Chuck Blazer fired???

[Paul Marin]

He acted without THINKING... foolish fellow!

Acted without thinking? I don't thinks so, it's just that Jack did his thinking for him. LOL!!! Either way - pretty daft move on his part.

[Peter R]

He acted without THINKING... foolish fellow!

[Zeppo]

I hope Austin enjoyed it while it lasted:

LISLE AUSTIN PROVISIONALLY SUSPENDED; ALFREDO HAWIT ASSUMES ROLE AS ACTING PRESIDENT OF CONCACAF

[Paul Marin]

england is still in the rearview mirror .... there is NOTHING that you and I can do ... NOTHING. the sponsors have all the cards right now .... so ... if anything pressure the sponsors.

FIFA is all but bulletproof ... the only chink is sponsorship! i don't raise my blood pressure about things over which i do not have any control.

I think there is a lot that we as individuals can do if we put pressure FIFA, Governments and Sponsors. But the task becomes much harder when we allow ourselves to get distracted from the task by red herrings.

The truth of it is that the Arab spring toppled entrenched regimes based on ordinary individuals tweeting and facebooking etc. You may not have control, but you have influence.

My honest hope, is that the criminal activities that corruption ultimately spawn will be the real chink in the armor; this is why I am paying close attention to what is going on in Italy. I cannot imagine that some FIFA punk isn't peripherally (or directly) involved. Why do you think they don't want video in football? How else can they match fix, like they did with Chelsea two years ago? Hmmm???

The whole thing is rigged. It stinks.

[Gamma]

england is still in the rearview mirror .... there is NOTHING that you and I can do ... NOTHING. the sponsors have all the cards right now .... so ... if anything pressure the sponsors.

FIFA is all but bulletproof ... the only chink is sponsorship! i don't raise my blood pressure about things over which i do not have any control.

[Paul Marin]

already have a florida home...thanks for the offer though. FINALLY ergo this whole "expose" is all about england losing the bid! that has been my point from the get go ...it is the same as it ever was!!!

Whether England was the genesis or not is no longer relevant. We're way past that now. Focus on the road ahead and what these mafifaosos are going to do to the game you know and love. Again, are you following what's going on in Italy?

[Paul Marin]

Did you just call Gamma a donkey?

(heh heh, set on!)

If it walks like a duck...quacks like a duck...then it must be a donkey?

[Mosiah]

Did you just call Gamma a donkey?

(heh heh, set on!)

[Gamma]

already have a florida home...thanks for the offer though. FINALLY ergo this whole "expose" is all about england losing the bid! that has been my point from the get go ...it is the same as it ever was!!!

[Paul Marin]

if england had won the bid there would be no scandal .... it was ALL about england not winning the bid!

If England had won, FIFA would still have been corrupt. This is what this is about Gamma, not England. Again, England is no less (or no more) corrupt than the rest of the Mafifa family.

Are you following the match fixing scandal in Italy? Don't you see that the sport is REELING from a serious corruption issues at all levels? Don't you see that the Fifa's refusal to introduce technology into the game increases the chances for match fixing? Can't you see how serious this is? Don't you realise that the reasons they've given for not introducing technology wouldn't convince a brain-dead donkey much less a half sensible man? Why Gamma?

Come on. If you think this is about stupid England, mi have a nice Florida home fi you fi buy - mi wi gi u fi di same price mi bredrin pay fi it in 2005.

[Gamma]

if england had won the bid there would be no scandal .... it was ALL about england not winning the bid!

[Paul Marin]

so england can just bully them way in? mi glad england get box! as for the man's statement, it is own personal sentiment and as far as i know (perhaps the sentiment of all of argentina) it would not be illegal for that to be a consideration.

england has made many enemies because of it's entitlement attitude and those chickens came home to roost ... corruption or not england probably would not get it .. what were the numbers?

You keep thinking this is about England. If England had won the bid at hell's expense, my position would be exactly the same. England is no more or less corrupt than the rest of the a**holes that make up FIFA. English corruption has a long history - inside and outside FIFA - but again, this is not about them as you and the other shape shifters at FIFA keep insisting in order to deflect attention from the real issues.

This is about millions of fans who are expecting FIFA to pick bids based on what is good for the sport, us fans, players and other stakeholders, not them as individuals. So while it may not be *illegal* for this pompous ass to insert his own personal bias, it is not "Fair Play" and reduces the entire exercise to nothing more than a sham at the expense of us - the ones that ultimately pay for their self-serving excesses. These same excesses will do nothing but ruin football (while making them rich). So get off the England kick and look at the big picture.

[Gamma]

so england can just bully them way in? mi glad england get box! as for the man's statement, it is own personal sentiment and as far as i know (perhaps the sentiment of all of argentina) it would not be illegal for that to be a consideration.

england has made many enemies because of it's entitlement attitude and those chickens came home to roost ... corruption or not england probably would not get it .. what were the numbers?

[Paul Marin]

as david byrne said in his song "once in a lifetime" ... - same as it ever was -.

which is why the outrage perplexes me...EVERYONE knows how FIFA operates and have played the game england america russia.... btw i notice the focus is on qatar ... what happened, putin made a call?

Gamma, the outrage comes from the fact that on the merits, Qatar has no business hosting a WC. Russia is more credible. The technical review of Qatar deemed it the highest risk of all the bidders. There is a big difference between being politely corrupt and blatantly corrupt. The Grondonon (sp) fellow's statement is a great example and in my opinion, a perfect example, of what is wrong with FIFA.

[Peter R]

My first reaction was that the presence of Qatar (or any team that low in the rankings) would undermine the validity of the tournament... whatever group they are in gives the other group member teams a distinct advantage over others... but I might be unfair to them as they have already jumped 20 places in FIFA ranking (now 93) since they won the bid so why worry? and they have over ten years now to get themselves even higher....

It does look like FIFA might implement some changes in "how they play the game", even if it's window-dressing..