

I don't know what else to say except, "wow."

After all how does one rationalize what FIFA President, Sepp Blatter said (even jokingly) at a Monday (13-DEC) press conference in South Africa, of prospective gay fans: "I would say they should refrain from any sexual activities."

This because homosexual acts are illegal in Qatar.

Maybe Sepp is just trying to be the emissary of the 2022 World Cup and let everyone know what to expect?

Maybe Sepp was just hosing down the pitch with testosterone to keep up with South African President Jacob Zuma, who has said at the same press conference that, "When I was growing up, a (insert "homosexual" slur here) would not have stood in front of me. I would have knocked him out."

Nice.

The president of FIFA and the president of South Africa ... what a fitting couple.

As you can imagine there is a backlash to these comments from a variety of sources, and an interesting article is here from the WSJ about the whole situation.

This will however be an interesting mix in 2022 ... culture for cash. We will see just how far people in Qatar are willing to trade their way of life for sponsorship dollars ... at least for a month (in January??).

IOC Inquiry Closing

Olympic chief sees corruption probe over in months

GENEVA — Olympic chief Jacques Rogge said on Monday that the IOC's own inquiry into senior sports officials, triggered by allegations of corruption at FIFA, should be completed within months.

"The commission is working with due diligence it's definitely not something that's for tomorrow but it will not, in my humble opinion, last for months," Rogge told journalists.

The International Olympic Committee seized its ethics commission two weeks ago to examine evidence from a BBC report that targeted three senior executive officials at world football's governing body FIFA. ...

Full story continues here, courtesy of AFP.

Platini to petition IFAB for 5 man extension

FIFA SEEKS APPROVAL OF 5 MAN REFEREE SYSTEM AT EURO 2012

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- UEFA's 2012 European Championship tournament could be played using an experimental system of five match officials promoted by its president Michel Platini.

Platini's executive committee agreed Friday to ask again for permission from FIFA's rules-making panel.

The panel, known as IFAB, limited five-referee trials to club football when it met in July. It approved the system for UEFA's Champions League and Europa League competitions until 2012. ...

Full story here, courtesy of TSN.

A little slice of home

Brazen Blazer the perfect FIFA fit

10 December ~ Transparency at FIFA has been a big talking point since the usual shady shenanigans surrounding the World Cup hosting allocation process led to what many see as an unhappy result, especially with regard to plucky outsider Qatar’s winning bid. But not everyone on the FIFA executive committee is completely secretive about the way they operate. Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer loves a good twitter, and runs a blog documenting his travels as a football functionary. It’s an instructive read, right enough.

Blazer loves to come across as the cheerful, chubby clown by posting pictures of himself in ridiculous Halloween get-up, or wearing a Santa hat. When you laugh at yourself, the joke’s on those who laugh at you. And, as he told Sports Business Journal earlier this year, when he reads or hears negative things about himself – such as the time during FIFA’s court case with Mastercard in 2006 when a New York judge described his testimony as “fabricated” and lacking credibility – “I shrug at it.” When you’ve got an apartment in Trump Tower and you’re travelling first class around the world, you’re pretty much untouchable. Why care what others think? ...

Full story continues here, at WSC.

A textbook definition

Kicking Back Comments:

willful blindness. Deliberate avoidance of knowledge of a crime, esp. by failing to make a reasonable inquiry about suspected wrongdoing despite being aware that it is highly probable. • A person acts with willful blindness, for example, by deliberately refusing to look inside an unmarked package after being paid by a known drug dealer to deliver it. Willful blindness creates an inference of knowledge of the crime in question. See Model Penal Code § 2. [Cases: Criminal Law 20, 314. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 31-33, 35-39, 700; Negligence § 913.]

BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 1630 (8th ed. 2004)

FIFA's Sepp Blatter Denies World Cup Corruption, Says England Is Bad Loser

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said there’s no proof to support media allegations of corruption in the award of World Cups to Russia and Qatar, Swiss weekly Weltwoche reported. He also said England was a bad loser.

