# FIFA Officials Arrested On Corruption Charges **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 27, 2015, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946 "2015-05-27T06:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/181 "2015-06-10T09:06:15Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > Here’s a link to John Oliver’s video message to Jack Warner begging him to release all his FIFA dirt (reasoning: “Why the hell not?”): [Deadspin](http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/watch-john-olivers-message-to-jack-warner-that-aired-on-1710240005) Because it gives him leverage. He knows dirt about enough people, potentially enough people in power in Trinidad, that he will threat to release it, but never will, until the end. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/182 "2015-06-10T15:23:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It was only in ten theaters. I suspect, though I’m not certain, that the tiny release was to satisfy the letter of the studio’s contract to release the movie in theaters. I’ll also note that, over the past week, I’ve seen ads on Xfinity (Comcast) for the movie, which is already available on demand. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/183 "2015-06-10T21:14:10Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The FIFA-financed film, [United Passions](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2814362/?ref_=nv_sr_1), opened in ten theaters in the US over the weekend, and made **$607.** > > It stars Sam Neill as Joao Havelange and Tim Roth as Sepp Blatter. [Here](http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2488201-just-2-people-turn-up-as-self-funded-fifa-movie-makes-hollywood-debut) is a pretty hilarious article on the release of this film. Note that FIFA apparently chipped in $20 million for the production. At this rate, they will recoup their investment in a mere 633 years! ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/184 "2015-06-11T04:28:34Z")
Ok, so $2 billion was spent on soccer development during the Blatter regime. Did the beneficiaries improve their rankings? Did countries with smaller populations move up a little? A: No. [Nate Silver reports](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/blatters-reign-at-fifa-hasnt-helped-soccers-poor/). [INDENT][INDENT]Perhaps FIFA’s development funds are too small to make a difference. Or perhaps, given the corruption in the organization, a lot of the money earmarked for soccer development is being used to enrich local plutocrats at the expense of their countries’ soccer programs. [/INDENT][/INDENT] I can imagine other explanations as well. But I don’t think we should look at the FIFA budget for, say, Cameroon and simply assume that the citizenry has reaped any gains. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/185 "2015-06-11T05:50:37Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Ok, so $2 billion was spent on soccer development during the Blatter regime. Did the beneficiaries improve their rankings? Did countries with smaller populations move up a little? > > A: No. [Nate Silver reports](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/blatters-reign-at-fifa-hasnt-helped-soccers-poor/). [INDENT][INDENT]Perhaps FIFA’s development funds are too small to make a difference. Or perhaps, given the corruption in the organization, a lot of the money earmarked for soccer development is being used to enrich local plutocrats at the expense of their countries’ soccer programs. [/INDENT][/INDENT] I can imagine other explanations as well. But I don’t think we should look at the FIFA budget for, say, Cameroon and simply assume that the citizenry has reaped any gains. Not a particularly good article I must confess. He looks: 1. Only at national team performances in WC ignoring continental competition 2. Checks ELO rankings only 3. Make that typically American presumption that no-N American world follows soccer exclusively. Indeed, one of the major problem that soccer has in China, Indonesia and the Sub Continent is that it is not the major sport in those regions, and money and sponsorship tends to flow to other sports. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/186 "2015-06-11T09:02:41Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > A: No. [Nate Silver reports](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/blatters-reign-at-fifa-hasnt-helped-soccers-poor/). [INDENT][INDENT]Perhaps FIFA’s development funds are too small to make a difference. Or perhaps, given the corruption in the organization, a lot of the money earmarked for soccer development is being used to enrich local plutocrats at the expense of their countries’ soccer programs. [/INDENT][/INDENT] I can imagine other explanations as well. But I don’t think we should look at the FIFA budget for, say, Cameroon and simply assume that the citizenry has reaped any gains. Eh, Cameroon’s \*women \* team qualified for the WC for the first time this year, and at their first game overplayed Ecuador in a 5-0 game. Also, a lot of the players, it was said, had gone on to play in other club leagues. While I do believe that there is a lot of corruption, Cameroon is not the best scenario as it has seen gains. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/187 "2015-06-11T09:48:53Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Not a particularly good article I must confess. He looks: > > 1. Only at national team performances in WC ignoring continental competition > 2. Checks ELO rankings only > 3. Make that typically American presumption that no-N American world follows soccer exclusively. Indeed, one of the major problem that soccer has in China, Indonesia and the Sub Continent is that it is not the major sport in those regions, and money and sponsorship tends to flow to other sports. > [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Eh, Cameroon’s \*women \* team qualified for the WC for the first time this year, and at their first game overplayed Ecuador in a 5-0 game. Also, a lot of the players, it was said, had gone on to play in other club leagues. While I do believe that there is a lot of corruption, Cameroon is not the best scenario as it has seen gains. We have no idea if such advances would have been made without FIFA money. I suspect they wouldn’t but we cant say for sure. The fact that Zambia for the first time won the African Cup recently was used as evidence FIFA money is helping. Again, we have no idea if this is the case. If another African country altogether had won the African Nation’s Cup FIFA most likely would have trumpeted the same “evidence” as proof of FIFA policy working. Probably the best record we have of African footballing progress is their competative record against teams outside Africa. For this the World Cup is best evidence. In the past decade or two the record of African teams in the WC has stagnated, and in fact has regressed. Rarely are African teams getting out their group stages. In past decades the quarter finals were fairly regularly reached by African teams. With vast untapped human resources two decades ago wonderful things were predicted of African football. Instead, internationally it’s in a pretty dire state right now. Not to be too flippant about women’s soccer, but no-one really gives a fuck about it outside a small, but dedicated fan base. