Probably my favorite story all year. So much so, that the blog is back.... for now.
US Federal charges have been unveiled against 14 people, including nine former or current FIFA officials for several counts of racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering. FIFA officials are accused of taking more than $150 Million in bribes and in return provided "lucrative media and marketing rights" to soccer tournaments as kickbacks over the past 24 years.
The next step is extraditing the arrested parties from Switzerland to the US to face charges.
Bribery accusations have haunted FIFA in recent years (or decades) but the move by the US Justice Department is a first as the major world power is attempting to hold the largest Sports Group in the world accountable for their illegal and immoral actions.
So far, the President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, has not been formally charged with anything despite being heavily implicated as being the master mind running the show. Ironically, Blatter's re-election bid is Friday (don't forget to VOTE!!!), an election that some within FIFA and it's various organizations will want to delay.
You have to admire the step the Justice Department is taking with FIFA. No corporation (let's call a spade a spade) may be as international as FIFA and the US is taking them on and trying to clean up the world sport... a sport which somehow finds itself behind golf in US viewership. (Golf, still not a sport btw).
I am no legal analyst (but I do play one on this blog) but I'm skeptical that this will actually change anything at least in the short term. I hope the Dominoes fall and officials turn on each other for leaner sentences and all that but FIFA still is a corporation and like every company they will unleash their army of Attorneys to help them out.
But lets be optimistic for the time being. Best case scenario, Blatter is charged, these accused officials and several more go down, and the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Winning Bids will be revoked meaning new locations will have to be chosen.
Again, that's best case scenario... along with me losing another 100 lbs. after winning the lottery and marrying Scarlett Johansson.
P.S. Okay, maybe not Russia getting revoked since it's three years away but Qatar at least. It's a desert for heaven's sake. They had to re-schedule for the winter because of the heat in the Summer. An issue they overlooked... BECAUSE THEY WERE BRIBED!!!
