totally a rumor ..... 100% not confirmed

northernneil

from a respected (US) non football journos twitter last night :-

"@Jonathan Alter Hey, soccer fans: a great source says that most members of the FIFA World Cup Selection Com got a (legal) bribe of $10 million from Qatar"

"@Jonathan AlterSoccer scandal cont: Press in FIFA nations shld probe how FIFA members spend their new $10 million apiece. Qatar bribed way to victory."

@jonathanalter Soccer scandal exclusive cont: That's the inside word: Qatar paid $10m for each FIFA vote. Only reason it got World Cup. Who will probe?"

northernneil

http://twitter.com/#!/jonathanalter/sta ... 3528851458

Ben6899

Leave em to it. I'll be happy to laugh my tits off when it's a farce.

Gazzaputt

Not a surprise

Ollieda

How exactly was the "bribe" legal....either its a bribe or its not a bribe

Buckled_Rims

Ollieda wrote:

How exactly was the "bribe" legal....either its a bribe or its not a bribe

It'll be "legal" in the same way that MPs can claim their expenses for duck houses and dog food.

ilm_zero7

Ben6899 wrote:

Leave em to it. I'll be happy to laugh my tits off when it's a farce.

I assure you nothing will be a farce in Qatar - I went to the england brazil game there - organisation and entertainment before and after the game was excellent - the only difficulty was getting to and from - and in 12 years they will have built the monorail

amaferanga

Qatar will host a more impressive event than England ever will.

Stewie Griffin

amaferanga wrote:

Qatar will host a more impressive event than England ever will.

Sandcastle building perhaps but not football.

pottssteve

Stewie Griffin wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

Qatar will host a more impressive event than England ever will.

Sandcastle building perhaps but not football.

Not true. Having lived in Asia I came to realise that although these countries obviously lack the history associated with the sport they do not lack in enthusiasm, organisation or resources. The supporters may be a little naiive and will only have heard of the major clubs but those in charge of these sorts of events cannot afford to fail; it is a matter of "face" that it works. Add to this the obvious financial muscle of countries like Qatar and it should be very smooth. This is exactly what the authorities want in order to promote football in newer markets.

northernneil

if this is proven to be true the world cup wont be held in Quatar ...

and FIFA as an organisation as we know it will not exist,

and Amen to that

finchy

northernneil wrote:

if this is proven to be true the world cup wont be held in Quatar ...

and FIFA as an organisation as we know it will not exist,

and Amen to that

And northernneil gets in with a late entry for the most ludicrously over-optimistic post of 2010.

daviesee

northernneil wrote:

if this is proven to be true the world cup wont be held in Quatar ...

and FIFA as an organisation as we know it will not exist,

and Amen to that

in Utopia.

fleshtuxedo

"Legal bribe" probably alludes to no actual laws being broken, leaving aside ethical questions. Apparently anti-corruption laws are more lax in Switzerland, and apparently that might be one of the reasons why an organisation such as FIFA would be based there.

+1 would love to see FIFA go down. All they have to do is organise a footy tournament, but instead they create this myth of 'healing the world with football' as a front for stuffing their faces and wallets.

pedylan

Football - the game that ate itself

The FIFA process is beyond parody and they are the global organising body FFS.

Now we have another complete ar@e in the form of Tevez posturing his way to an absurd pay rise or exiting a legal contract.

This follows on from Rooney doing the same thing and a bunch of others too numerous to mention.

Now the sports pages are full of Tevez and his petulant delusions. On Sunday, three games were played; coverage of all of them in the press was only made afer the headline Tevez show.

They think it's all over ............... it certainly ought to be.

-spider-

FleshTuxedo wrote:

"Legal bribe" probably alludes to no actual laws being broken, leaving aside ethical questions. Apparently anti-corruption laws are more lax in Switzerland, and apparently that might be one of the reasons why an organisation such as FIFA would be based there.

Did England not provide Louis Vitton luggage etc for FIFA visitors when they came over. Did Boris (the Bike) Johnson not just cancel one of the other 'sweeteners' for the FIFA leeches (Free hotel rooms for the Olympics)... etc, etc,

Let's face it - everyone was at it. Qatar just had more resources to throw at the event.

mrushton

It won't be a bribe because it will be written down to 'Promotional expenses' or some such thing and will be budgeted for at some stage. Since Qatar is on a global stage, that money is 'investment' in promoting the country. Are people really naive enough to think these things are done fairly when a £billion pound industry is involved? We just made the mistake of not offering enough money/escorts/5* hotel rooms but the good thing is it won't be affecting me .

jairaj

Surely if its a legal bribe then its all within the rules. Its unethical but not outside the FIFA rules. But then surely everyone knew already that FIFA isn't the most open organisation anyway?