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/188 "2015-06-11T12:41:08Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > In the past decade or two the record of African teams in the WC has stagnated, and in fact has regressed. Rarely are African teams getting out their group stages. In past decades the quarter finals were fairly regularly reached by African teams. With vast untapped human resources two decades ago wonderful things were predicted of African football. Instead, internationally it’s in a pretty dire state right now. Errr, sorry? You clearly know sweet fuck all about the last few Cups, which have occured. Looking at post-Blatter WC’s 2014: Nigeria, Algeria R of 16. Both were unlukcy to lose, to the Netherlands and to Germany, respectively, the later in extra time. Ghana did not make it out of the Group Stages, but they held Germany (you know the side which won the whole damn thing,) to a draw). 2010: Ghana got to the QF and would have reached the SF, if Luis Suarez had not shown his excellent GK skills. 2006: Ghana, R of 16 l, lost to Brazil, the defending champions. 2002: Senegal defeated France, the defending Champions and Euro 2000 winners, Sweden and lost to Turkey in QF on Golden Goal. If you bring it back till 1978 when FIFA started giving money (under Blatter as development officer), then 1982: Algeria defeated Germany, needed a fix to prevent them from getting out of the Group stages. 1986: Morroco reached R of 16, defeated by W Germany, eventual finalists. 1990: Cameroon defeated defending Champions and eventual finalists Argentina (led by a guy called Diego something or the other) and reached the QF, where they were defeated in ET by some rather beautiful Olympic level diving by Gary Lineker. 1994: Nigeria, R of 16 lost to Italy, eventual runners-up, in ET. 1998: Nigeria, R of 16, thumped by Denmark. So, if you call consistantly getting into the KO stages, defeating or holding World Power, including defending champions, and eventual winners, in matches and some defeats due to fixing, cheating, or Luis Suarez clowning, “regressing” then…😕:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/189 "2015-06-11T12:47:11Z")
EDIT: Nigeria lost to France in 2014, sorry. Either way a close game, with late goals. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/190 "2015-06-11T14:25:41Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Errr, sorry? You clearly know sweet fuck all about the last few Cups, which have occured. Looking at post-Blatter WC’s > > 2014: Nigeria, Algeria R of 16. Both were unlukcy to lose, to the Netherlands and to Germany, respectively, the later in extra time. Ghana did not make it out of the Group Stages, but they held Germany (you know the side which won the whole damn thing,) to a draw). > > 2010: Ghana got to the QF and would have reached the SF, if Luis Suarez had not shown his excellent GK skills. > > 2006: Ghana, R of 16 l, lost to Brazil, the defending champions. > > 2002: Senegal defeated France, the defending Champions and Euro 2000 winners, Sweden and lost to Turkey in QF on Golden Goal. > > If you bring it back till 1978 when FIFA started giving money (under Blatter as development officer), then > > 1982: Algeria defeated Germany, needed a fix to prevent them from getting out of the Group stages. > > 1986: Morroco reached R of 16, defeated by W Germany, eventual finalists. > > 1990: Cameroon defeated defending Champions and eventual finalists Argentina (led by a guy called Diego something or the other) and reached the QF, where they were defeated in ET by some rather beautiful Olympic level diving by Gary Lineker. > > 1994: Nigeria, R of 16 lost to Italy, eventual runners-up, in ET. > > 1998: Nigeria, R of 16, thumped by Denmark. > So, if you call consistantly getting into the KO stages, defeating or holding World Power, including defending champions, and eventual winners, in matches and some defeats due to fixing, cheating, or Luis Suarez clowning, “regressing” then…😕:rolleyes: Yes, regressed and I shall explain why. You have managed to miss one very important point in your post why I shall get to. You do have a point however. Only 3 African teams have reached the QF of the WC. Two of those have been in the last three tournaments. I honestly believed more African teams than this had reached the QF stages in past decades. I don’t know why you bring up the 1990 Cameroon performance as somehow backing up your own argument. That was 25 years ago. That was part of _my_ argument; that after the 1990 Cameroon performance so much was predicted from African teams in future World Cups. Virtually all have pretty much failed miserably since then. Im not saying anything controversial here. The woeful performances of African teams have been noted by African themselves. That was probably one reason the number of African representatives at the last WC was reduced from 6 to 5. There performances did not merit such a high number of places. The vital point you fail to mention in your post; during the last three or four World Cup’s African nations have seen their number of places at each tournament grow(until 2014 at least). From one or two African nations per WC tournament in the 1980’s and 1990’s to five or six African nations per tournament from the late 1990’s onwards. The opportunities for African teams to do well in a WC has therefore increased dramatically in recent decades. They have failed to capitalize on these greater opportunities. That is why I say they have regressed. Again, I am not the only one saying this. It has been noticed by the sporting press both inside and outside Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/191 "2015-06-11T14:29:48Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > Not to be too flippant about women’s soccer, but no-one really gives a fuck about it outside a small, but dedicated fan base. That’s not the issue, which is whether FIFA development funds have done any good. If they’ve helped womens’ soccer - which frankly needs the help more than the men’s game, even in Africa - so much the better. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/192 "2015-06-11T14:35:57Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > Probably the best record we have of African footballing progress is their competative record against teams outside Africa. For this the World Cup is best evidence. Sorry, I don’t actually buy this argument. So if the US didn’t make it out of the group stages in this WC, the US hasn’t made footballing progress? Balderdash. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/193 "2015-06-11T14:40:23Z")