FIFA, soccer’s ruling body, has tightened its accounting and now follows International Financial Reporting Standards principles, making corruption “simply impossible,” he told the magazine.

The executive also criticized the reaction of England, whose bid executives and media complained after losing out to Russia in the bid for 2018, Weltwoche said. England lost in the first round of balloting with just two votes. ...

Full story continues here, courtesy of Bloomberg.

The gloves are coming off

FIFA chiefs out of The Dorchester

Boris Johnson has taken revenge on Sepp Blatter and the other FIFA delegates who destroyed England’s bid to host the World Cup by kicking them out of London’s Dorchester hotel for the 2012 Olympic Games.

FIFA president Mr Blatter and his team had been invited to stay in exclusive £1,000-a-night suites at the five-star hotel for more than a week during the Olympics. ...

Full story continues here, courtesy of Mail Online.

England Declares War With FIFA

England set to go to war with FIFA after 2018 World Cup vote snub

FURIOUS England last night began their backlash against double-crossing FIFA chiefs for the 2018 World Cup bidding shambles.

FA chairman-elect Roger Burden announced he’s quitting before even taking up the role he was due to fill later this month – because he can’t trust FIFA executives.

And England have also pulled the plug on June’s friendly in Thailand as they prepare to substantially scale back their international goodwill
commitments and try to form a “coalition of the good guys” in world football.

Burden, infuriated by several FIFA bigwigs who promised their vote to England before reneging at the last minute, made his shock quit announcement in an open letter to FA Board members. ...

Full story continues here, courtesy of the Daily Record.

And the winners are ...

As seen here live just a few moments ago FIFA decided where the crown jewel of tournaments will be played for the next 12 years.

As we have learned already, Brazil will be hosting the 2014 World Cup.

For the rest Mr. Blatter was brief in his opening comments saying notably that, "... football is a school of life where you learn to lose."

To be sure there were losers this day and chief among them was England as the 2018 World Cup will be hosted by Russia.

Also a loser is the United States as Qatar will be hosting the 2022 World Cup.

I'll say that I am half stunned, not in FIFA's choice of Russia as it is clear to me that they were going to punish England for the acts of their press, but am somewhat surprised about the choice of Qatar.

It makes me wonder if FIFA went politically correct run amok as FIFA wants to appease the Middle East, or if FIFA took the time to stick it to the US at the same time.

Stay tuned for more reactions ... as I am sure there will be some significant ones.

Want to see the bids themselves ...

... all you have to do is go here. Courtesy of FIFA.

PK's Predictions

Programming note:
This release is going out earlier than usual to avoid any conflict with the actual decisions as I am curious to see how close we come to the actual decisions from FIFA.

So here we are on the precipice of the decisions for the next two World Cups. All the parties are gathering in Zurich as we speak and practices are occurring in the lead up to the final presentations before the FIFA committee, sans (2) voting members.

Here is the schedule of events for this week at FIFA. Interesting to me is that the 2022 bids are coming first, and the 2018 bids last, also the order of the bidding countries.

My predictions for 2022 (Australia, Korea Republic, Qatar, United States, Japan):

Courtesy gousabid.com

The winner: United States ... but only by a nose. I don't think it's the star power such as Morgan Freeman and Bill Clinton that will be joining the bid team that pushes this over the edge for them. At the end of the day, I believe this is about two things, money and infrastructure. You could even say they are the same thing and it comes down to money.

At the end of the day, lets face it, FIFA is a business, and business is there to make money. There would be no greater opportunity to do so than the US. While Japan and Korea are in a similar boat in ability to make money, there are logistic and political issues in play, as well as just recently being there, that make this choice, I believe, less attractive than others to FIFA.

My runner up is Australia. I think the "Socceroos" made a significant impact in 2010 and this, along with the available infrastructure and climate, make it a runner up to the US. Additionally I believe that FIFA would do well in Australia as far as the ability to make money.

Finally I think Qatar takes 3rd in the voting as while I don't discount FIFA's desire to "share the Cup with the world", there are many things no going Qatar's way when stacked up with these others. Climate is among them as Chuck Blazer's comments about air conditioning a whole country ring true. Infrastructure and political climate is another reason that may militate away from hosting the Cup. Some would say, neither is particularly well developed for the influx of tourists that would flock to the tiny country for the event.