Also didn't England give "gifts" of fancy hand bags or something? surely this "legal bribe" is along these lines, just happens Qatar can afford better gifts than England? The whole organisation and sport is ridiculous. I love playing the GAME of football but I think the SPORT is rubbish.

inkyfingers

Boris Johnson offered FIFA officials free accomodation in top London Hotels during the 2012 Olympics which is a bribe really. As another said, Qatar obviously just offered better bribes.

verylonglegs

I think the fuss over the location is overdone anyway, I doubt whether most of the complainers were intending to go. The real point for me is that the last WC event was the first ever held in Africa and all that stood out for me was how much of the football was really poor quality which has nothing to do with the location. They could play it wherever they like as far as I'm concerned as along as there is actually a game worth watching.

schweiz

FleshTuxedo wrote:

Apparently anti-corruption laws are more lax in Switzerland, and apparently that might be one of the reasons why an organisation such as FIFA would be based there

eh? where did you get that idea

I'd say it's more to do with low tax, bank secrecy and international neutrality. The latter being the 'official' reason!

floosy

Ohh Im glad I hate football..

cougie

Is it worth getting a World Cup though ? Does South Africa think the outlay was worth the increased trade ?

Anyone here watch the matches and think that SA would be a good holiday destination now ?

I really dont follow football - but I said before the draw that it would be Russia and Qatar. Simples.

northernneil

Holland ans Belgium calculated that winning the bid will COST the country 10 Million euros - it was in thier bid

tailwindhome

I assure you nothing will be a farce in Qatar - I went to the england brazil game there - organisation and entertainment before and after the game was excellent - the only difficulty was getting to and from - and in 12 years they will have built the monorail

The Qatar presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEZjzsnPhnw

tailwindhome

inkyfingers wrote:

Boris Johnson offered FIFA officials free accomodation in top London Hotels during the 2012 Olympics which is a bribe really. As another said, Qatar obviously just offered better bribes.

It was quite ironic how Boris withdrew a bribe in protest at FIFA corruption.

symo

To be honest having visited Russia numerous times I can tell you the whole place has become more racist and xenophobic since I started visiting in around 2000.

Very few people speak english outside of Moscow, so fans are going to get screwed over, oh not to mention the police taking your passport 'for review' unless you give them a bribe or a colour photocopy and offer them a visit to your hotel for the real thing. Travelling around is risky 5 lane highways in the centre of Moscow and lorrys willing to make U-turns across all of them. Oh yes Russia is indeed an open and welcoming country especially to non-whites, muslims and gay people.

As for Qatar .... urgh, no alcohol and the fact the humidity makes the place unliveable in the mid day means most of your time will be spent indoors in the air con. Even at night the humidity does not let up. Plus this is a country with well known

This was not about opening up new areas to football, it was about FIFA officials lining their pockets. Plus Fifa really didn't do a search on Amnesty Internationals website did they? Fancy being totured for no good reason, hop on a plane to Russia and Qatar to enjoy the facilities.

ridley2010

amaferanga wrote:

Qatar will host a more impressive event than England ever will.

I agree with that.

alitodd

There's an obvious solution to these World Cup woes... Leave the bribe-taking pansies in front of the fan and follow the Mountain Biking World Cup.

- We have rounds in Britain (Fort William)
- Proper men enter (bouncing off the floor is too much for footballers - try bouncing off trees)
- It involves bikes (I'm assuming all of us on this forum would appreciate that)
- We have Rob Warner commentating (hilarity ensues) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZa2yS0tetM
- Women compete too. Granted, they may be a bit slower, but they're much nicer to watch
- It's much more interesting than watching people run around tripping over each other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs4Ae5DBI7I

sheepworryingbhoy

The destination of the world cup has less to do with all the legal bribes & more to do with which countries/continents that FIFA's major partners wish to promote their products.

Slow Downcp

I'm glad Russia got it ahead of us - it's be millions more out of taxpayers money just as we've recovered the endless money pit that the 2012 Olympics will be. Also avoids the overhype of "Football's coming home" again with people expecting us to win it, when in reality we'll go out in the quarters at best.