Ding, dong the witch is gone.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced his resignation on Tuesday amid the corruption scandal that has all of the soccer world talking. And though Blatter says he will keep his position until a successor is found, I am relieved to see that someone so corrupt and seemed Teflon-like finally get his comeuppance.
And let’s be clear about something. Even though Blatter has not be charged with any wrongdoing (yet), it’s hard believe that this dude knew NOTHING while all those around him were getting popped for bribery. If that’s not bad enough, there are reports that federal authorities believe that FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, who is second in command to Blatter, made $10 million in questionable bank transactions.
Here’s another questionable transactions that Blatter claimed he knew nothing about.
A US indictment noting that a “high-ranking FIFA official” made $10 million payments from the South African Football Association get transferred in 2008, during South Africa’s bid to host the World Cup in 2010, to CONCACAF president Jack Warner, one of the officials named in the indictment. By the way, Warner award the World Cup to South Africa.
And there is talk that bribes were received from delegates from the Middle East supporting, and ultimately landing, the Qatar bid for the 2022 World Cup. This is the same Qatar whose temperatures hover around TRIPLE DIGITS most of the year and is constantly losing man-power to heat-related deaths while building those soccer stadiums.
But NAW, Blatter didn’t know of any bribes DID HE?
Well, none of it matters going forward because it looks like the US Department purge is on. High-ranking officials are being extradited to the US to face bribery charges and with Blatter stepping down, looks like he is facing the squeeze as well.
FIFA may not be able to take Qatar’s (and maybe Russia’s 2018 World Cup) away and award it to the another country, but getting Blatter the hell out of there is a BIG step in the right direction. Kudos to the US Department of Justice for making this happen.
Who says that “big government” is such a hindrance?
Categories: soccer
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