My predictions for 2018 (Belgium/Netherlands, Spain/Portugal, England, Russia):

The winner: Russia ... again by a nose. This time the issue, I believe, is much simpler, and has to do with ego and pride.

FIFA does not like being challenged. This much has been clear in the days just behind us. Their ethics investigation, while good, was painful for them. Even in the face of new bribery allegations, those involved have scoffed off the allegations and FIFA itself has stated it will not open an investigation. It would seem clear that FIFA just doesn't want to hear about it at this point.

For this FIFA will make England pay dearly for the actions of its independent press, and not allow England the honor of hosting the Cup in 2018 through not voting for who I believe should be the host in 2018.

FIFA has already set themselves up well for this decision trotting out excuse after excuse as to why England should not be allowed to host, paving the way for a not so stunning rejection, should it occur.

My runner up is England however, as there seems to be some level heads on the FIFA EXCOMM and those heads will point to the deserving host, England.

From there, I believe Iberia comes next with a few votes, but also with concerns about unrest in the years ahead as the economic issues of Ireland in 2010 are likely to infect the other smaller European countries in the years ahead. Again, this will impact the ability for FIFA to make money.

Lastly comes the Belgium/Netherlands bid, and the difficulties it would have with logistics and the like in the face of the more powerful bids such as Russia and England.

I am sure these last hours that set the course of international football for the next 12 years will be fascinating, and after the vote, you'll see our take here.

Here we go again ...

Report: FIFA facing fresh corruption allegations

Zurich - Three FIFA executive committee members have been linked to a secret list of payments in renewed corruption allegations affecting football's world governing body ahead of this week's vote to choose the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, according to a Swiss report Monday.

The daily Tages-Anzeiger reported that the three officials received bribes from bankrupt FIFAmarketing partner ISMM/ISL a decade ago. It based its reports from a list of payments on the books of the firm which collapsed in 2001. ...

Full story continues here, courtesy of Monsters and Critics.

Send in the Swiss guard

World Cup - Swiss authorities investigating FIFA

Swiss authorities are considering launching a criminal investigation into FIFA over allegations of vote rigging for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, according to a report in the Guardian.

Six FIFA officials were suspended last week over the long-running allegations of vote trading for the right to host the World Cup, and the Guardian reports that the Swiss Federal Office for Sport is considering a criminal case against football's governing body. ...

Article continues here, courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.

Truer words have never been written

Get a grip FIFA

According to reports England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup is hanging in the balance because of the British media’s investigations into how FIFA (the world football governing body) is run - the findings of these investigations demonstrating a not insignificant amount of corruption throughout the organisation. The Sunday Times accused both Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii of selling their votes determining where the World Cup will end up. FIFA have suspended the two offenders, but apparently the whole incident has poisoned many of the other delegates against the England bid – which had previously been one of the favourites. A BBC Panarama programme also investigating FIFA was shown earlier this week, prompting the chief executive of England’s bid Andy Anson to call the BBC unpatriotic because the further damage it will apparently do to England’s chances. ...

Full article continues here, courtesy of Cherwell.org.

Finally a traditionalist

The title of this great article says it all:

Michel Platini: 'The referee must decide, not a guy in front of a tv'

The Brian Viner Interview: The Uefa president hits out at Sepp Blatter's stance on goal-line technology, justifies the Financial Fair Play idea but says he is undecided over England's 2018 bid

The temperature in Switzerland took a dramatic dive earlier this week, causing almost as much consternation in the sleek, glass-and-steel headquarters of Uefa in Nyon on the shores of Lake Geneva as might a dramatic dive in a European final. On the morning I visit, a blanket of thick cloud hangs low over the lake, for which one Uefa functionary actually apologises. A day earlier, he says, it was positively warm, with vivid views of Mont Blanc. Now, all is grey, chilly, damp, inhospitable. My hope is that the mood of Uefa's illustrious president, Michel Platini, will not match the weather. ...

