Never thought I'd see this.
Shit, this is looking more and more like it's serious. Lot of money is on the table, and Qatar stands to lose the WC in a heartbeat if various allegations are put on the record in an American grand jury trial. Out of nowhere. Fuck, we've been waiting for this for years.
I was listening to an interview on As It Happens with a reporter, whose name I have now forgotten, who has been reporting on this for a long time. He basically said that this probably won't change anything, and we should be questioning why it took America, one of the countries least involved in the sport, to start this international investigation. He also pointed out that the latest Swedish investigation was announced after the US arrested everyone, and that the last time the Swedes investigated it took 9 years.
I disagree. This has the hallmarks of a house of cards folding. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32902076 https://twitter.com/RobHarris/status/603614251803082756 http://www.expressen.se/sport/fotboll/nilsson-ingen-svensk-rost-pa-blatter-i-valet/
In a short term update to this: FIFA Exec Cites Spoof Article From The Onion As Evidence Of U.S. Corruption Sepp Blatter wins re-election as FIFA president but on the other hand:
FIFA sponsors like Scotiabank, Coke and Visa demand change as scandal rocks soccer world I don't know if we're seeing the fall of a house of cards or not.
Thanks, this was helpful for me. I haven't read any of the articles on the FIFA DoJ arrests and felt I was a bit behind on something that apparently a lot of people care about.
Moon of Alabama has an interesting theory. In short, he thinks it was because Israel was about to be suspended from FIFA.
Crazy overkill to even consider this (fairly typical for him I think). One thing: "There was a good chance that [the expulsion vote] was going to be successful." -- I browse the soccer websites often and didn't realize that. I wonder if it's true. Israel always has pull, Palestine generally doesn't. There's a lot of money in Arab soccer... impossible to say.
Sounds like some contortions. This investigation goes back years. Loretta Lynch has been heading it for a long time. She's now AG, and this is the first time since her appointment that all these guys are gathered in the same place at the same time. Also, MoA is going a bit far when they say the US "ordered" Swiss authorities to do this or that. To claim that Israel has the power to order the US to order Switzerland (who has a long history of persecuting Jews) to arrest FIFA officials is a claim that needs a bit more evidence than "timing".
Ah, the U.S.'s bid at hosting the 2022 World Cup.