I’m not seeing the argument either. The 1990 Cameroon team was a pretty obvious outlier. It wasn’t that African football got worse after that; it was just that Roger Milla retired. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/194 "2015-06-11T14:42:29Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That’s not the issue, which is whether FIFA development funds have done any good. If they’ve helped womens’ soccer - which frankly needs the help more than the men’s game, even in Africa - so much the better. Maybe, maybe not. In helping to decide whether or not FIFA have spent it’s money wisely(there is always an opportunity cost with resources) it’s relevant to point out that virtually no-one cares about women’s football in Africa. Anyway, it’s never a bad thing to point out just how inconsequential woman’s football really is to the wider public. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/195 "2015-06-11T14:45:47Z")
But FIFA’s role is not to promote things people care about. It is to develop and promote the game. The best way to do that is to get more people playing it. Getting people to watch is secondary. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/196 "2015-06-11T14:48:28Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m not seeing the argument either. The 1990 Cameroon team was a pretty obvious outlier. It wasn’t that African football got worse after that; it was just that Roger Milla retired. Indeed. And one can see the influx of very talented African players into the big European leagues to see the strides that have been made. The Ivory Coast may not have done great in the WC, but it has produced Yaya Toure, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/197 "2015-06-11T15:01:45Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Sorry, I don’t actually buy this argument. So if the US didn’t make it out of the group stages in this WC, the US hasn’t made footballing progress? Balderdash. Nope, your obviously trying to not appreciate my point. We are not talking about a single team here as is the case with the US. We are talking of a number of different teams taking part in a number of tournaments. I think we can therefore discern a pattern. Neither did I suggest African teams \*must \*improve at each individual WC. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m not seeing the argument either. The 1990 Cameroon team was a pretty obvious outlier. It wasn’t that African football got worse after that; it was just that Roger Milla retired. Yes, I can appreciate Cameroon were perhaps an outlier. Still, what we have is no progress from African teams in the tournaments they have been given the greatest opportunities. I needn’t remind you one of those tournaments was in Africa itself. It’s not unreasonable to expect African teams to have done well in SA. I have just looked up African teams who got past the group stages in each WC’ Admittedly in 2014 two African teams did so. Until then all we had were the one team progressing during each tournament. I suppose that is progress of sorts. All in all woeful stuff considering the greater opportunities at and locations of these tournaments. All this under a FIFA regime that has given far greater resources to African football too. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/198 "2015-06-11T15:11:44Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Indeed. And one can see the influx of very talented African players into the big European leagues to see the strides that have been made. The Ivory Coast may not have done great in the WC, but it has produced Yaya Toure, for instance. Yes, and we’ll just forget the African players who successfully made it in European football before FIFA ploughed money into the continent, or at the very early stages of it. These players made it pretty much without FIFA’s help. Add desperate club scouts putting greater money and resources into finding untapped African talent and you would have continued with the process of African players doing well in Europe. I have yet to see real correlation between FIFA’s money and African greater footballing talent. I think a correlation will exist somewhere. I assume allowing greater numbers of kids to play the game does help. However, so much of the money FIFA plough in is wasted on jobs for the boys and centres of excellence. Centres of excellence invariably turn into centres of mediocrity. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/199 "2015-06-11T15:16:12Z")
It was $2 billion over 15 years, spread over the entire world. Hardly “ploughing money.” A single year of English Premier League domestic TV broadcasting rights _alone_ are [worth more than that](http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/10/sky-bt-premier-league-tv-rights/). It cost almost that much just to build the new Wembley Stadium. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/200 "2015-06-11T15:17:46Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > Nope, your obviously trying to not appreciate my point. We are not talking about a single team here as is the case with the US. We are talking of a number of different teams taking part in a number of tournaments. I think we can therefore discern a pattern. Neither did I suggest African teams \*must \*improve at each individual WC. Sorry, I just don’t think this point has any merit. The US point was just an example. If you want to expand, I don’t think CONCACAF has made historic gains due to Costa Rica’s breakout in last year’s WC. I thinking judging by WC results is just silly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946.md?page=11)