Fabulous article continues here, courtesy of The Independent.

No justice ... It's Gerrymandering folks

A good article from The Independent detailing the personal battles that may be responsible for setting back the England 2018 bid. What got me was not the body of the article however, it was what was reported at the end of it. From the article:

Last night a fresh twist was added to the chaotic bid process when it emerged that Adamu and Temarii could be replaced in time for the vote, bringing it back up its full quota of 24, if they accept their punishments rather than go through a lengthy appeal.

You have got to be kidding me. This is rubbish.

Just when FIFA seemed to be marginally getting their act together after the ethics probe they conducted, they do this.

Now, maybe it's a "trial balloon" to see if there is any appetite for this nonsense, in an effort for FIFA to better respond and understand the people who represent the game they are dedicated to serving.

I don't buy that one.

They are shopping for votes.

This one, if true, is the worse kind of conduct in voting bodies ... gerrymandering. After all, who is picking these "new" voters? By all accounts this may be the difference between England 2018 and Russia 2018 as the African block of votes is decidedly not going Englands way.

This one is a lose-lose.

If you pick voters that are sympathetic to England, it would appear to be a "lifeline" for England. If you do otherwise, that "lifeline" looks like it has a boat anchor attached.

I would opine that there is NO ONE in FIFA who is not tainted by this, or at least influenced to the point that they could be added as the last two votes in time for 02-DEC. Ethics committee where are you?

On a final note, it sure seems this is getting to the boiling point in England as more than one commentator is expressing its frustration anger at FIFA and its processes. See this article from The Independent which states in part:

That's Fifa for you, and as a "made" representative I would have long understood the loyalty we display to our own. When Valcke announced the suspensions of the two executive committee members and four other officials last week – after the cash-for-votes allegations printed in a British broadsheet – I would have figured, "They'll be back". Who knows, they may even one day make it to even higher office. I would put nothing beyond Fifa's recovery powers.

While not all the daggers are pointed at FIFA, many are. In this case, as they should be.

Bush did it

Credit: http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com

Politics aside, I caught this article from The Telegraph where FIFA gives yet another reason why England may not get the 2018 World Cup.

This time ... Wimbledon.

FIFA has stated in their report that:

It is a Fifa requirement that no other major sporting event is hosted in a host city during the event period and the fact that the Wimbledon tennis championships take place in London during late June/early July could have an impact on the public attention given to the Fifa World Cup.

FIFA seems to be trotting every excuse in the book to have some grounds to tell England "no", or at least give the remaining EXCOMM members enough pause to do so. As I wrote the other day, I do not think England will get the 2018 nod, but unfortunately this would be for all the wrong reasons as they are as good a host as any to do so. I would opine one of, if not, the best next to the US, who still to me inexplicably exited early.

Overall however England got a good report. Some would say better than others in the running for 2018.

We will see however, the clock is ticking, and things still do not look great for England as the BBC continues to ready itself to air its FIFA corruption documentary.

FIFA Ethics Probe Complete: Justice or Gerrymandering?

Back when FIFA announced its ethics probe into the sale of World Cup votes by FIFA EXCOMM members, and collusion between bidding countries, I was suspicious of getting, frankly, any result.

I have to admit, while I do not believe FIFA took all the steps it should have to remove the doubt from the process, they did more than I expected.

Then again, my bar may have been set so low you could step over it.

From the FIFA media release, the following punishments have been meted out for the vote selling scandal. Note a CHF (swiss franc) is approximately equal to $1 US:

• Reynald Temarii (FIFA vice-president) was banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for a period of one year. Furthermore, he was fined CHF 5,000.
• Amos Adamu (FIFA Executive Committee member) was banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for a period of three years. Furthermore, he was fined CHF 10,000.
• Slim Aloulou (chairman of the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber and member of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee) was banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for a period of two years. Furthermore, he was fined CHF 10,000.
• Ahongalu Fusimalohi (General Secretary of the Tonga FA) was banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for a period of three years. Furthermore, he was fined CHF 10,000.
• Amadou Diakite (member of the FIFA Referees Committee) was banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for a period of three years. Furthermore, he was fined CHF 10,000.
• Ismael Bhamjee (CAF honorary member) was banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for a period of four years. Furthermore, he was fined CHF 10,000.

