I was wondering if someone could educate me on the troubles and possible vindication of Football President Sepp Blatter. Did he do a good job? Is the sport really corrupt, or not? Was he deservedly vindicated?
Some information from a trusted (or at least passionate) source: FIFA and the World Cup: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) - YouTube
Fun rewatch. As an American I had totally forgotten about the World Cup, but it’s apparently this year. So I got curious and googled.
It would normally be wrapping up right about now (mid July) but it was 101° there today in Qatar. So they delayed it until November and December, when the average temperature will be 84°. Still pretty toasty, and the occasional summer heat spike to 100° isn’t unheard of that time of year.
Looks like the US qualified despite losing their last game, and is in Group B with England, Iran and Wales.
For more specific background about the Sepp Blather case:
I remember when it took the US Department of Justice, and the US’ outsider position in the global fútbol world, to expose the systemic corruption in FIFA.
The British journalist Andrew Jennings (now sadly deceased) had more than a little to do with it:
He (mostly) did a good job growing the game. The sport is not corrupt, but there is a lot of corruption in it. That is mostly a function of its broad appeal across the globe, which creates a lot of opportunities for corruption - i.e., your bribes go a long way in poor countries.
Blatter is definitely corrupt. I don’t know enough about the alleged Platini payoff to know if he should have been convicted on this specific charge.