0% villa - Sepp Blatter is standing for FIFA election unopposed

[Louzie0]

The other guy (Hammam) has just been discredited by the ethics committee and has withdrawn. 

Sepp also went before the ethics committee and - goodness me - passed.

Gosh what a gratifying result for him.  However, what about the election?  it's on wednesday.  Can't anybody else stand?  It's all a bit convenient without an opposition candidate.  Or completely and utterly bent and corrupt with hundreds of millions of pounds/dollars/choose your currency  at stake.

Do Interpol have a 'graft' team?  Let's hope they get busy.

[Chris Smith]

There can be a challenge to the agenda on Wednesday but it will need 75% backing but would stop the election going ahead; seems unlikely.

My hope is that once the full investigation takes place it shines a light on all the murky dealings within FIFA, but again I'm not holding my breath.

[Irish villain]

What a ghastly organisation. Any chance there will ever be a break away by any group of countries from Fifa's clutches?

[Louzie0]

What would it take to get a 75%+ objection? 

If any of the 'guests' or 'hidden' readers have any contacts, then now is the time.  Sepp hasn't been this vulnerable for years. 

Let's clean out the stables!

[cdbearsfan]

I don't know what all the fuss is about. Jeffrey Archer just told me he is FIFA President and I have no reason to doubt his word.

[hawkeye]

What would it take to get a 75%+ objection? 

If any of the 'guests' or 'hidden' readers have any contacts, then now is the time.  Sepp hasn't been this vulnerable for years. 

Let's clean out the stables!

I am on to it, just had a word with my Mate Silvio Burlsconi, he says he will stand as long as FIFA takes controll of Beach Volley Ball

[olaftab]

What would it take to get a 75%+ objection? 

There are 22 members of the Exec Committee who will vote. To make 16 of them to challenge him will cost an icredible amount in bribes. Sort of thing only Roman Abramovic or Sheikh Loadsamoney Bin Hadd can afford.

[hawkeye]

FIFA is corrupt UEFA is corrupt, the FA is full of stuffed blazers. At some point the governace of World Football will fragment. This is institutional corruption, Blatter is just the head of an organisation that is rotten to the core.

[Louzie0]

This is ridiculous- quoted from today's Times:

In the tranquil hills above Zurich, tucked away inside the modern monolithic architecture of Fifa House, a five-man committee managed to come to a decision that clears the way for Sepp Blatter to stride unchallenged to victory in the Fifa presidential elections on Wednesday.
As the Ethics Committee heard evidence over eight hours yesterday, the three protagonists who had been submerged in the corruption scandal came and left, almost unnoticed, via the Fifa House underground car park.
Two of them, Mohamed bin Hammam, the president of the Asian football confederation, and Jack Warner, his equivalent in the Caribbean and North America, appear to have left their most senior days in the game behind them. They have only been temporarily suspended, but it means that Mr bin Hammam cannot stand in the election against Mr Blatter.
Yesterday was another triumph for Mr Blatter. In manoeuvrings off the field, he is the Barcelona of the political game, way ahead of the rest.
As all three were whisked away from Fifa building, it was left to Jérôme Valcke, the Fifa secretary-general, to try to clear up the mess and explain how and why Fifa could proceed towards the election in the face of international derision and widespread demands for it to be postponed.
Mr Valcke battled away valiantly, but he looked apologetic and brow-beaten as he stuck unerringly to the Fifa party line.
He conceded that the timing of this investigation “is the worst” and said that Fifa needed to “put in place institutional change”. Whatever changes are envisaged, they will not postpone Wednesday’s election. If change ever does come to Fifa, it will only be when Mr Blatter has been re-elected.
“There is no reason for the election not to take place,” Mr Valcke said. Asked what the international perception of the Sepp Blatter coronation on Wednesday would be, he replied: “Honestly, I have no problem with that. I don’t see what you can say that is wrong.”
The best place to start answering this statement would be the suspensions of Mr bin Hammam and Mr Warner. Petrus Damaseb, the deputy chairman of the Fifa Ethics Committee, went to great lengths to make the point that they had not been found guilty.
There was merely sufficient evidence to require a full investigation into the charges that they had arranged for cash payments in exchange for the votes of the Caribbean nations in the presidential election, and thus a suspension.

It seems allegedly SB is in it up to his neck but has a very good lawyer.
Who is policing FIFA?
They will carry on unless somebody does.

[Louzie0]

forgot this bit - same source

Mr Blatter, meanwhile, was acquitted of all charges on account of the slimmest of technicalities. He was charged with turning a blind eye to corruption by failing to report Mr bin Hammam’s attempts to buy votes.
Mr Damaseb explained that Mr Blatter acknowledged that he had been made aware of the attempts to buy the Caribbean votes. However, because he was only made aware of the intention to buy votes and not the completion of the deal, it did not constitute a breach.When Mr Damaseb was asked why he would believe Mr Blatter’s version of the story, he replied: “Is there a reason why I should not believe him?”
Mr Valcke did concede that this “has to be” a watershed moment for Fifa. “Fifa must make the necessary changes so that the institution has systems in place to avoid that something like this happens again,” he said. “This is the pattern of the work which we have to do very quickly in the next months.”
However, Fifa and Mr Blatter have been here before. When Mr Blatter first made a successful defence of his presidency, in 2002, it was against a backdrop of corruption accusations. Mr Blatter’s accounting was publicly questioned, he ran against an opponent who campaigned on a ticket for change, Issa Hayatou, and yet still managed to manoeuvre a landslide victory.


As I said, a very effective lawyer.

What did he do when he was 'made aware'?  Report them or buy a few of his own?



Forgot to credit writer - Owen Slot 

[Lenny_AVFC]

So there to hold an election with only one candidate?

If FIFA had oil we'd probably be going to war with them.

Sepp Blatter is the new Robert Mugabe

[darren woolley]

So it seems we are stuck with Blatter again.

[Risso]

I've long since given up caring what happens with the national team, so ignoring World Cups won't be a big problem for me.

[kipeye]

Time to institute a no-fly zone and take out the despotic leader. Or better still, tell Fifa to piss off and form a credible replacement.

[Damo70]

It's hard to decide who's had a worse couple of weeks - Bin Hamman or Birmingham. So basically, the head of world football Sepp Blatter thinks attempted bribery is OK if you fail, only a completed bribery deal is wrong. The way he's going he will soon be promoted to head of a small African country or maybe even the Vatican and then maybe the clean up of FIFA can begin (very large broom required).