It is significantly noteworthy that this action from FIFA now prevents Temarii and Adamu from voting on 02-DEC for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. This is a blow to England in 2018 as Temarii has shown his support for their bid (source). Particularly so as Temarii while he has vowed to appeal the decision, will do so after 02-DEC. Very interesting timing to me ... and another sign that things are not going well for England.

FIFA continued its decision by stating that there was not enough evidence to conclude any collusion between bid countries. This investigation was specifically targeted at Iberia (2018) and Qatar (2022). 

For those interested you can watch the FIFA ethics committee press conference here, or the post committee press conference here. A French boadcast report is here:

It seems that not everyone is applauding FIFA for how they handled this whole thing. An interesting take from PR Week states in part that FIFA has a long way to go from here. While they have done, okay with the investigation, the whole bid process need more work to fully restore their credibility.

Some other pundits agree with this position too while doing something was better than nothing, FIFA has a big hole to dig out of.

As we now race to voting on 02-DEC, at this juncture the big winners and losers to me are:

Temarii and Adamu: BIG losers. For getting involved in this corruption in the first place and trying to personally gain from THE game. The puny fines, suspensions, and loss of voting are the palest of punishments.

Aloulou, Fusimalohi, Diakite, and Bhamjee: Losers. For getting involved at all. They too deserve what they get, and then some.

FIFA: Losers. The punishment did not go far enough for the crimes committed. They continue to demonstrate an uncanny ability to put their head back in the sand in keeping the bidding and vote process secret.

England: Losers. I still believe that they will ultimately lose the 2018 bid for all the wrong reasons.

Sunday Times: BIG winners. Without their reporting it would have been another year of voting corruption with no one but FIFA knowing.

BBC: Winners. While their airing of the FIFA corruption programme may ultimately cost England their 2018 bid, it is not their fault. It is FIFA's myopic view of the world that everything should revolve around them, and those that don't will be cast out.

Iberia and Qatar: Winners. For being cleared of any collusion. While I don't believe there was none, I believe the threshold should be lower for bidding countries than EXCOMM members.

Unfortunately the biggest loser of all is THE game. While I am confident it will be back in all its majesty shortly after the vote, to be marred with such open corruption continues to erode all the good will built up for so long.

I can only hope FIFA takes a proactive approach to correcting these eroding effects, and becomes a transparent organization in dealing with such critical matters of sport. If for no other reason ...

For the good of the game.

BBC called "unpatriotic"

For the "you have to be kidding" file, Andy Anson, the now 2018 bid chief for England (Lord Triesman stepped down after accusing Spanish and Russian football federations of conspiring in bribery, and there was this one too of Sir Dave Richards in 2009) called the BBC unpatriotic. Specifically, regarding the timing of airing the program detailing FIFA's corruption:

To do it the week before the vote - I don't think think it's patriotic.

I am still admittedly confused as it was this investigation that led to the FIFA ethics probe, where it is likely that someone will be found to have done something unethical.

Why is it the BBC's fault they legitimately have found a story and are running with it? I would think that everyone would want to hear about vote fixing and collusion between national bodies of this type.

While England (note not the UK as the venues are for England only), has something to lose, I would imagine so to does Anson.

Take a look here, where in 1994 Alan Rothenberg landed a $3 million bonus for getting the 1994 World Cup in the black (way in the black actually). While admittedly this was an operation role it stands to reason there is a pay day here for some folks. Just take a look at some of the numbers ... and remember this was 16 years ago. Adjusting for inflation, that is about $4.3 million today. Not bad.

Any bets on what Anson is getting? I have no idea, but "for Queen and Country" does not pass the sniff test to me.

Either way, as I have stated before, I support the BBC role in this provided they portrait an accurate picture of what is going on.

If FIFA is petty enough to take out any bad press they get on England, shame on them.